Rafael Nadal won the 2022 Australian Open on Sunday by edging out the world’s No.2 Daniil Medvedev in one of the most memorable tennis matches in recent history. The win gave Nadal a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam and allowed him to break the tie with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, who each have 20 major trophies.
Medvedev was considered the favorite entering the match on the back of a dominant run at the tournament and the U.S. Open win in 2021. On the other hand, Nadal has been out of tennis for six months and battled a foot injury that limited him to just two matches last year.
Medvedev easily took the first set, dismantling Nadal with 6-2. The 25-year-old Russian then claimed the second set in the tiebreak (6-7 (5)) and was in an excellent position to take care of business in the third, holding a 4-3 lead at one point. However, Nadal refused to go away and won the next three games to steal the third set and get back into the match.
From that point on, the momentum was on Nadal’s side while he also got some help from the crowd that cheered for him the whole time. At the same time, Medvedev became increasingly frustrated and started losing confidence in his shot. This allowed Nadal to win the fourth set with 6-4 and set the stage for a thrilling finale.
In the fifth set, Nadal stormed to a 5-3 lead, but it was Medvedev who rallied this time. He successfully served to stay in the match before breaking Nadal’s serve to tie it at 5-5. Still, this proved to be his final act as Nadal comfortably took the next two games and emerged as a winner after five hours and 24 minutes of tennis.
“At the end, history is about the victory, but the way that you win the match in terms of personal feelings is different,” Nadal said after the match. “The way that I achieved this trophy tonight was just unforgettable, one of the most emotional matches of my tennis career, without a doubt. [It] means a lot to me.”
