Rafael Nadal has made history. With his triumph at the Australian Open, he passed his eternal rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – and showed once again that he is a true champion.
The word epic is an overused one in sport. Everywhere the best of the best duel it out in supposedly unbelievable matches for the biggest title of all. But no person watching Sunday’s Australian Open final between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev is likely to find a better word to describe this match.
Participation in the tournament long unclear
For 5 hours and 24 minutes, the old champion from Manacor and his opponent Daniil Medewedew, a recent US Open winner, played a match on an incredible level – with the better end for the 35-year-old.
The fact that he was able to turn a 2-0 set deficit into a dramatic five-set victory underlined the Spaniard’s irrepressible will and at the same time sent a signal: “Look, I’m still here. Until a few weeks before the start of the tournament, it was still completely unclear whether Nadal, who was suffering from a corona illness as well as a complicated foot injury, would be able to participate at all.
On this day, Nadal once again showed a superhuman performance and revealed that he is more than an athlete who longs for fame and glory. His supporters see him as the incarnation of the tennis god himself. On Sunday, he lived up to that image with all his playing class.
“Goat” debate just a side note
And the fact that it was him and not defending champion Novak Djokovic who was allowed to write his name in the history books is only a piquant side note in the eternal question of who is the “Goat” (Greatest of all time) in tennis.
Nadal’s triumph over Medvedev is historic. The title in Melbourne means the 21st Grand Slam title ever for the clay court specialist. He thus overtook his eternal opponent Novak Djokovic, who was not allowed to compete, as well as former champion Roger Federer (20 Grand Slam titles each).
“A month ago I didn’t know if I would be able to return to the tour and now I’m standing here with the trophy,” Nadal said after his triumph during the after-match interview. “I can hardly explain what it means to me,” he continued on Eurosport. And, “I don’t know how I did it. I’m just destroyed. “
In fact, Nadal had thought that this Australian Open could be his last. But now, he said, he has plenty of energy to carry on.
Happy news on a historic, epic day.
