February | 2022 | realtakesite

Australian Open 2022: Rafael Nadal beats Daniil Medvedev to become 1st man to clinch 21 Grand Slam titles - Sports News — Rafael Nadal celebrating his 21st Grand Slam title, the 2022 Australian Open.

By Joao Cunha

Rafael Nadal won his most improbable title in his career last Sunday, a five-set thriller over Danill Medvevdev to win his 2nd AustralianOpen title and his 21st Grand Slam. It wasn’t just the fact that he was sets down, it wasn’t just the fact that he lost a brutal breakpoint to close out Medvevdev in the 5th set which could have broken his confidence, it isn’t even the fact he hadf COVID-19 in late December. All these factors by themselves would make his victory strange enough but add to that he;s 35 years old which in tennis terms is almost the end of your career. In addition, Nadal recovered from a serious foot injury that could have not only kept him out of the Australian Open but ended his career. According to people close to Nadal, he was considering retirement less than 6 weeks ago and this stunning victory would have never happened. But like everything in Nadal’s career he fought through the adversity and used his work-rate, intensity, and his will to get him to Australia. While father time caught up with Roger Federer, and a “personal” decision and the Australian goverment kicked Djokovic out of the tournament, Rafa battled and rose again to the top. Not just the top of the Australian Open, but to the summit of the tennis world.

“Miracle in Melbourne”

That was the phrase one comenntator used to sum up the win, and for me it seemed like a miracle. The Aussie Open has been a house of heartbreak for Rafa losing 4 other finals before him. The most painful and cruel was the 5-set loss to Roger Federer in 2017, when Nadal had Fed beat but his old nemesis overcame the deficit and snatched the title from him. At that moment it looked unlikely Nadal would evder surpass Federer in Grand Slams, as Nadal had an injury history and he was 5 Grand Slams behind him at that point. But Nadal would never give up he would reach Federer’s major count in 2020 when he beat Nadal in 3 sets to win his 13th French Open. At that point it looked it would be his time to become the greatest winner in Tennis history, after all he tied Federer’s record and he was three ahead of Djokovic after that Grand Slam. However a dip of form for Nadal and a Djokovic surge allowed the Serbian to reach the 20 major count in 2021. Then a serious foot injury sidelined Nadal for the rest of 2021 and things looked bleak not just for the major record but for his career.

Rafa Nadal’s style of play is based on his athleticism and power, he uses his exceptional speed and footwork for long rallies and to outlast opponents. So a foot injury at the age of 35 could not only serious hamper his play but if he can’t use his movement and strength to get around the court, it could have ended his career. Nadal considered retirement in December as the injury wasn’t healing the way he intially thought and the pain was very hard to put up with. He had accomplished so much in his career, he would be forgiven if after all the knee and foot problems he has had to deal with he would retire. But Rafa kept on fighting through his foot injury, through the outbreak of COVID he had in December and prepared himself as much as possible for the Australain Open. Yet he wasn’t expected to do much when he arrived in Melbourne, he hadn’t played in a tennis match in months. There were so many great players at this Open including the reigning US Open champions Danill Medvedev and at the time the king of the Australian Open Novak Djokovic. But suddenly through strange events an opening arrived for Nadal to win this tournament.

Novak Djokovic faces deportation after Australian government revokes his visa for a second time | Tennis News | Sky Sports — Novak Djokovic who was barred from the Australian Open for lying about his vaccination status.

Novak Djokovic was the massive favorite to win the Australian Open prior to the tournament. After all he won three of the last four tournaments only narrowly missing out winning all four in a calendar year when he lost to Medveddev in the US Open final. He is also the record holder for the most Australian Open titles so there was little reason to expect that an out-of-form Nadal could beat a prime Djokovic. But Djokovic who isn’t vaccinated for COVID-19 allegedly lied on his VISA application to enter Australia. He was put in a detention center and deported out of the country not being allowed to play in the Aussie Open. Whatever your opinion on Novak’s decision and expulsion from the Australian Open, this gave Nadal a golden oppurtunity to win his second Australian Open. Yet he had to hold up phyiscallly.

Nadal did well in his first few rounds, reaching the quarterfinals only losing one set in the first four rounds. But in the quarter-finals Nadal had a brutal five-set match with Denis Shapovalov where Rafa nearly blew a two set lead only to hold on in the fifth set to reach the semis. In the semi-finals he raced to a two-set lead over Matteo Berrettini but the italian took the third set and had all the momentum in the fourth set. Nadal recovered to win a critical break point to ger up 5-3 and sealed it 6-3 to win the fourth set and raach the final. Awaiting him was the Number 2 ranked player in the road Daniil Medevdev who is at his prime at 25 years old. Nadal admitted after his quarter-final victory admitted he was “destroyed” physically. He had recovered from his foot injury, it held up until this point but this final was the hardest test. Nadal was the underdog and yet he had immense pressure, as a win would replace him at the summit of the tennis world.

Daniil Medvedev fined £9,000 for Australian Open semi-final outbursts | The Independent — Danill Medevdev a controversial figure in tennis as he is known for taunting his opponents, in fact he was even fined nearly 10.000 dollars for taunting his semi-final opponent. In addition he also loves to complain to officials being upset over the crowd noise he screamed at the match official in the final against Nadal.

The first set was a decisive win for Medevdev as he easily over powered a seemingly tired Nadal. In the seond set it was a dramatic thrilling set that Medevdev just edged over Nada;. Nadal at thjs point in the match looked beaten, his demanor downcast, and he seemed in pain. All the work he did to get him to that point seemingly wouldn’t be enough. It was hard for me to envision at the time how he could come back. With his age, injury history, and tricky path to get here it just seemed like he ran out of gas. Nadal is a great champion but he is only human, surely he couldn’t overcome the odds and win? it just looked an obstacle too far to climb over. He had the weight of all those Australian Open failures to boot. only winning this event one time, losing heartbreaking semis and finals. It just seemed like it was the end of the road for Rafa…until it wasn’t. The Miracle in Melbourne was on.

Nadal slowly regained his strength, his serve returned to form and he started the third-set fighting. Throughout the attrition the crowd cheered on Rafa and suddenly he won the third-set 6-4. Geme on. The fourth set seemed like it lasted an eternity, Medevdev maintained composure but slowly began to wear down. Nadal despite his age grew stronger, more agile, won break-points and served well enough to keep himself in the match. Despite some setbacks Nadal kept going and prevailed in the fourth set 6-4 in the fourth set. The match was tied at two sets, the fifth set was winner-take-all. The crowd roared and supported Rafa, which unsettled a clearly rattled Medevdev who couldn’t believe what was happening. For Medevdev he had his own demosn to overcome as he lost a five-set thriller to Nadal in the 2019 US Open final. Medevdev in that occasion was the one who overcame a two-set deficit to tie the match, but Rafa’s will drove him to win a dramatic fifth set to win his 19th major. Medevdev knew what Rafa was capable of, he understood that he allowed Rafa to have a second chance and that could end up being the difference.

Nadal began maintaining his serve throughout the set, and won a critical breakpoint over Medevdev to go up 5-4 and serve for the match. However Medevdev showed how good of a player he was and won the next set and took back all the momentum. Nadal was on the defensive again, he could have lost all the momentum at this point. The match had lasted over 5 hours at this point and he could have easily just tried to hold on for as long as possible. But Nadal had his most remarkable break-point of his career hitting big shots and stunning Medevdev to take a 6-5 lead in the final set. Once again Nadal would serve for the match, and unlike the last time he would finish the job. Rafa took a 40-0 lead in the final game with the roar of the crowd fully behind him. Nadal had been a warrior and when he was about to serve for the championship the tension on his face was apparent, he needed to finish the job. And he did after a 5 and a half hour, 5-set thriller Rafael Nadal was back on top again. He let all his emotions out, he looked in disbelief as if not even he could understand what he had just done. Nadal not only conquered his 2nd Australian Open but his 21st Grand Slam title. He had done what many tennis pundits, rival fans thought would be impossible he surpassed Roger Federer. He had also reached 21 titles before Novak Djokovic which would have been unthinkable just one month ago. Nadal silenced his critics AND gained the admiration of the sports world. He overcame the limitations of his injury history, his age, and pulled off his finest victory. What Nadal accomplished in Melbourne in 2022 was just epic, it felt like a movie not real life. But sometimes real life can be more stunning than fiction, it can deliver the unexpected and Nadal’s comeback was legendary and stunning at the same time. After his victory he thanked his family, friends, supporters, and said once again that his body was “destroyed” after the match. Nearly 6 hours of tennis would destroy anyone physically let alone someone who just recovered from a foot injury, but he outlasted his younger rival regardless of how much pain he was under. The effort he put in was immense, he used the word “work” many times during his speech and that encapsulates Nadal. There may be more elegant, more dominating tennis player, but no one competes harder and works harder than Rafa Nadal.

“The unlikely GOAT”

He overcame all the odds to win 21 majors and sit at the top of tennis world, as the only Men’s tennis player with 21 titles. There will be Fed or Djoker fans who argue that their player is better, but for me there isn’t a discussion. Nadal has won one-third of the grand-slams he has attended (21 of 63) which is just insane. Despite the littany of injuries that hampered his careeer and likely cost him 3-4 years of his prime he has the most majors in Men’s tennis. He also competed at a time when Federer was in his prime and Djokovic was in his, Djokovic came right after the bulk of Roger Federer’s titles which gives him an advantage. He also had to deal with the perception that he was never as good as Fed and Djoker, that he was only a clay-court specialist which is complete crap. He has won 2 Australian Opens, 2 Wimbeldons, and 4 US Open titles becoming the 4th-ever player to win all the Grand Slams twice. He is also the youngerst toe ever complete the Grand Slam at just 24 years old. To top it off in Grand Slams he has a winning record against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and has a winning record against both men in finals. (Nadal has a 10-7 lead in Grand Slam matches against Djokovic and a 5-4 record in finals. Nadal also leads Federer 10-4 in Grand Slam matches and has a 6-3 record in finals.) So when the pressure is the highest he performs and beats his contemporaries quite often especially in Grand Slam events. Nada; is the greatest clay-court player in the history of tennis winning 13 French Open title a record in which he hopes to extend later this year. He is the most dominant player in a particular surface in the history of the game, but he can win in grass, hard-court which makes him a complete player. Nadal may have entered the spoet behind the shadow of Federer and was under the shadow of Djokovic recently, he is now casts the biggest shadow. He is the greatest winner in the history of Men’s tennis and no amount of narratives can take that fact away from him. I call him the “unlikely” GOAT because he was never embraced by the tennis world like Roger Federer was, he was as accepted because he relied on power and wasn’t “elegant”. He was the working man’s tennis player, in an elitist sport that wants grace, class, and technique. Rafa would grunt loud, do bizzare hand movements, he wasn’t pretty to watch, even matches he won he never made it look easy. He needed to use all of his energy to win and that’s why I love him. Many of us who root for Rafa, we admire his work-ethic, his drive, and his struggles. He has had his body betray him so often, many times he wondered and we worried how much longer he had left. His flaws, his rejection by tennis community initally made me love Rafa even more. His story isn’t one of just glamour and class, he had to sacrifice a lot to reach the top and like most of Nadal’s matches it wasn’t easy and it looked impossible at certain points. But after that mythical Sunday in Melbourne against all the odds, Nadal would not be denied again. He is not only the undisputed king of clay, he would become the king of tennis the undisputed Greatest Of All Time.

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Month: February 2022

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