Nadal interprets the word "fighter."
In the history of the sport of tennis, is there anyone more tenacious, tenacious and more willful than Nadal?
In the Australian Open final on January 30, Nadal, in a desperate situation of 0-2 behind, spent more than 5 hours to reverse the game, defeated Medvedev 3-2, lifted the Australian Open championship trophy for the second time, and also raised his number of Grand Slam titles to 21, setting a new record in men's tennis history.
At the same time, Nadal also completed the feat of double lap Grand Slam!
Nadal in the game.
Previously, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic all held 20 Grand Slam titles, and whoever could take the lead in winning another title would be able to enjoy the glory of the number of Grand Slam men's singles titles since the Open era.
At this Australian Open, due to Federer's absence due to physical reasons, Djokovic was cancelled by Australia because he was not vaccinated against the new crown vaccine, and Nadal ushered in a good opportunity to compete for the crown.
But even so, for Nadal, who is about to turn 36, winning the Australian Open, which he is not good at, is definitely not an easy task.
In the quarterfinals against Canada's Shapovalov, Nadal played five sets with his opponent to win with difficulty, and after the game, he also lamented: "As soon as the third set came up, I began to feel very tired and unwell. I'm not 21 years old anymore. ”
Facing the final opponent Medvedev, although Nadal leads with 3 wins and 1 loss in the past record, it is difficult to say that he is completely sure, after all, Medvedev, who ranks second in the world, is ahead of Nadal in fifth place in ranking.
The two's most recent meeting, in the semifinals of the 2020 year-end finals, was also won by Medvedev.
The young Medvedev did not seize the opportunity.
In fact, this Australian Open title is not only significant for Nadal, but also for Medvedev. You must know that in last year's US Open, he once defeated Djokovic in the final, shattering the latter's dream of 21 Grand Slam titles.
This time, if he can win the cup, Medvedev will replace Djokovic to reach the top of the world, becoming the first non-"Big Four" player to reach the top in 18 years, and the first non-"Big Three" player to win a Grand Slam in 20 years.
"I'm excited to have the opportunity to stop someone from making history again. I know Nadal's goals, and I know Djokovic's goals, and I don't deliberately ignore those records. When I play well, I know I can beat anyone. This is a statement made by Medvedev before the game, and it looks like it is full of "killing spirit".
In the 2019 US Open final, Nadal had a narrow victory over Medvedev 3-2, so that the latter's Grand Slam championship dream had to be postponed, and now that they meet again in the Grand Slam final, the Russians will naturally not retreat a bit.
But it seems that on the stage of the Grand Slam final, after all, the older generation of kings is more tenacious.
In the first set, Medvedev 6-2 Nadal grabbed the first set – of Nadal's 20 Grand Slam titles, only 3 were won after losing the first set, but all at the French Open.
In the second set, Nadal wasted another set and finally lost 6-7 (5), falling behind 0-2.
In the third set, Nadal showed his willpower while behind, winning the third set 6-4 to make it 1-2. In the fourth set, Nadal still won 6-4, and the score was 2-2 with Medvedev.
Medvedev's record after winning two sets at a Grand Slam is 33-0, and in the history of the Australian Open men's singles finals, no one has ever reversed the title without falling behind 2-0. But all the impossibilities were broken by Nadal.
In the sixth set, he broke twice and won the final victory!
"It is an honour to be a part of tennis in this era and to share many of the glories with Federer and Djokovic. But personally, being able to play tennis is more important than a 21 crown. That's Nadal's take on 21 Grand Slam titles, and for the veteran, maybe he's less obsessed with the number of honors.
But this achievement has really left a deep enough mark on the history of tennis. As long as the "Big Three" have not retired, their pursuit and exploration of the limits of tennis will not stop.