MELBOURNE,
Australia —
Rafael Nadal roared back from two sets down to win a titanic five-set duel with
Daniil Medvedev and claim a record 21st Grand Slam men’s title in the
Australian Open final on Sunday.
اضافة اعلان
The Spanish great looked dead and buried as
the Russian world number two carved out a two-set lead but Nadal surged home
for one of his mightiest comeback wins 2–6, 6–7 (5/7), 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 in 5hr
24min on Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal came out on top in the physical war of
attrition to move ahead of era rivals
Novak Djokovic and
Roger Federer on the
all-time list of men’s major winners.
Djokovic missed his chance to improve on his
nine Australian Open wins when he was deported over vaccination issues on the
eve of the tournament, while Federer is injured.
It was one of the 35-year-old Spanish
warrior’s greatest title victories in his 29th Grand Slam final winning his
second Australian Open, 13 years after his first in 2009.
Nadal also became only the fourth man to win
each of the four Grand Slams twice and the third-oldest man in the Open Era to
win a Grand Slam title, behind Ken Rosewall and Federer.
The final went down to the bitter end with
Nadal being broken as he served for the championship only for the Spaniard to
break back.
On his second attempt to serve it out, Nadal
powered to three match points to win amid chaotic scenes in his player’s box
and the frenzied crowd.
It is the fourth time in his storied career
that Nadal had clawed back to win from two sets down and the second time Nadal
had denied Medvedev in a Grand Slam final, winning a five-set epic at the
2019 US Open.
It crowned an extraordinary effort from Nadal
at the year’s opening major, having to modify his game to compensate for a
degenerative bone disease in his left foot that ended his 2021 season last
August.
He then caught COVID-19 in December which, he
said, made him “very sick”.
Medvedev had wrecked Djokovic’s calendar
Grand Slam push and bid for a 21st title in New York four months ago and was
aiming to do the same to Nadal in Melbourne.
Medvedev lost his second consecutive
Australian Open final after falling in straight sets to Djokovic in last year’s
final.
Nadal now leads Medvedev 4–1, with the Russian also
losing to the Spanish lefty in his first major final at the 2019 US Open over
five sets.a
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