2022 Australian Open: Nadal fought for 5 hours and 24 minutes, losing 2 chases and 3 reverses Medvedev to win the title

On January 30, Beijing time, the first Grand Slam Australian Open of 2022 decided the final champion. Spanish champion Nadal was not old, fighting the No. 2 seed Medvedev for 5 hours and 24 minutes, and after conceding two sets, he staged a Jedi reversal 2-6/6-7 (5)/6-4/6-4/7-5 to win his 21st grand slam singles title of his career, surpassing his previous record of 20 with Djokovic and Federer, and ranking first in history alone.

The two had met four times before the final, with Nadal having the upper hand with 3 wins and 1 loss. The two most recently met in the semi-finals of the 2020 ATP Year-End Finals, where Medvedev won in three sets. The last time the two sides met at a Grand Slam arena was also in the final, when the two of them fought in five sets at the 2019 US Open, and finally Nadal narrowly won the championship.

Left: Nadal / Right: Medvedev

In the first set, Medvedev entered the form quickly, forcing out the break point from Nadal's second serve, although Nadal eventually had a thrilling save, but the good times did not last long. In the fifth set, espanyol's form fluctuated, and Medvedev scored four straight points to complete the break first. After a set, Nadal's serve was once again lost, and after sending two consecutive double errors, he was once again broken by the No. 2 seed. Medvedev then took the lead 6-2.

In the second set, Nadal took the lead. In the third set, after a one-point 40-beat standoff, the Spaniard took the lead in taking the break point and cashing in to take a 3-1 lead. In the seventh set, Medvedev, with his stable bottom-line stalemate ability and excellent physical reserves, frequently forced out Nadal's mistakes, and the Russian seized the opportunity to complete the breakback and chase the set to 3-4. Medvedev's serve was again broken by the Spanish king. However, when it came to Nadal's own serve to win the set, Nadal missed the opportunity to save the set and failed to save the set, and after being broken back, the score came to 5-4. Subsequently, the match was dragged into the grab seven. In the seventh, Medvedev scored four consecutive points when he was trailing 3-5 in small points to win the second set 7-6 (5).

The game progressed to the mid-to-back course, and after the first two sets, both of them were more focused on their serves in the third set. It wasn't until the ninth inning that Nadal finally broke the deadlock, completed the break, and scored four consecutive points to win his own serve to win the set and pull back a city 6-4. In the fourth set, the two sides launched a break war after saving their first serve, and when the game went to the ninth set, Nadal relied on the advantage of breaking first and took the lead to win the set. At this time, Medvedev's physical fitness reached a bottleneck, the bottom line error increased, and the experienced Spaniard did not give up the opportunity, dragging the game into the decider 6-4.

In the fifth set, the morale-boosting Nadal once again seized the opportunity of his opponent's physical fitness in the service game, took the lead in the crucial fifth set of the intraday stage to complete the break, and then experienced six equal points in his own serve, saving three break points and struggling to save the serve, bringing the score of the decider to a 4-2 lead. After the two sets of each side saved their own serves, Nadal came to his own serve to win the game, and the Russians, who were not willing to give up the victory, began to stage a counterattack, breaking Nadal's serve to tie the score to 5-5. Subsequently, Nadal broke again again with the color. The Spaniard, who came to the second serve to win, learned the lesson of the past and finally locked the score at 7-5, successfully staged a comeback, defeated Medvedev and won his 21st professional Grand Slam singles title.

(Text, Editor/Xiang Zhengyang, Photo/Visual China)