Rafael Nadal Makes History At Australia Open 2022 After Defeating Daniil Medvedev In Match 5 And Half Hours

Rafael Nadal (ATP)

JAKARTA – Spain's Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open 2022. He had to fight for 5 hours 24 minutes to stop Russian Daniil Medvedev.

Playing at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park, Australia, Sunday, January 30, the 35-year-old had to fall behind in the first two sets. He then got up and ended the game with a score of 2-6, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

This victory made Nadal managed to grab the 21st Grand Slam trophy in his career. This trophy automatically makes the tennis player nicknamed the King of Clay the most successful in the history of the men's singles in the grand slam event.

Nadal now passes Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Previously the three players held the record equivalent to 20 grand slams.

The final match against Medvedev was Nadal's 29th grand slam final. The Australian Open title this year is his second title at Melbourne Park.

This year's Australian Open title will make Nadal only the second person after Djokovic to win every grand slam title twice since tennis became a professional sport in 1968.

After becoming champion in 2009, Nadal has successfully reached four more finals after that, in 2012, 2014, 2017, and 2019. However, on four occasions he has always lost.

In 2012 he gave up when he met Novak Djokovic. After missing out on 2013, Nadal reached the final again in 2014, but he failed to win the title due to a four-set loss against Stan Wawrinka.

Nadal bagged the opportunity to win a second title at Melbourne Park in 2017. However, the opportunity was lost after he was bent by Roger Federer.

Nadal's chances again disappeared in 2019 after being stopped by Djokovic. This year Djokovic himself was unable to play at a grand slam earlier in the season after being denied a visa for entering the country without a COVID-19 vaccine.