Rafael Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam trophy at the 2022 Australian Open

Rafael Nadal completed a sensational comeback win to claim his 21st grand slam trophy over world number two Daniil Medvedev 2-6 6-7(5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 in Melbourne.

The first set started with a couple of fairly long games that featured quite a few good rallies. It was a blueprint of what type of match we would end up getting and it was a brilliant one. Medvedev quickly raced past Nadal in that first set to win it 6-2. The 2nd set featured more improved ply by Nadal with the Spaniard having multiple chances but in the end, Medvedev proved slightly better in the tiebreak.

The Russian was covering the court superbly and Nadal was not finding the angles he needed to win to outhit the Russian. He changed his style a bit opting for more variety in the next few games and it proved somewhat fruitful. The pivotal moment in the match came at 3-2 for Medvedev in the 3rd set when he was up 4-0 against Nadal with 3 consecutive break points.

The Spaniard saved them and started playing much better with more aggression and more confidence. H ended up winning the 3rd set after Medvedev completely lost focus to finish the match. The Russian was being distracted by the crowd as well which bothered him. The Russian called the trainer for a leg issue that bothered him as the match went on. He received treatment a couple of times during the match.

His movement was hampered as he did not cover the court as well moving forward and Nadal took advantage while raising his level even further. He was able to win a very erratic 4th set where both had multiple chances but Nadal was superb overall. The Spaniard's confidence looked better and better and his play followed suit.

In the 5th set, Medvedev opted for increased aggression as the Russian went all out. He knew he had in order to defeat Nadal but the Spaniard was ready. Playing superb tennis and producing moments of pure tennis brilliance were enough to win him the crucial rallies. Nadal ended it with 7-5 after failing to do so at 5-4 when he was serving for the match the first time.