Rafael Nadal's 21st grand title
It was unthinkable that three months ago, Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal would surpass his traditional rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic by winning the first Grand Slam of the New Year at the Melbourne Park Arena three months ago.
In the final of the Australian Open tennis championships, Rafael Nadal defeated world number two Daniel Mededeff of Russia in a hard-fought five-set bout, and now Nadal has won a record 21 grand slams, setting a new record in the world of tennis. The winners became the players. Swiss legend Roger Federer and world number one Novak Djokovic have won 20 grand slam titles.
In the final, the Russian player performed easily and won the first two sets easily. At this point, the competition seemed to be one-sided. It looked as if Medvedev would win the second Grand Slam title of his career, but Rafael Nadal's brilliant low back in the next three sets and the uncertain game he pushed will be remembered by tennis fans for a long time to come. Rafael Nadal calls it the historic and most extraordinary performance of his tennis career.
Before the Australian Open, there was speculation about Rafael Nadal's participation in the tournament as he had been suffering from fitness issues for several months and had not practiced much. He was not one of the favorites for the Australian Open. Defending champion Novak Djokovic was allowed to participate in the tournament by the tournament organizers without elaborating on the vaccine vaccination, although the vaccine is a prerequisite for visitors to Australia.
Djokovic flew to Melbourne to defend his title, but the organizers' decision to grant Djokovic immunity was challenged in court. The court rejected the exemption and ordered Djokovic to leave Australia immediately. Under the circumstances, Medvedev, Zverev, Britney and Tessipas were considered the new champions of the Australian Open, but the Spanish superstar Nadal not only stunned the tennis fans with his unparalleled game, but also made a new history of tennis. Of Rafael Nadal hugged his father Sebastian in a very emotional way after winning the 21st Grand Slam.
In the Australian Open final, Nadal recalled the Wimbledon Open final a decade ago, where he won his first Wimbledon grass court title, defeating defending champion Roger Federer in a hard-fought five-set contest.
In the final of the Australian Open, Daniel Medvedev started the game very aggressively and did not give his opponent a chance to play in the first set. They quickly won the first set 2-6. The second set was delayed because one of the protesters broke through the security fence and entered the court. In the second set, Nadal put up a formidable resistance against the in-form Russian player, but Medvedev kept his nerves under control, winning the second set 6-7 to take a 2-0 lead and to win the Australian Open for the first time. The set needed to be won, but then Nadal played an extraordinary game that set a new record.
Rafael Nadal is known for playing five-set matches. They have more ability to back down than other players and they have demonstrated this repeatedly in major events. Surprisingly, Rafael Nadal never experienced a five-set contest in 13 French Open final matches at his favorite clay court in Paris.
With Nadal losing two sets, the final looked set to be a one-sided contest at this stage, but thanks to his superb resistance, the Spanish legend Nadal, who is known for his low backs in the match, made full use of his experience and Playing the best shots against the Russian opponent in the third set forced him to defend.
The Russian player also started the third set victorious by winning the first game. At one point, Medvedev had a 3-2 lead over Rafael Nadal. The Russian star had three break points in the sixth game, but Nadal saved those three break points with great skill and won the sixth game to level the score at 3-3. Medvedev won the fourth game and then took the lead, but then Rafael Nadal made a brilliant comeback and won three games in a row to win 6-4.
Rafael Nadal continued his attacking play in the fourth set and won the set 4-6 to tie the match at 2-2.
In the fifth and decisive set, Medvedev got off to a good start by winning the first game, but in that set, the Russian star had no answer to Rafael Nadal's high-speed service ground strokes backhand and drop shots. Nadal quickly took a 5-3 lead, but the undefeated Medvedev won two more games to tie the game at 5-5. In the 11th game, both players played long rallies to take the lead and received a standing ovation from the spectators for a beautiful game and Nadal won the game to make the score 6-5.
In the decisive game, Dataniel Medvedev showed signs of exhaustion and in this game, he looked completely helpless in the face of the Spanish legend's aggressive play and he made double mistakes. He could not answer the aces. Medvedev failed to score a point in the game and Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open trophy with a triumphant backhand winner at 136km / h. Nadal won 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. For the second year in a row, Medvedev remained runners-up. He lost to Djokovic last year.
The final lasted 5 hours and 24 minutes, the second longest final in the history of the Australian Open. Earlier in 2012, the longest final was played between Nadal and Djokovic, lasting 5 hours and 53 minutes. Djokovic was the winner in this final.
Last year, in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, Rafael Nadal was defeated by the Greek player Tesipas in an extraordinary game and lost in five sets. In this quarter-final, Rafael Nadal had won the first two sets like Medidev, but he could not retain control of the game after that. The reason was that he had suffered back pain at the Adelaide Open before the Australian Open and also suffered back pain in the quarter-finals against Tesspas.
Rafael Nadal reached the finals of 29 Grand Slam tournaments in his career and won 21 titles. They have lost only eight finals, including four Australian Open finals, three Wimbledon and one US Open final.
Rafael Nadal has been beaten twice in the Australian Open by Djokovic and once by Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. Twice at Wimbledon he was defeated by Roger Federer and once by Djokovic. Nadal's opponent in the US Open final was Djokovic the winner. Clay Court did not beat King Nadal in the French Open finals.
Rafael Nadal stayed away from the tennis court in the second half of 2021 due to a foot injury and other fitness issues. During this time they played only two matches. He did not participate in any events, including the Wimbledon Tokyo Olympics and the US Open. Last year, concerns were raised that Rafael Nadal's career could be jeopardized by foot injuries. He also fell victim to Covid 19 in mid-December. He had a long discussion with his team about the possibility of returning to the tennis tour۔
After the final match, his face showed signs of fatigue, which caused him to sit on a chair at the awards ceremony. The situation was similar at the 2012 Wimbledon Open. After the final, Rafael Nadal said that such a long and tough competition destroyed me physically. The body is breaking down due to fatigue but the joy of this victory is indescribable. It's a historic victory that puts me ahead of my two traditional rivals, Federer and Nadal.
"I will come to Melbourne Park again next year," said Rafael Nadal. This is the second grand Australian Open title of the Spanish player's career. He won his first Australian Open title in 2009 by defeating Roger Federer by five sets in the final.
Nadal said, ''I don't care about the records.'' Winning the Grand Slam after being out of court for more than six months is the most amazing moment of my entire career and it is the biggest victory of my life. The 21st title is crucial for Nadal.
Rafael Nadal's coach and former tennis star Carlos Moya said a few months ago that Nadal could win more Grand Slam tournaments. After winning the Australian Open, he said that this was definitely not Nadal's last Grand Slam title. I know Rafa is a fighter and he knows how to handle difficult situations. He has proved many things in the past. The world is aware of his performance in the history of tennis.
Swiss legend Roger Federer said that Nadal played an extraordinary game in the final. A few months ago we were both walking on crutches. His performance in the final, despite trailing by two sets, will be remembered for years to come. We've both had some difficult times in the last half year. I'll be back to the tennis tour soon.
World number one Novak Djokovic also described Nadal's death as "amazing and inspiring". The Serbian legend congratulated Nadal, saying that the Spanish legend has a passion for fighting to the last which sets him apart from other players. I am happy to be playing under Federer and Nadal, which is an honor.
Daniel Medvedev is also obsessed with Rafael Nadal's abilities. Some time ago, in a program, he was asked which player he would like to be with if he was stuck in a desert island, to which Medidev replied that he would like to have Rafael Nadal with him. I would like to have a player who can help me survive, cook and for that I need a mentally strong person.
He said, ''I don't think there is anyone better than Nadal.'' Because he is not only capable of coping with all kinds of situations and knows how to do things right. I am not sure if he will be happy with me there but he will definitely be happy with me. Japanese tennis stars Kai Nishikori and Yanak Suner also chose Rafael Nadal to accompany them because of these abilities.
Rafael Nadal's eyes are now on the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, which opens at the Favorite Clay Court in Paris, with defending champion Novak Djokovic, who defeated Nadal by four sets in the semi-finals last year.
Spanish legend Nadal hopes to win the trophy once again at the Roland Gross event on the red clay court. French authorities have given Djokovic the green signal to participate in the tournament, but it remains to be seen what will happen when the tournament starts.