Rafael Nadal wins the Australian Open and reaches his 21st Grand Slam

Tennis 30/01/2022


Rafael Nadal, fifth in the world rankings, became the champion of the Australian Open, after beating Daniil Medvedev, second in the ranking, by 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5. The first Grand Slam of the season, which was held on hard surface at the Rod Laver Arena, resulted in $33,784,200 in prizes.

The Spaniard won his 21° Grand Slam which left him as the top winner of this type of competition: he shared the first place with Roger Federer (17°) and Novak Djokovic (1°). The Swiss and Serbian did not participate in the competition and were beaten by the Majorcan tennis player, who took over the record.

On the Russian side, beyond adding a new trophy, the great goal was to be for the first time in his career as number one in the world ranking. Had he surpassed Nadal he would have reached the top of the ladder to overcome Nole, absent in the Australian Open after a real scandal.

Medvedev’s timing could have made him the only player in the Open era to win his first two Grand Slams consecutively. However, he collided with an incredible Nadal who last year had only played six months for an injury and came from having Covid-19 in December.

As if the title in the historic match were not enough, the Spaniard became the second player in the Open era, the fourth in history, to conquer at least twice each of the four Grand Slams. The previous one had been Djokovic when last year he stayed for the second time with Roland Garros.

The two finalists at the Australian Open faced each other five times on the professional circuit: the Iberian won in four duels, while the Russian stayed with the remaining match. It had just been the last time faces were seen, in the semifinals of the London 2020 Masters.

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