An exhausted and emotionally exhausted Rafa Nadal walks towards an exercise mat in the players’ gym at the Australian Open and collapses on it in a heap.
Hardly surprising, the 35-year-old had spent just five hours and 24 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena court, bathed in sweat, rallying from two sets to world number two Daniil Medvedev – an opponent 10 years younger than him.
He may have had some left in the tank, but after a few minutes on the mat he picked himself up, got on his exercise bike, and went on with his cool-down routine.
“(It) has been a very emotional night,” Nadal later told reporters, fighting back against the US Open champion to win the men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.
“Even now, I’m honestly, physically destroyed. I can’t think of much, I don’t remember too many moments of the match.”
He said before Sunday, the last time the Spaniard won from a two-set deficit was 15 years ago, and a second Australian Open title was the last thing he expected.
A few months ago he was also considering retiring after a foot problem that plagued him again throughout his career, forcing him to miss a portion of the 2021 season, including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open fell.
In poor health and not in the best of health after battling COVID-19, Nadal said he did not expect to go all the way to Melbourne Park, where his previous success was back in 2009.
Yet he continued his 11-match winning streak after coming to Down Under, even overtaking top seed Medvedev, who defeated Novak Djokovic, the greatest hardcourt player of all time, in straight sets in New York. defeated in intense emotional and physical battles.
Nadal lost nearly 4 kilograms during his five-set fight in the last eight against Denis Shapovalov and he sweated profusely from the start under the floodlights on Sunday – leaving many wondering whether he’d even last If the distance went against the competition highly fit Russian.
But the Spaniard said he enjoyed the fight.
“I honestly wasn’t physically prepared for battles like this. I didn’t practice enough to be ready for it,” he said.
“But tonight has been very special. I gave it my all that was in me, believe me. I’m, yeah, super, super tired. I can’t even celebrate.”
Nadal has previously lost four championship matches on the blue hardcourts at Melbourne Park, including a doubles in the final set, and was not going to lose without a fight on Sunday.
“I kept repeating to myself throughout the match, ‘I lost here because of chances, sometimes I was a little unlucky’,” he said, adding that his Australian campaign gave him more confidence that He can continue playing.
“I just wanted to believe till the end. I just wanted to give myself a chance. Just fight, just believe in trying to find a solution.”
“Tonight was an unforgettable night. I feel very lucky. Also I struggled a lot and I worked very hard to get back on tour and give myself a chance to keep playing tennis.”
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed. Only the title has been changed.
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