Rafa Nadal came back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the finals of the Australian Open. With this the Spaniard has now taken his Grand Slam tally to 21, which is one more than both world no one Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Medvedev started the match on a commanding note, winning the first set 6-2. The Russian went on to win the second set 7(7)-6(5), which went into a tie breaker. Nadal then produced a brilliant comeback and went on to notch the following two sets 6-4 each.
As the match went into the final set, both the tennis icons produced a neck-to-neck fight with Nadal clinching it 7-5 in the end.
Soon after Nadal’s record-breaking win, wishes poured in on Twitter congratulating the world no 6. Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar to Proteas legend AB de Villers, all hailed Nadal’s tenacity in this fighting win.
Nadal’s previous Grand Slam victory came in 2020, when he had defeated Djokovic to win the French Open. This is his second Australian Open title, he last won the Grand Slam at Melbourne over a decade ago defeating Federer.
Meanwhile, this was the second consecutive runners-up finish for Medvedev at the Australian Open. He had lost the final to Djokovic in the 2021 edition of the tournament.