Australian Open: Rafael Nadal beats Daniil Medvedev from two sets down in Melbourne epic

Dates: 17-30 January Campus: melbourne park
Coverage: Daily radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app, with selected live text commentary online; Mid-Saturday TV summaries.

Rafael Nadal won a record 21 men’s Grand Slam titles in the most impressive way, fighting from straight sets to beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in a classic Australian Open final.

US Open champion Medvedev was seeking his second consecutive major title.

The 25-year-old Medvedev was in command before Nadal showed his full courage and fights his way to an extraordinary victory.

The 35-year-old Spaniard has been at the center of some of the sport’s most incredible triumphs, but this surely becomes the most surprising Grand Slam victory of his illustrious career.

Nadal’s achievement comes just a few months after he thought he might never return to tour due to a foot injury.

In the absence of the deported Novak Djokovic and the injured Roger Federer in Melbourne, Nadal has jumped ahead of his greatest rivals in the race to finish with the most major men’s singles titles.

It is the southpaw’s second Australian Open title and comes 13 years after his only previous success.

“Without a doubt it is one of the most emotional triumphs of my career,” he said after the trophy presentation.

Nadal’s emotional celebrations after adversity

Chronic pain in Nadal’s left foot limited him to just one tournament in the final seven months of 2021, while a coronavirus outbreak in mid-December also left him “very ill with a fever”.

Those setbacks meant the Australian Open was only his second competitive event in five months, having won a warm-up tournament at Melbourne Park in early January.

Nadal sealed victory against Medvedev at five hours and 24 minutes – and at 01:11 Melbourne local time – when the second seed failed to return a net volley on the Spaniard’s first of three match points.

Dropping his racket to the ground, Nadal froze with his hands on his hips and his jaw dropped. After a warm hug with Medvedev, he walked over to his support team and exploded with excitement.

A first triple pump was followed by a drop to her knees, her hands covering her face as she looked up at the sky.

Nadal walked slowly to his players’ box, hugging Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley on his way to hug his father, Sebastian.

The intensity of their celebration illustrated the euphoria Nadal felt after the obstacles he had overcome – on the night and in recent months – to win.

Earlier in his career, Nadal had only won three straight-set matches, most recently at Wimbledon in 2007 against Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.

The victory came at the end of the second-longest Grand Slam final in history, just 30 minutes from the 2012 final at Melbourne Park, when Nadal lost to Djokovic.

He had given so much to his record-breaking achievement that during the trophy presentation, Nadal was brought a chair so he could sit instead of standing.

Medvedev’s irritation at pro-Nadal support

In straight sets, Medvedev appeared to be well on his way to backing up his victory in New York with another win at Melbourne Park.

Nadal lacked fluidity with his groundstrokes in the first set, particularly on the backhand side, and it took Medvedev five games in a row to seal it, Nadal hitting another backhand into the net, the Spanish southpaw’s 16th unforced error against just five. of his adversary.

The youngster’s dominance was also illustrated by winning 31 of the total points compared to Nadal’s 17.

With all the stats in Medvedev’s favor, the second set unexpectedly turned Nadal around at 2-1.

Nadal ended a 40-stroke rally with an angled backhand, creating break points for the first time in the match, and an unforced error from Medvedev handed the game over.

Suddenly, Nadal had a jump in his step, and the crowd got louder too, as he advanced 4-2.

Three successive breaks of serve followed, a run that ended with a dramatic ninth game that stunned the Laver crowd.

It included a set point for Nadal, five break points for Medvedev and play was stopped when a protester jumped onto the court before being dragged away by security.

The set eventually went to a tie break in which Medvedev finished stronger and it seemed doubtful that Nadal, already looking tired and sweating profusely, would be able to defend himself.

Another crucial moment came in the sixth game of the third set when Nadal, facing two sets and a break down, battled back from three break points.

Both men held serve until the ninth game when Nadal, whose indomitable spirit began to grow, pounced.

Medvedev, perhaps as a result of the goal line being in sight, lost his clarity of thought when he tried to drive in a volley and instead hit it into the net.

That drew raucous cheers from the crowd, and Medvedev responded with a sarcastic clap of his racket.

The Spaniard broke and served the set to love, sending the pro-Nadal crowd into more ecstasy.

A tense fourth set featured 15 break points, with Nadal converting two of his 10 chances to strike the decisive blow.

Medvedev continued to be upset by the support given to Nadal and the frequent noise during his service points, prompting referee John Blom to repeatedly call for calm.

Nadal now looked like the man with the mental stamina to get the job done.

He broke for 3-2, but then stumbled as he served for the match at 5-4, only to break right away to lead 6-5 and pull out the win at the second try.

Medvedev then thanked his team and joked, “I’m sure my wife is watching at home, but I think the TV will break now.”