Who would have guessed that the Spaniard Rafa Nadal would keep moving, trying, throw in some new shots. He was down two sets to love against Daniil Medvedev at the Australian Open, and it looked like that the Russian would continue to dominate.
While the 35-year-old Nadal will always to continue to fight, mentally, here and there, he got frustrated.
But not now.
Oh, he just wanted to push himself until the cows come home. And he did, minute after minute, and eventually, the No. 21 Grand Slam winner won it, 2-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.
“If we put everything together, the scenario, the momentum, what it means … yeah, [it’s] probably the biggest comeback of my tennis career,” Nadal said.
Oh really, considering that he won some amazing matches in the finals of Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. However, he said that the reason is because he could not play for five months due to an significant injury. So, when he came down to Australia, he wasn’t sure of himself, but he really wanted to attempt it.
He was not fantastic at the beginning, but each day, he started to be more consistent, and then he began to hit harder.
“I think during all my tennis career I have been improving in all the surfaces. That was always my goal, no, be better player in general terms,” said Nadal. “On hard? I think during the years I needed to adapt a little bit my game to it because I had a lot of problems, physical problems, so I needed to find a way to be competitive and to play sometimes more aggressive because I was not able to move that fast like in the beginning.”
He has improved so much. His backhand, at the net and his returns — which has always been very good — but now even though he is way back close to the back fence, he can hit it pretty deep.
The 6-feet-6 Medvedev really likes to play on the baseline, crosscourt, down the middle, and to re-adjust. His first serve is a blaster, and he only bounces the ball one to three times. He knows he can close his eyes.
However, in the fourth and the fifth set, he began to get nervous and he made some strange errors. It was 5-5 in the fifth, and he was there, tripping Nadal, but he backed off. The Russian was shocked that he lost, and later, when he talked in the press conference — before the questions began — he said: “I’m just talking about few moments where the kid stopped dreaming, and today was one of them. I’m not going to really tell why,” Medvedev said. “From now on I’m playing for myself, for my family, to provide my family, for people that trust in me, of course for all the Russians because I feel a lot of support there.
“I’m going to say it like this. If there is a tournament on hard courts in Moscow, before Roland Garros or Wimbledon, I’m going to go there even if I miss the Wimbledon or Roland Garros or whatever. The kid stopped dreaming. The kid is going to play for himself. That’s it.”
However, even though he was drained, he said that while he lost, he thinks that Nadal is so jaw-dropping when he puts on the show.
“Rafa is a lefty. Next time I’m probably going to say when two sets to love down,’Just do it like Rafa did against you,’ ” he said. “We all know Rafa fights. It’s not going to be surprising if I say this, ‘Suddenly, wow, Rafa fought today in the final of a slam.’ The way he managed to play throughout all these sets, even in the tough moments, for him it’s for making the history. Even for sure he tries not to think about this, it must have been somewhere in his head. Huge respect. Yeah, huge respect for beating me because I tried my best.”
Nadal now has two Grand Slams at the Australian Open, 13 majors at Roland Garros, two Wimbledon, and four at the US Open.
He is extremely happy, that he won, and now eventually, he can win another titanic tournament. But this week, it is all about joy.
“Of course, for me it’s amazing to achieve another Grand Slam at this moment of my career. Just means a lot to me. Of course, I know it’s a special number, 21. I believe today is an unforgettable day,” Nadal said. “I never will say I deserve, because I think a lot of people fight and a lot of people deserve. But I really believe that I hold a very positive spirit. For the last six months, I really fought a lot to try to be back on court. Have been very, very tough moments, moments to really. … Conversations, tough ones, because you don’t know if I going to have the chance to be back on the tour. I feel honored. I feel lucky to achieve one more very special thing in my tennis career. I don’t care much if I am the one or not the one or the best of the history. Means even more to achieve the second Australian Open more than any other thing.”