Rafael Nadal won the Australian Open tournament. The Spanish tennis star won this Sunday against Russian Daniil Medvedev, reversing the outcome of the match. It’s a long fight given by the two tennis stars, 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in 5h24.
The man nicknamed the “Ogre of Ocher” thus won his second title at the Australian Open, after a first victory won in 2009. But also reinforced his legend with this historic 21st Grand Slam title. It is however still three lengths from the Margaret Court, 24 times victorious in Grand Slam. Rafael Nadal becomes the only men’s Major record holder at the age of 35, now one step ahead of the Swiss Roger Federer and the Serbian Novak Djokovic.
“During these 3 weeks here, I received a lot of love and support”, thanked Rafael Nadal when collecting his trophy. “A big thank you. (…) It was hard for a year and a half.”
Reunited with Norm #AusOpen • #AO2022 • @Rafael Nadalpic.twitter.com/QAh0CPWYN0
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2022
His opponent congratulated him. “What he did today is amazing. I was amazed. During the match I was just trying to play tennis and at the end I asked him ‘Are you really tired?’ (Laughs). The level was very high.”
A player with an unrivaled record
With 90 trophies, the place of world N.1 occupied for 209 weeks, four Davis Cups and two Olympic gold medals, in singles and doubles, he has at 35 the most abundant prize list, with those of Djokovic and Federer. He himself places above his two victories on the grass of Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, especially the first, won in a legendary match against the Swiss champion, co-author with him of one of the most fascinating soap operas in the history of the sport.
It was on clay, the slowest and most demanding ground for the head and the legs, that his art reached its perfection. For more than a decade, from April to June, he was almost unbeatable thanks to his enormous lift and his slides: 395 games won out of 430 played, almost 92% success. His Parisian triumphs, from 2005 to 2008, from 2010 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2020, were his masterpieces. No champion has ever managed to win the same Grand Slam tournament so often.
No one has ever won 81 games in a row either. on clay, a record set between April 2005 and May 2007, nor stack 62 titles on this surface.