Heading into the 2022 Australian Open, all of the talk was about Novak Djokovic, who decided not to get vaccinated in order to attend the first major of the year. Djokovic of Serbia would have entered the tournament as the favourite, and win a record-breaking 21st career major. In the end, it was a tennis player who won his 21st major, but it was not Djokovic, but Spain’s Rafael Nadal. After a 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, Nadal has the record for the most major titles ever as he breaks a record where he was previously tied with Djokovic and Roger Federer of Switzerland.
Nadal beat Medvedev in a marathon final of five hours and 24 minutes. It was in fact the longest match of the entire 2022 Australian Open. According to the ATP Tour, Nadal became the first player to win the Australian Open men’s final after being down two sets to love since Roy Emerson of Blackbutt beat Fred Stolle of Hornsby, 7-9, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 in 1965.
This was in fact the fourth time in Nadal’s career that he was down two sets and came back to win the match. He previously accomplished the feat in the 2005 Madrid Final, when he beat Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6; the second round of Wimbledon in 2006, when he beat Robert Kendrick of the United States, 6-7, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-4, and the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2007, where he beat Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
At the 2022 Australian Open, Nadal also beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3. In that match, Nadal needed to win the match in five sets despite losing sets three and four.
It was also a successful weekend for Australian tennis. In the men’s doubles final, it was an all-Australian battle as Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios defeated Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-5, 6-4. It was the first all-Australian men’s doubles final since 1980. That year, Mark Edmondson and Kim Warwick beat Paul McNamee and Peter McNamara, 7-5, 6-4.
Of Nadal’s 21 major titles, two have come at the Australian Open. He previously beat Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 in 2009. Nadal has also won 13 French Opens, four United States Opens and two Wimbledons.
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