Nadal wins Australian Open for 21st major title

It took all of Rafael Nadal’s extraordinary grit and determination to break the tie with his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the early hours in Melbourne.

The Spanish 35-year-old produced the most astonishing comeback of his glittering career, beating the world No 2 Daniil Medvedev from two sets down to win a record 21st grand-slam men’s singles title at the Australian Open reports The Times of London

In an enthralling match that eventually came to an and after five hours and 24 minutes at 1.11am local time, Nadal battled back from the brink to overcome his younger opponent by ten years, 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Considering that less than two months ago, he doubted whether he would ever step on a tennis court again because of a chronic foot injury, this surely will go down as the finest of his 21 major triumphs.

The odds were stacked against him after losing the second set. Nadal had not successfully recovered from this position for almost 15 years, since he defeated Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2007, and there had never been a comeback like this at the Australian Open in the open era.

But Nadal dug deeper than ever before to ensure that he lays his claim as the greatest male player of all-time.

Unsurprisingly, Nadal was the clear crowd favourite when he walked out onto the court, with the vast majority of the 12,000 ticketholders eager to witness history. Medvedev’s talent is admired but it is difficult for spectators to get behind him when he often likes to taunt and make gestures toward them.

The early stages highlighted the difficult task that Nadal faced as the underdog on the court. He immediately faced pressure on his serve and, on a humid evening, required the assistance of a ball kid to mop up drips of sweat from the baseline area after only three games.

He also requested a bag of sawdust, an unusual method formerly used by Ivan Lendl to help dry the moist racket grip.

Somewhat inevitably after this sluggish start by Nadal, Medvedev was first to claim the break for 3-2. He was far too steady off the ground for his error-strewn opponent and, after earning the cushion of a double break for 5-2, he comfortably served out the opening set.

Nadal raised his game in the second set and started to enjoy more success from the back of the court. A stunning cross-court backhand slice dropped over the net to break for 3-1 and he moved to within a game of the set at 5-3.

A dramatic 13-minute game then followed, during which a male protester jumped 10 feet on to the court from the stands with a banner protesting against the detention of refugees. He was quickly tackled to the ground by security guards, some of whom also formed cordons around both players to protect them.

When play resumed, Medvedev crucially saved a set point and broke back before going on to force a tiebreak. Nadal came close again to taking the set with a 5-3 lead, but then struggled to find a way through the formidable Medvedev defence and lost four straight points.

Losing an 84-minute set after coming so close was a hammer blow for Nadal, and his chances of a comeback at this point were seemingly slim to none.

Typically, Nadal does not know when he is beaten. He hung on in the third set by saving three break points and suddenly claimed a break of his own, hitting a thundering backhand pass down the line for 5-4.

Medvedev was furious after Nadal closed out the set, complaining to the umpire John Blom about the noise from the crowd in between his first and second serves.

Clearly rattled by both his opponent’s resurgence and the crowd’s behaviour, Medevev hit a double fault to go 2-1 down in the fourth set.

He sarcastically applauded his detractors and then requested the physio for a massage of his left thigh. Moments earlier, he had seen drinking pickle juice in an attempt to prevent cramp.

The treatment appeared to have some temporary effect as Medvedev broke back, but Nadal immediately reclaimed the break with a backhand pass for 3-2. Still infuriated by the untimely shouts from the stands, Medvedev focused his ire towards Blom once again.

Now in full control of the rallies with his spin-heavy forehand, Nadal remarkably looked the fresher of the two players at this stage.

Seconds before midnight he levelled the match at two sets all, much to the delight of his many fans, who had no intention of leaving their seats.

With the momentum in his favour, Nadal claimed the first break of the deciding set, steering a ferocious forehand winner down the line for 3-2. But there was still more drama to come when he failed to serve out the match from 5-4, 30-0, netting a backhand on break point after being given a time violation for exceeding the 25-second time limit in between points.

Nadal quickly made amends with another break for 6-5 and this time he made no mistake. With three match points at 40-0, he converted the first by rushing forward towards the net to put away the unreturnable volley. What a player. What a night.