RAFA @ 21

The Australian Open Tennis Championship 2021, the first Grand Slam Tournament of the year would be long remembered. It all started with Novak Djokovic’s controversial non participation, to Ash Barty’s victory in the Women’s Singles ending a 44 year old wait for an Aussie Champion and then the record breaking 21st Grand Slam Championship for Rafael Nadal in the Men’s Singles.

The Men’s Final was akin to an edge of the seat Climax of a highly engrossing soap opera which unfolded right through the fortnight gone by, at Melbourne.

To be fair to Rafa, I did not give him much of a chance at the start of the match against Medvedev, who has been in some sublime form off late. Coming back from a serious injury Rafa was taking one match at a time and till the build up to the Final Rafa very carefully kept on mentioning that he was more than lucky to have reached thus far. He played the underdog which shifted the weight of expectations on  Medvedev and even though Rafa was himself chasing History, it was Medvedev’s match to lose.

After having lost the first two sets and down 2-3 and 0-40 in the third, I felt the end would come in a hurry. Even the commentators said that just the final nail has to be pushed through by Medvedev in Rafa’s coffin, the end was signalled as such. However, what  transpired just after this statement from the commentators is very difficult to comprehend.

Rafa saved three breakpoints, won the game, drew level at 3 games all and eventually went on to win the set and the remaining two,  to complete an unrealistic comeback infront of a  jam packed Rod Laver Arena. Not only did he resist the last nail, but infact blew the top of the coffin into smithereens. With his back to the wall, Rafa unlocked a high octane reservoir of energy. He always had a heart of a Bull with loads and loads of stamina and even at 35 years of age, he came back at Medvedev like a raging Bull.

The ground strokes coming from Rafa started to have much more punch and ferocity, with his forehand sending down some real scorchers. A startled Medvedev suddenly started to feel the heat of the energy laid bare by Rafa. As Rafa gained ascendancy, Medevedev began to tire both physically and mentally( no doubt his two previous matches against Tsipsipas and Auger-Aliasimme were taking a toll on him). To add to this Medvedev’s skirmishes with the already partisan crowd in the stadium led further to his downfall.

It was a kind of a match which is rarely seen and surely it will go down as one of the best  Grand Slam Finals of all times. Rafael Nadal soared like a Phoenix as the late night sky of Melbourne saw an unprecedented piece of History take shape. Rafa displayed some unrelenting grit and spirit which can only be spoken about great Champions and there is no doubt that he will always be remembered as one of the greats of the game.

My interest in sports has always helped me in my career and matches like these and champions like Rafael Nadal just help me strengthen my resolve to pursue a few dreams of my own.

I just need to keep going …and so do all of you !