Emotional Nadal finds the fire for his greatest comeback

MELBOURNE : An exhausted and emotionally drained Rafa Nadal walked gingerly towards an exercise mat in the players' gym at the Australian Open and collapsed on it in a heap.

Hardly surprising given the 35-year-old had just spent five hours and 24 minutes on the Rod Laver Arena court, bathed in sweat, rallying from two sets down to edge out world number two Daniil Medvedev - an opponent 10 years younger.

He may have had little left in the tank, but after a few minutes on the mat he picked himself up, got on his exercise bike and got on with his cool-down routine.

"(It) has been a very emotional night," Nadal told reporters afterwards, having fought back against the U.S. Open champion to clinch a men's record 21st Grand Slam title.

"Even now I am destroyed, honestly, physically. I can't think much, I can't remember a lot of moments of the match."

Before Sunday, the last time the Spaniard won from a two-set deficit was 15 years ago, and a second Australian Open title was the last thing he had expected, he said.

A couple of months back he was even considering retiring after a foot problem that has troubled him throughout his carrier resurfaced, forcing him to miss a chunk of the 2021 season including Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open.

Underprepared and not in the best of health after suffering a bout of COVID-19, Nadal said he did not expect to go all the way at Melbourne Park, where his only previous success came way back in 2009.

Yet he stitched together an 11-match winning streak following his arrival Down Under, outlasting even the top-seeded Medvedev, who beat arguably the greatest hardcourt player ever in Novak Djokovic in straight sets in New York, in an intensely emotional and physical battle.

Nadal lost about 4