Rafael Nadal is now out on his own as the most successful men’s tennis player of all-time, claiming his 21st grand slam with a comeback win that is one of the greatest triumphs of will ever seen in sport.
In the epic final which lasted over five hours, the Spaniard looked down as Medvedev won the first two sets. A determined Rafa brought his experience to the front as he overcame a tired Medvedev in Melbourne. It was the second longest Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets in 5 hours and 53 minutes in 2012. The King of Clay, who won the first ever grand slam in 2005, has 13 French Open titles to his name, along with four US Open titles, two Wimbledon titles and two Australian Open titles. The Spaniard had to fight har as he fought back from two sets down to beat the Russian Medvedev in an Australian Open final that lasted 5 hours and 24 minutes.
The 35-year-old was broken when serving for the championship at 5-4 in the fifth set but made no mistake the next time. With the 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win that started Sunday night and was delayed for a while in the second set when a protester jumped onto the court, Nadal also becomes just the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport's major titles at least twice. 21. Nadal now has one more than Roger Federer and Djokovic, his long-time rivals in the so-called Big Three. But with Djokovic heading back home after his visa had been rejected, it was Nadal who laid his hands on the historic title at the Rod Laver Arena and became the first player to achieve the feat.
In Nadal's sizzling category, this is the second time the Spaniard laid hands on the Australian Open title. Medvedev lost his second Australian Open final after losing to Djokovic last year.