Analysis: All in all, a fitting way for Nadal to get No. 21

[ASFN Admin]

When Grand Slam title No. 21 belonged to him, when the Australian Open final was over after 5 hours, 24 minutes of twists and turns and he somehow completed a comeback from two sets down, Rafael Nadal dropped his racket to the court, covered his face with his taped-up fingers, then shook his head and smiled. “Just unforgettable,” is how he described his 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Daniil Medvedev, a result that seemed particularly unlikely when Nadal faced three break points midway through the third set. This was, in various respects, a fitting way for Nadal to set himself apart, at least for the moment, from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic: coming off a hiatus forced by a painful left foot, doubting his health and his form, worried about his future in tennis and, to cap it all off, climbing out of a huge hole — the match began Sunday night and concluded in the wee hours of Monday — with unrelenting play backed by unrelenting belief.

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