Australian Open: Rafael Nadal wins record 21st Grand Slam title

The Spaniard sets the record for winning the most number of grand slam titles in men’s singles.

The city of Melbourne witnessed a world-class tennis contest, as Rafael Nadal lifted the 2022 Australian Open men’s singles title after a gruelling clash with Daniil Medvedev in the final. The sixth seed defeated the Russian in a more than five-hour-long duel with a 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 scoreline.

By doing so, Nadal became the leading all-time grand slam winner with 21 titles to his name, surpassing Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

The second-seeded Medvedev got off to a fabulous start by winning the first two sets without reply and looked set to win the title. However, this is when Nadal found an extra gear and turned the tide of the match in his favour. This is only the second Australian Open title for a living legend like Rafael Nadal, after having won the competition for the first time back in 2009. 

The 35-year-old becomes the second male athlete in the Open Era to complete a double career grand slam. As for Medvedev, it was a case of so close, yet so far. He was the finalist last year too and had lost the title to Djokovic. 

Czech Republic dominance in Women’s Doubles

Over in the women’s doubles, the first seed pairing of Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková managed to lift the title. They had to fend off a strong challenge from Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil. The pair had to chart a comeback, as the score in the final read 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 in their favour.

This is the fourth career Grand Slam women’s title for the duo and a good start to the year for them. Siniakova eventually crossed the finishing line this year. She said, “After playing last year the final, we are so happy that we have the title. It was a really big fight and we needed to push hard.”

The current WTA World No.1 and 2 players in the world were denied the Australian Open title last year by the pair of  Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka. Securing the championship this year is much more special because of how close the pair came to lifting it last time out. 

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