Rafael Nadal hasn’t suffered as many heartbreaking defeats and been as unsuccessful as at the Australian Open. A 21st Grand Slam title would be extra special at Melbourne Park.
Plenty of chatter around Melbourne Park over the course of three weeks has been about the number ’21’. First, it was being associated with two men but that dwindled to just one by the two-week mark. With Novak Djokovic being deported from Australia, and Roger Federer absent with injury, Rafael Nadal took the prime spot to try and break away from their 20 Slams each record.
On Sunday, the Spaniard will have the opportunity to clock in a 21st Grand Slam title. In his path stands the ‘disruptor’ Daniil Medvedev who stopped Djokovic from getting to that mark, and achieving a calendar Slam, at the US Open last year.
If Nadal were to get to No 21, at the Australian Open, it would arguably be more symbolic than if it were to happen on clay in Paris. Symbolic of the amount of “suffering”, as Rafa would probably put it, needed to reach such a milestone. At none of the other majors has Nadal endured more heartbreak and been as unsuccessful.
Since winning the title in 2009, Nadal lost in classic five-set finals to Djokovic in 2012 and Federer five years later. In 2012 final, Nadal was 4-2 up and had a chance to extend his advantage with a simple backhand down the line. On review, it was confirmed he missed it. Djokovic latched on to close the match out in 5 hours and 53 minutes. In 2017, Federer played a cracker in the closing stages to reel off five straight games from 1-3 down.
His other losses were to Stan Wawrinka (2014) and Djokovic (2019). In 2014, he suffered a back injury during warm-up which got worse as the match wore on. 2019 final was an all-out annihilation off Djokovic’s racket.
While Rafa chases just his second title in Australia, it would make him the fourth man to win each of the four Grand Slams twice. But on the flip side, if he were to lose, he would join Andy Murray and John Bromwich in losing the Australian Open men’s final most number of times (five).
“I have been a little unlucky (here) in my career with some injuries (and) I played some amazing finals with good chances,” he said. “I feel very lucky that I won once. I never thought about another chance in 2022.”
After defeating Denis Shapovalov in a long quarter-final on a hot day, Nadal had a comparatively stress-free win over seventh-seeded Matteo Berrettini.
For Rafa, this level of quality over the past two weeks has been “surprising” and “unbelievable” but rather than dwell on a potential No 21, the Spaniard, rather philosophically, has focused on just being able to play and compete once more. And there is good reason to be pensive.
Only last month, he wasn’t even sure if he’d even be able to compete in Australia after long hours of frustrating and intensive rehabilitation on his foot injury that can never be fully fixed, and due to a bout of COVID-19.
“For me, it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else,” Nadal said. “Being very honest, for me it’s much more important to have the chance to play tennis than win the 21, no?”
“I just feel happy to be part of this amazing era of tennis, sharing all these things with another two players. That’s it. In some ways it doesn’t matter if somebody achieve one more or one less, no? I think we did, everyone, we did amazing things and things that will be very difficult to equal each of us. I don’t think much about all this stuff.”
“I am facing my most difficult rival of the whole tournament in the final,” he said after beating Berrettini in the semi-final.
Medvedev is relishing the opportunity to deny another Big 3 from racing away to No 21. “It’s a great rivalry. I’m happy to have the chance to try to stop one more time somebody from making history,” Medvedev said after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last four and progressing to his second straight Australian Open final.
“I’m just trying to focus on doing my job. Of course, I’m not lying, I know what’s happening, I know what Rafa is going for, I knew what Novak was going for.”
That job Medvedev refers to is to attempt to become the first man in the Open Era to follow up a maiden major title with a second Slam.
The Russian described his run in Australia as “emotional”, which included dealing with a hostile crowd in the second-round win over Nick Kyrgios, having to save a match point and rally from two sets down to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in a nearly five-hour quarterfinal. He came through an energy-sapping contest against Maxime Cressy in the heat before overcoming fierce competitor Tsitsipas.
A factor that could tip the scales in Nadal’s favour is the crowd. A legend of the sport, Nadal has enjoyed loud support from the Aussies over the fortnight. Medvedev, meanwhile, has a hot-and-cold relationship while referring to some fans as “low IQ”, berating some during his on-court interview and being jeered for an angry outburst aimed at the chair umpire.
Nadal leads their head-to-head 3-1, with the Russian losing to the 35-year-old leftie in his first major final at the 2019 US Open over five sets. There, Nadal had looked to be in supreme control and cruising to victory before Medvedev made a match of it. Eventually, the Spaniard got the job done but Medvedev had proved he belonged on the big stage.
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