“Rafael Nadal didn’t play his best tennis” Mischa Zverev makes BIG CLAIMS on Nadal’s 2022 Australian Open win
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Mischa Zverev and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal became the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles when he won the finals of the 2022 Australian Open against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev. With odds stacked against Rafa, the Spaniard fought his way into the match being 2-sets down going into the third. Contesting in the second-longest Grand Slam final, Nadal emerged victorious after 5 hours and 24 minutes to win his 2nd title in Melbourne Park.
Having won the Australian Open, Nadal shattered a lot of records. He is now in the lead for the most Grand Slam titles for the first time in his career and the Spaniard is now just the 4th man in history to win all Slams more than once. Nadal with his Olympics Gold in both singles and doubles is the only man to have won all 4 Slams and Olympics gold in both disciplines.
While it was certainly a gritty performance from the Spaniard after knowing that he was considering retirement just weeks ago, the player himself had expressed his disbelief that he won the title as he was merely happy to continue playing. Speaking on similar lines in his recent interview with Tennis Magazin, Mischa Zverev recently spoke about the Spaniard’s win at the first Slam of the season.
“With Rafa, it was the other way around. Emotionally, he was so happy that he could play at all, that his emotional happiness carried him through the tournament, although sometimes he didn’t play his best tennis,” said Mischa who believes Nadal’s momentum and better control of emotions compensated for his not up to the mark performance Down Under from where he returns with 2 titles from 2 tournaments.
Rafael Nadal and Mischa Zverev’s rivalry
Mischa and Rafa have met on the Tour only thrice. They first clashed in the 2nd round of the 2017 Brisbane International where Nadal won 6-1, 6-1. They next met in the first round of the 2017 Acapulco Open where Nadal again picked up the win despite Mischa showing some fightback. Nadal won the match 6-4, 6-3.
The final meeting so far between the two players took place in the 1st round of the 2019 Acapulco Open where Nadal again defeated the German, winning the match 6-3, 6-3 to take a 3-0 lead in their head-to-head and can boast of winning all three matches without dropping a single set.
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