The morning after the night before, Rafael Nadal was no less disbelieving of the greatest escape act of his career.
For the first time in 15 years, he recovered from two sets down at a Grand Slam to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an Australian Open final for the ages and take the outright record for Grand Slams titles with 21.
Unable to sleep last night – not, he insisted, because of any late parties, but down to the emotional magnitude of the occasion having got back to his hotel at 5am – the 35-year-old today described it as “the most unexpected title of my tennis career”.
“It’s just amazing…the way it happened is even more unique,” Nadal said. “This has been one of the most special titles of my career without a doubt because coming back after six months without playing and without knowing if my foot can hold a professional match at all and be able to compete that way for the last three weeks is just something unexpected and a big surprise for me.”
Two months ago, Nadal was hobbling around in a moon boot, everything tried by his medical team to address the issue, which had ruled him out of competitive action since August, seeming to fail.
The final against Medvedev was only his 10th match since that time, with question marks over how the foot would stand up to the rigours of a major, so too of his fitness, both things which Nadal answered with probably the greatest comeback of his career.
The numbers now say he is the greatest tennis player of all time but the Spaniard continued to be gracious enough to play down his own remarkable statistics alongside those of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on 20 apiece.
“At the end, it doesn’t matter much if one is 21, the other is 20, or one finishes with 23 or 21,” he said with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup in his hands. “We did, I think, very important things for our sport, and we achieved our dreams, and we enjoy it. I feel lucky to be part of this era that has been very special for our sport.”
It terms of the numbers game, it raises the question of how many more Nadal could add. The next Grand Slam, the French Open, is a title he has won on 13 occasions.
Understandably with his backstory leading to Melbourne, he was quick not to make any predictions about Paris in May time or anything before or after that point.
“I don’t know,” Nadal said. “I didn’t know I was able to play the Australian Open this year but I don’t know what can happen in the future. I don’t even think about clay now. I think I just stay in the moment without thinking so far in front. I don’t know what can happen on clay or not.”
With Federer admitting defeat on both the French Open and Wimbledon with his own latest injury setback, the battle for the outright record now looks a straight fight between Nadal and Djokovic.
Since Nadal’s first and only Australian Open title before yesterday, in 2009, Djokovic had won the opening Grand Slam of the year on eight occasions and may well have made it nine had the Australian authorities allowed him to stay or else the Serbian had been vaccinated.
Djokovic’s numbers race – so too Nadal’s - could well rest on the former’s decision over vaccination in the coming weeks. Tellingly, Djokovic finally downed Nadal at last year’s French Open, ensuring if both men are fit then the outcome of Roland Garros is not the formality it once was.
For now, Nadal is merely happy to languish in the moment of his unlikeliest of wins. “I feel lucky,” he concluded. “I hope to share with the family this unforgettable moment, then I’m going to think what’s next for me.”
