Daniil Medvedev You already know the place that history has given you. Get in the way of her. He was in charge of breaking Novak Djokovic’s dream of completing the Grand Slam, something that has not been achieved since 1969, when he defeated him in the last US Open. He is the last link between Rafa Nadal and the twenty-first Grand Slam, the milestone that will serve to define the Spaniard as the best in history.
This Sunday (9.30/Eurosport) is the most complicated match that Nadal has faced since the Roland Garros semifinals against Djokovic more than half a year ago. He is not a favourite, but the pressure is on him. Like when Djokovic broke down crying in the last game of the 2021 New York final, when he already knew he was the loser. The weight of 21 arrives and he does it against the best tennis player of the moment, the player who could come out as number one in Melbourne. Virtual, yes, since the points of last year’s tournament are not deducted until February.
Medvedev is the best on cement, his favorite surface, but on which Nadal has already beaten him twice, in two finals. One, in the 2019 Canada Masters 1,000 and another in the 2019 US Open final, in which they went up to five sets. That season, Nadal tipped the Russian three times, who retaliated in the 2020 ATP Finals, coming back from a lost match and getting his first victory against the Balearic Islands.
But a Grand Slam final is another story. Medvedev already lost last year’s in Melbourne and premiered in New York. His tension is not at the level of Andy Murray, for example, who lost his first four major finals in his day. That is why he knows that, although many put him as the favorite, the pressure is on the other side. “It’s the second time I play a final against someone who can reach 21. I’m sure Rafa watched my final with Djokovic and I’m sure Novak will watch the match on Sunday.”, said the Russian, aware of all the edges that the meeting has.
Curse
The injured person will not lose sight of the screen either Roger Federer, who is in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to give his last blows and that he has gone from being the first to reach 20, to being the most difficult to achieve 21. A victory for Nadal this Sunday would leave the Swiss and the Serbian behind, and the debate on who is the best would be reopened , which since last season had channeled the one in Belgrade.
His records at number one, where he adds more weeks than anyone with 357, his versatility on the surfaces, the number of 1,000 Masters he has, the Masters Cups he treasures and, above all, the face-to-face win with Federer and Nadal They propelled him above the rest. But the Grand Slams are something else. One above or one below will be a powerful argument to point to the best.
Nadal also has the opportunity to get even with a curse that has haunted him since 2014. He will be able to become the second player in the Open Era to win all the Grand Slams at least twice. The Spaniard has had three options to achieve it, in the finals of Australia in 2014, 2017 and 2019, but he ended up being beaten by Djokovic, who did it at Roland Garros last season. It would remove a thorn that has been stuck in Australia for many years and avoid matching the five finals lost by Murray. It’s just one game this Sunday at Rod Laver Arena, but It is the great game in which the best in history can be defined. Only Medvedev remains ahead.
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