“Always impressive fighting spirit that prevailed another time” Novak Djokovic congratulates Rafael Nadal for winning the 21st Grand Slam, reaches out to Daniil Medvedev as well
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Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic takes to his official Twitter handle to wish old rival Rafael Nadal who became the first-ever man to win 21st Grand Slam titles when the Spaniard defeated World No. 2, Daniil Medvedev, in a marathon final at the 2022 Australian Open. Nadal won the match 2-6, 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 after a battle of 5 hours and 24 minutes.
In the battle for the first to 21st Grand Slams, the tournament was very important for Nadal to take the chance as both Roger Federer and Novak were not participating this year. However, there were doubts whether Nadal will be able to sustain given he was coming from a long injury lay-off which had also given him thoughts about retirement as well.
Djokovic had lost the opportunity to become the first man to 21 Slams when he lost in the finals of the 2021 US Open when Medvedev won in straight-sets and denied Djokovic the chance. Federer had also been denied his chance to win the 21st Slam when he lost the 2019 Wimbledon finals against Djokovic but Nadal did not give up his chance tonight to claim the record.
“Congratulations to @RafaelNadal for 21st GS. Amazing achievement. Always impressive fighting spirit that prevailed another time. Enhorabuena. @Medwed33 gave it his all out there and played with the passion and determination we have come to expect from him,” tweeted the Serbian who is now back on the second spot in the list of most number of Slams won.
Rafael Nadal’s win helps Novak Djokovic
Nadal winning the Slam now helps Djokovic to remain on the top of the ATP rankings when they are updated tomorrow. A win for Medvedev in Melbourne Park would have resulted in the Russian overtaking Djokovic at the top of the rankings but with Nadal winning the finals, the Serbian will remain on the top.
Nadal jumps a place to the World No. 5 having started the tournament from the 6th place and it would require a monumental effort from the Spaniard to chase the rankings at the top as he currently trails Djokovic with more than 4000 points between them.
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Sarthak Shitole
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