Rafael Nadal Breaks Tennis Record for Most Grand Slam Titles with Australian Open Win

He did it. Love him or hate him, he did it. Last year, Novak Djokovic had one of the greatest years by an athlete in the history of this planet. Everyone was all but certain he was going to win all four Grand Slam titles in a calendar year, and he was going to break the tie between Djokovic, Nadal and Federer for Grand Slam titles which was at 20. Unfortunately, he was stopped in the US Open, where his is notorious for having bad luck. Instead of breaking the all-time record for Grand Slam titles, the Big Three remained tied at 20; until now. Rafael Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open finals in a historic comeback. Down 2-0 in a best-of-five (first-to-three) match, Rafa had to dig deep in order to give himself a chance. The second set, really set the tone of the match, going into a tiebreak where Medvedev would win 7-5 securing a 2-0 set lead. With is back against the wall, Rafa came out firing in the third set, weathering the oncoming storm by Medvedev. Nadal would go on to win both sets three and four by a mark of 6-4 tying the match at 2-2. The final set was utterly incredible. Going into the 5th game of the final set, it was 2-2 with Nadal scoring a HUGE point to secure the game five win, giving a stare down for the ages to Medvedev. Nadal would use that momentum to take a 6-5 lead, needing only one more game for the championship. In the final game, it looked as if Medvedev had finally cracked and he just wasn’t there. Rafael Nadal would finish job (2-6, 6-7 [5-7], 6-4, 6-4, 7-5), and grab glory once again. It was Nadal’s second singles title at the Australian Open, and his 21st Grand Slam title all time.

It was a night for the ages, but the crazy thing I don’t think this is the last of this saga. The Big Three of tennis has still got a few more flashes of brilliance. Djokovic wasn’t able to take part in the Australian Open due to a chaotic ordeal with his visa among other issues, and Federer is still recovering from a knee surgery.

Love them or hate them. It’s incredible to see this kind of greatness happen live. All three of these guys could be the best ever. And we’ve gotten to see all of them compete together in the same generation. However you split it, we’re spoiled rotten to experience this kind of stuff in sports.