New Delhi: Spanish ace Rafael Nadal, after over five hours on court, defeated Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to win a men's record 21st Grand Slam title, becoming the most successful male tennis player at Grand Slam tournaments of all time. A match that will go down in history as one of the best grand slam finals. Nadal was two sets down, but made a superb comeback to win three sets in a row.
The 'Spanish Bull' had missed the US Open, Wimbledon and thought he might have to retire because of a chronic foot problem. However, the 35-year-old showed great mental and physical strength to recover from two-sets-to-love down, level things up against reigning US Open champion Medvedev on Rod Laver Arena. Nadal, tonight, made one of the most epic comebacks in the history of the game.
Nadal came back from 0-2 sets down in a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, since 2007. The veteran has secured a title win at the Australian Open for the first time since 2009. After this historic win, he also is now the fourth man in the history of sport to win all four majors multiple times.
Nadal, now is ahead of Federer for the first time in his career in terms of number of grand slams. He also went ahead of Djokovic, who missed the Australian Open due to problems in acquiring a visa.