RAFAEL Nadal has won a record-breaking 21st grand slam title after emerging victorius from the Australian Open final.
The Spaniard came from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 in the men’s singles final.
When the match, which lasted five hours and 24 minutes, finally finished at 1.11am local time in Melbourne, Nadal dropped his racket to the court in disbelief before pumping his fists in delight and celebrating with his support team.
His win means he has won one more grand slam title than either of his rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. They have both won 20.
Djokovic had also been aiming to win his 21st title in Australia, but was barred from entry after a row around his visa and the country's Covid restrictions.
READ MORE: Novak Djokovic returns to Serbia after deportation from Australia
Nadal's victory was only his second in the Melbourne tournament, having last won it in 2009.
The champion has also won Wimbledon twice (in 2008 and 2010) and the US Open four times (2010, 2013, 2017, and 2019).
Known for his prowess on clay courts, Nadal has won the French Open 13 times. He won it every year from 2005 to 2014, with the exception of 2009. He then won it four more times in a row from 2017 to 2020.
He also won the gold medal in men's singles tennis at the 2008 Olympic Games.
Having won all five of these tournaments, Nadal is only one of two men to have won a "career Golden Slam" in singles. The other was American great Andre Agassi.
The victory in Melbourne also makes him only the second man in the Open era after Djokovic to win each of the four titles at least twice.
But the numbers only tell a fraction of the story. The Spaniard feared he may have to retire only a couple of months ago because of a chronic foot problem and arrived in Australia unsure of what he could achieve.
Reaching the final had already exceeded all expectations and it appeared he would fall just short again in Melbourne when Medvedev, who was looking to follow up his maiden US Open title by becoming the first man in the Open era to win the next major as well, moved two sets ahead.
Nadal had faded physically in the third set of his matches against both Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini but, at 35 and playing in just his 10th match since early August, he outlasted an opponent nearly a decade his junior.
Remarkably, it is also the first time Nadal has recovered from two sets down to win a match since beating Mikhail Youzhny at Wimbledon in 2007, and he is the first to do so in an Australian Open final since Roy Emerson in 1965.
The final, meanwhile, was the second longest in the tournament’s history, behind only the epic tussle between Djokovic and Nadal in 2012.
Nadal was willed on by a crowd who cheered nearly as loudly for him as they had for Australian winner Ashleigh Barty (below) on Saturday evening.
Medvedev was greeted by boos as he entered Rod Laver Arena and the Russian, who is rapidly becoming the sport’s favourite villain, entered into more dialogue with the umpire, this time Australian John Blom, over fans calling out between first and second serves.
He kept a handle on his emotions a lot better than he had during his semi-final victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas, when he screamed at umpire Jaume Campistol, restricting his insults to calling the noisy fans “idiots”.
The contest was also briefly interrupted by a protester who dramatically jumped out of the crowd and onto the court during the ninth game of the second set holding a banner highlighting refugee detention – a campaign that received a global spotlight when Djokovic was detained and then deported ahead of the tournament.
Security guards quickly raced onto the court and tackled the intruder before hauling the person away.
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