Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest players ever, and the Australian Open final he played against Daniil Medvedev is considered one of the best matches ever.
Nadal ended his time as a player after the Davis Cup in 2024, and he finished with a staggering 22 Grand Slam titles to his name, 14 of which came at the French Open.
Nadal sent Carlos Alcaraz a message after he won the US Open at the weekend, but so far, the Australian Open has escaped the Spaniard.
In 2022, Medvedev set up a final with Nadal after coming through against Stefanos Tsitsipas in four sets.
What followed defied belief and ended up being one of the most dramatic Grand Slam finals in the history of the sport.
Photo by Aurelien Meunier/Getty ImagesWhat Rafael Nadal did that left Daniil Medvedev in awe
When the Russian player blitzed into a two-set lead over the serial Grand Slam champion, it looked as though the outsider would oust the favourite.
However, Nadal roared back to claim a five-set win in one of the greatest matches of all time at the Australian Open.
After the match, Medvedev was asked about Nadal, and he expressed that he’d done something that simply left him in awe of his opponent.
He said in his press conference: Yeah, again, if we talk about tennis, I’m not that disappointed. Like, it was a huge match, for sure some small points, small details that I could have done better if I wanted to win.
“But that’s tennis. That’s life.
“Was a huge match. Rafa played unreal. Raised his level. I mean, two sets to love up, I was like, C’mon, just go for him, go for more.
“In the fifth set, I was like, make him run. He was unreal. He was really strong, like the way he played, at four hours, I was even surprised. But, of course, we know how Rafa can play. He didn’t play for six months. He told me after the match that he didn’t practice so much. It was unreal.
“Talking about tennis, I don’t have many regrets. I’m going to try to continue doing my best. Yeah, I’m going to work even harder to try to be, yeah, a champion of some of these great tournaments one day.
“But again, I’m not really disappointed with the loss and with my tennis or with anything like this.”
The three Grand Slam matches Rafael Nadal won from behind
This completed the hat-trick of wins for Nadal in coming from two sets behind to win Grand Slam matches, with the other two both coming at Wimbledon.
First, he came from a couple of sets behind to beat American player Robert Kendrick in 2006, displaying unbelievable composure as a 20-year-old.
Then, the following year, he came from two behind in the round of 16 to overcome Mikhail Youzhny and progress at the tournament.
This victory over Medvedev was perhaps the pinnacle when it came to comeback wins, however, and Nadal constantly took the never say die mantra with him across his career.
The Russian won the US Open in 2021, but since then, it’s fair to say that his career has gone backwards, and he has some work to do after a drab 2025.