Australian Open: Rafael Nadal and the Miracle of Melbourne
Rafael Nadal won his 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open. The tournament victory borders on a sporting miracle.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit:
Jan 30, 2022, 04:15 pm
Terms such as sensation or miracle are used almost inflationary in sports journalism these days. However, what happened in Melbourne on Sunday actually bordered on a sporting miracle. And not (only) because Rafael Nadal turned a 0:2 set deficit into a win in the final against what is probably the world's best hard court player Daniil Medvedev.
No, the triumph of the 35-year-old Spaniard was a miracle, mainly because about a month and a half ago he had seriously considered the end of his career. Nadal has suffered from Müller-Weiss syndrome, a degenerative disease of the scaphoid, since 2005. For 18 months now, this injury has been troubling him again, so last year Nadal had to end his season at the beginning of August.
Nadal looks shocked
And now, on January 30, 2022, Nadal celebrated what was probably the most emotional tournament victory of his entire career. After beating Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals, the 35-year-old couldn't hold back his tears, after the final he seemed almost shocked at his almost impossible comeback.
Medvedev led quite comfortably in the Rod Laver Arena with 6: 2, 7: 6 (5) and found three breakballs in a row at the preliminary decision at a score of 3: 2. However, Nadal fought back, winning rounds three and four and serving in the deciding set to win the match.
At 30-0, Nadal seemed almost there before the ghosts of the past caught up. In 2012 and 2017, the Spaniard had already led against Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the fifth section with a break, but both times he left the field as a loser. "I thought, f***, I'm going to lose like in 2012 and 2017. But I just kept fighting. I can lose, he can win, but I can't give up," Nadal revealed his thoughts on Eurosport after Medvedev's break.
Nadal submits to leaderboard
Two games later, Nadal not only celebrated the second Australian Open title, but also major trophy number 21. The fifth in the world rankings is again ahead of Djokovic and Federer in the all-time list of the best. A fact that also borders on a miracle given Nadal's injury history.
Apparently, Nadal is far from enough, as he emphasized at the award ceremony: "A month and a half ago I might have said that this would be my last Australian Open. But now that's enough energy to continue."
Here is the individual tableau at the Australian Open
laver arena