Rafael Nadal has produced one of the greatest comeback victories of his career to clinch Australian Open glory and a record 21st singles grand slam title.
In an engrossing five-set encounter that lasted five hours and 24 minutes and finished after 1am (AEDT), the champion Spaniard dropped the first two sets of the final in his clash with Daniil Medvedev and faced three break points in the third.
But the insatiable competitor stormed back to clinch a 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 win at Rod Laver Arena.
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Nadal’s Herculean triumph pushed the 35-year-old clear of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the battle for most men’s singles major titles, while it also denied Medvedev in his pursuit of the world No.1 ranking.
Nadal had lost four Australian Open finals since winning his only previous silverware at the Melbourne Park major in 2009, but the former world No.1 channelled the heartbreak of bygone years to prevail over Medvedev.
After Nadal broke Medvedev’s serve and the Russian broke back to level the fifth-set scores at 5-5, Nadal won back the break and then held serve to round out the incredible win.
“It’s 21 for Rafa and he stands alone at the summit of men’s tennis,” said Todd Woodbridge on Nine’s Wide World of Sports as Nadal sewed up victory.
“A remarkable match, a remarkable comeback and a remarkable champion.”
Jim Courier labelled Nadal “superhuman”.
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Medvedev looked to be storming to his maiden Australian Open title when he had three break points in the sixth game of the third set, but Nadal dug himself out of the hole and soon after broke his rival’s serve to go 5-4 up, en route to capturing the set.
It was about then that Medvedev began to show signs of fatigue, with the world No.2 gurgling down pickle juice and receiving several massages from his physiotherapist on his quadriceps.
“What a turn this is taking,” Courier said.
“This is amazing.”
Not only did Nadal complete an extraordinary comeback in the match, the spirited veteran fought back from career-threatening foot surgery and a dose of COVID-19 on the brink of the tournament.
“It’s just amazing,” Nadal said during the trophy ceremony.
“To be honest, one month and a half ago I didn’t know if I would be back on the tour playing tennis again.
“Today I am here in front of all of you having this trophy with me, and you don’t know how much I worked to be here.”
The emotion that had swirled inside Nadal on his gruelling road back to the top spilled out in his celebration.
Medvedev failed to return a backhand volley and Nadal, at a standstill, dropped his racquet and looked to his team in disbelief, a beaming smile lighting up his face.
Then after acknowledging Medvedev and the chair umpire, he pumped his fists repeatedly, collapsed to his knees and planted his face in his hands.
“Without a doubt that is probably one of the most emotional ones in my tennis career,” Nadal said.
“I really can’t explain the feelings that I have right now.”
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