Rafael Nadal rallies to win Australian Open, claim men's record 21st Grand Slam title

MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal got to 21 first, breaking the men's tennis record for Grand Slam singles titles and doing it the hard way by coming back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in an almost 5½-hour Australian Open final.

Nadal was broken when serving for the championship for the first time at 5-4 in the fifth set, but he made no mistake two games later when he served an ace to earn three championship points and converted it on the first attempt.

The 35-year-old Spaniard now has one more major title than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, his longtime rivals in the so-called Big Three.

With the 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win that started Sunday night, was delayed in the 84-minute second set when a protester jumped onto the court, and then finished early Monday morning, Nadal also became just the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport's major titles at least twice.

«Good evening. No, good morning!» Nadal, looking at his watch, told the crowd at Rod Laver Arena when he finally got up for his acceptance speech at 1:30 a.m.

In the background, Rod Laver, the aging Australian tennis great, was in the stands holding up his smartphone to capture the scene. A woman nearby held up a sign that read: «Rafa is the GOAT.»

For now, in terms of men's major titles, at least, Nadal is the greatest of all time.

Nadal said it had been «one of the most emotional matches in my tennis career,» and he praised Medvedev for the part he played in the 5-hour, 24-minute final. It was the second-longest Australian Open final ever, after Nadal's loss to Djokovic in the 2012 decider that lasted 5:53.

His victory was even more remarkable considering Nadal flew to Australia with just two matches under his belt in the