Rafael Nadal claims record 21st grand slam title after stunning comeback win

Rafael Nadal achieved the most astonishing feat of his glittering career by fighting back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev and win a record 21st grand slam title at the Australian Open.

Nadal’s 2-6 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-4 7-5 victory moves him clear of his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic as the most successful male player in grand slam history.

When the match, which lasted five hours and 24 minutes, finally finished at 1.11am local time in Melbourne, Nadal dropped his racket to the court in disbelief before pumping his fists in delight and celebrating with his support team.

The victory also makes him only the second man in the Open era after Djokovic to win each of the four titles at least twice, with Nadal finally adding a second Australia Open crown to the one he claimed in 2009.

But the numbers only tell a fraction of the story. The Spaniard feared he may have to retire only a couple of months ago because of a chronic foot problem and arrived in Australia unsure of what he could achieve.

Reaching the final had already exceeded all expectations and it appeared he would fall just short again in Melbourne when Medvedev, who was looking to follow up his maiden US Open title by becoming the first man in the Open era to win the next major as well, moved two sets ahead.

Nadal had faded physically in the third set of his matches against both Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berrettini but, at 35 and playing in just his 10th match since early August, he outlasted an opponent nearly a decade his junior.

Remarkably, it is also the first time Nadal has recovered from two sets down to win a match since beating Mikhail Youzhny at Wimbledon in 2007, and he is the first to do so in an Australian Open final since Roy