Nadal's journey to a men's record 21 Grand Slam titles

MELBOURNE: Rafa Nadal beat Daniil Medvedev in the Australian Open final on Sunday (Jan 30) to win a men's record 21st Grand Slam title.

The following is a timeline charting how Nadal, playing in what is considered to be the greatest era of men's tennis, surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

2003: Federer became the newest entrant into the Grand Slam club with the first of his eight Wimbledon titles, beating Mark Philippoussis in the final.

Tally: Federer 1

2004: The Swiss flexed his muscles by winning three majors - the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

Tally: Federer 4

2005: While Federer defended his Wimbledon and US Open titles, Nadal burst on to the scene with his first French Open title beating Mariano Puerta in the final.

Tally: Federer 6; Nadal 1

2006: Federer's domination continued as he won three majors, including beating Nadal in the Wimbledon final, but Nadal laid the foundation for his claycourt reign with his second French Open title.

Tally: Federer 9; Nadal 2

2007: The seemingly unstoppable Federer repeated his feat from the previous year but the French Open title continued to elude him as Nadal thwarted him in the final for a second straight year.

Tally: Federer 12; Nadal 3

2008: Djokovic hit the big time with his maiden major, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open final. After his French Open triumph, Nadal stunned Federer in the Wimbledon final but the Swiss responded by winning the US Open.

Tally: Federer 13; Nadal 5; Djokovic 1

2009: Nadal won his first hardcourt Grand Slam title, edging out Federer in five sets in the Australian Open final. However, Nadal's 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the fourth round, allowing Federer to claim his only French crown.

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