Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open men's singles final to win a record 21st Grand Slam title. Coming from two sets down in the title clash, Nadal rallied to defeat Medvedev in a gruelling final in Melbourne. With his victory, Nadal overtook Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the list of most men's singles Majors and become the first ever male player to win more than 20 Grand Slam titles in singles. Nadal won the thrilling final in Melbourne 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Earlier, Medvedev broke in the fifth and seventh games to take the opening set in 42 minutes. The duo then exchanged two breaks each before the second set went to a tiebreak where Medvedev prevailed in a gripping set lasting 84 minutes.
The set was marred when a protester holding a banner highlighting refugee detention jumped on to the court mid-game when Nadal was serving for the set at 5-3 before being quickly dragged away by security officials. Nadal then fought back and won the third set as he broke the Russian second seed in the ninth game as the crowd roared him on. In the fourth set, Nadal kept his hopes alive by grinding down an increasingly agitated Medvedev, breaking two times to the Russian's one.
In the dramatic final set, Nadal broke Medvedev's serve in the fifth game but the Russian broke back in the 10th game to level the set. Nadal, however, broke back immediately to clinch victory and become the first ever man in the history of tennis to win 21 Grand Slam titles.
