Rafael Nadal eyeing 21st slam title but says ‘happiness doesn’t depend’ on win

Rafael Nadal is relishing the opportunity to surprise as he attempts to hunt down a record 21st grand slam title at the Australian Open.

The 35-year-old only committed to travelling to Melbourne a couple of days before his flight having doubted he would be back at all while he battled foot problems last season.

But Nadal has so far been too good for all his opponents and stands just two matches away from surpassing his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

There are parallels with Federer’s run here five years ago, when he returned from knee problems with expectations low only to battle through the draw and beat Nadal in the final in one of the great grand slam stories.

Nadal only just survived a five-set examination from Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals on Tuesday but lives to fight another day.

“I am just enjoying playing tennis,” said Nadal ahead of his clash with Matteo Berrettini on Friday.

“Of course I want to keep winning, but more than because I want to achieve or I want to have more than the others, it’s because I love what I am doing. I want to keep doing this as long as possible.

I don't believe that my future happiness is going to depend on if I achieve one more grand slam than the others or if the others achieve more grand slams than me.- Rafael Nadal

“Of course the last six months there have been a lot of doubts if I would be able to keep going. But now I feel good. We are in a position that we won a tournament, we are in the semi-finals of the Australian Open, so that’s amazing for me.

“In terms of what can happen in the future, honestly I really don’t care that much. I don’t believe that my future happiness is going to depend on if I achieve one more grand slam than the others or if the