Rafael Nadal said winning the Australian Open title on Sunday was one of the most emotional moments of his career as the Spaniard sealed a men’s record 21st grand slam title by defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev in the final.
The 35-year-old had played down his title chances at the season’s opening slam after being sidelined for large chunks of the 2021 season with a career-threatening foot problem and illness from contracting Covid-19. He fought gallantly in Melbourne to defy the odds, though it must be said that the absence of Novak Djokovic from the year’s first grand slam definitely lessened his problems.
“It was one of the most emotional matches in my tennis career,” Nadal said in his on-court interview. “I don’t know what to say. For me, it’s just amazing.
“Even now I am destroyed, honestly, physically. I can’t think much, I can’t remember a lot of moments of the match.”
“Being honest, one month and a half ago, I did not know if I will be able to be back on the tour and play tennis again. And today, in front of all of you (the crowd), having this trophy with me... you really don’t know how much I fought to be here.
“Having the huge support that I received during the three weeks is going to stay in my heart forever.”
The Spaniard said he enjoyed the fight. “I was not ready physically for these kind of battles, honestly. I didn’t practice enough to be ready for it,” he said. “But tonight has been very special. I gave it everything that I had inside, believe me. I am, yeah, super, super tired. I even can’t celebrate.”
Nadal has lost four championship matches on the blue hardcourts at Melbourne Park before. “I was repeating to myself during the whole match, ‘I lost a lot of times here having chances, sometimes I was a little bit unlucky’,” he said.
“I just wanted to keep believing till the end. I just wanted to give myself a chance. Just fight, just keep belief in trying to find a solution.” It was Nadal’s second title triumph at Melbourne Park after he won in 2009.
“Maybe there is a chance I say that was my last Australian Open, but no, I have plenty of energy to keep going,” Nadal added.