January 30, (THEWILL) –Â Rafael Nadal stormed back to win his 21st Grand Slam championship in the Australian Open final, defeating Daniil Medvedev in an incredible battle.
After winning his first Grand Slam championship at the US Open, the Russian second seed was looking to win two majors in a row, but Nadal mounted a historic comeback from two sets down to win a lengthy match in spectacular fashion, 2-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-5.
Medvedev, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2021final at Melbourne Park, dominated his renowned opponent early on with a barrage of groundstrokes to take a commanding lead.
But, remarkably, the 35-year-old Nadal came back to win the third and fourth sets, displaying all of his typical guts and grit, and he went on to upset a tired Medvedev in a match that lasted well over five hours.
To open the match, Nadal hit a tremendous winner, and it was evident right away that the Spaniard had the great majority of the spectators inside Rod Laver Arena on his side.
But Medvedev came back with a bang, winning five games in a row to take the first set, leaving his opponent drenched in heat and unable to establish himself on serve.
After an amazing 40-shot rally that finished with an audacious slice that took the fans to their feet, Nadal found some inspiration in the second set to break serve.
The second set, on the other hand, was far from over. In a topsy-turvy period of play, Medvedev reacted with a break of his own, resulting in a tense tie-break.
In an intriguing breaker, Nadal had his chances to tie it up, but it was Medvedev who took control with a succession of rasping strokes to take it 7-5 and double his lead.
The sixth seed knew he needed to answer in the third set, but it took him until the very end of the match to accomplish it. Medvedev’s extraordinary level dipped momentarily, and Nadal took advantage, breaking for 5-4 and winning the match.
Medvedev was suddenly feeling the heat as he yelled obscenities to the umpire about everything from the ball kids to the Nadal fans.
The fourth set got off to a chaotic start with three consecutive service breaks as Medvedev completely lost control of both his serve and his calm as Nadal twisted the screw.
The fans inside Rod Laver Arena could not believe what they were seeing as the long match stretched to a deciding set, and the Spaniard managed to edge over his exhausted opponent amid terrible tension and achieve a famous triumph at the match’s second serving time.
It is just Nadal’s second triumph at Melbourne Park, having won the tournament in 2009, and after the return he has staged in the off-season following a slew of ailments, this second title is all the more impressive.
He has now passed both of his greatest adversaries, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who each have 20 Grand Slam singles trophies to their names. This was a memorable and spectacular victory for Nadal.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
