Rafael Nadal wins the Australian Open in 2022, making him the best tennis player in history after Grand Slam victories. With his 21st major title, he overtakes Swiss Roger Federer and Serbian Novak Djokovic in the all-time rankings. In a spectacular final, Nadal won 2: 6, 6: 7 (5), 6: 4, 6: 4 and 7: 5 against the Russian Daniil Medvedev after a set deficit of 0: 2. At 5:24 hours, it was the second longest Grand Slam final in history. The live ticker to read.
Nadal had won his last and only trophy at the Australian Open 13 years ago. It was all the more impressive how Nadal struggled against Medvedev, who was ten years his junior, and how he won the battle of attrition in the fifth set. The end of the game in particular was dramatic again: In the fifth set, Nadal led early with a break. However, when he served at 5-4 to tennis history, he lost his service game. But he immediately took the lead again – a fairytale comeback.
Before the tournament, the Mallorcan only played two games between mid-June and early January due to his complicated foot injury. He had discussed with his family whether it was time to say goodbye to tennis if the problems did not improve. As only the fourth player – alongside Djokovic, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson – the clay court dominator has now won every Grand Slam event at least twice. He triumphed in Melbourne in a similar fashion to Federer’s 2017 surprise win Down Under after suffering a knee injury and a long layoff.
In the final match of the tournament, it didn’t matter that Nadal made too many unforced errors in the first two sets. Medvedev initially looked like the better player for a long time. It seemed as if he could spoil the show for one of the stars of the tennis scene again. Just over four months ago, at the US Open in New York, Medvedev blocked Djokovic’s path to the 21st title and historic Grand Slam with all four major titles in one year.
Cool and defensively strong, the Russian defied the atmosphere in the Rod Laver Arena for a long time, because the sympathies were clearly on the part of Nadal. In the second set, a person protesting against Australia’s refugee policy briefly disrupted the game, but was quickly stopped by security guards. It wasn’t because Nadal couldn’t equalize the set despite a 5:3 lead.
Even if the Spaniard, in his own words, did not want to make his luck dependent on the Grand Slam record, the importance of the match may have played a role. “It’s a battle of nerves,” said Boris Becker as a Eurosport expert. From the end of the third set, Nadal turned up and generated more power. Medvedev, on the other hand, deviated a little from his line and also lost his rip-off. In the meantime, the Russian also discussed with the referee John Blom about spectators who were disturbing with their shouts and had his thigh treated.
The US Open final in 2019 had already developed into an exciting duel over five sets between the two, at that time Nadal had led by two sets and in the end only won in the decisive set. This time the Australian chair umpire followed up on Medvedev’s request at the beginning of the fifth set: He warned the spectators not to disturb between the first and second serve, otherwise he would have to call security. The spectators, his will and his mental strength finally carried Nadal to the memorable victory.