Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam, beats Medvedev in Australian Open

Rafael Nadal achieved his dream of a record 21st Grand Slam title on Sunday as he defeated Daniil Medvedev of Russia 2-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the final of the Australian Open. The game lasted five hours and 24 minutes.  

With this win, Nadal has overtaken Roger Federer for the first time in his career, becoming only the fourth man to win two of each of the four grand slams.  

Nadal had advanced to his sixth Australian Open final with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini on Friday. Medvedev defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a heated semifinal. 

Nadal had lost classic five-set finals at Melbourne Park to Novak Djokovic in 2012 and Roger Federer in 2017. Nadal lost in four sets to Stan Wawrinka in 2014 and had a straight-set defeat against Djokovic three years ago. The odds were heavily stacked against him this time; Nadal spent 6-7 months injured last year, and lost the last four Australian Open finals that he reached. Before the final, the win predictor was 64-36 in Medvedev’s favor. 

After the match, Nadal said this could have been the last Australian Open of his career, had he not won.   

Image courtesy of (Image courtesy: Odu.biz)

Share this post