He’s done it. Rafael Nadal has cemented a legacy as the greatest male tennis player of all time after he won his second Australian Open crown — and 21st grand slam title — in an unforgettable marathon final against Daniil Medvedev.
As the clock went past 1 am (AEDT) on Monday and the match ticked over the five-hour mark, an exhausted Nadal served out his fairytale comeback win 2-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-5 — sending Rod Laver Arena into pandemonium
Jim Courier said in a commentary the victory “rewrites history” as Nadal broke the deadlock of 20 grand slams he shared with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
He is now the only male player ever to win 21 majors.
He had to go to hell and back to do it.
Medvedev appeared well on his way to a straight-set victory after he broke Nadal’s heart in a rollercoaster second set tiebreak.
But Nadal responded as all the great champions do to win the next two sets. In the fifth set, the drama got plain silly.
Nadal was broken trying to serve the match out at 5-4 but then showed incredible mental strength to come out two service games later and land the decisive blow that allowed him to come out and serve for the match.
He did exactly that.
Speaking after the match, Nadal had a golden reaction to how he felt when he was broken at 5-4 in the deciding set. “I thought, f***, I am going to lose like in 2012 and 2017. But I just kept fighting. I can lose, he can win, but I can’t give up.”
It was a contest Aussie legend Todd Woodbridge said will go down as one of the greatest tennis matches of all time and the 5 hr 25 mins battle set a record as the second-longest Aussie Open final ever — the longest since the 5 hr 53 mins final between Nadal and Djokovic in 2012.
The triumph will go down as one of Nadal’s most iconic victories – less than two months after he thought a long-term foot injury may have forced him to retire.
Now the fairytale is complete.
English tennis writer Stuart Fraser summed up the mood when he tweeted: “I cannot believe what I have just seen.”
Fellow journalist Carole Bouchard called it an “insane comeback” while tennis commentator David Law wrote: “One of the best Grand Slam finals I’ve ever seen. One of the greatest, most astonishing sporting accomplishments I’ve ever seen. Rafael Nadal.”
Aussie tennis champion
