Australian Open: Rafael Nadal 'Physically Destroyed' After 'Most Unexpected' Win Of Career

Rafael Nadal has said he is physically "destroyed" after the "most unexpected" win of his career saw him claim an epic Australian Open final victory and a men's record 21st Grand Slam title.

The 35-year-old Spaniard fought back from two sets down to beat Russia's Daniil Medvedev in Melbourne.

Last year, Nadal feared his career was over because of a foot injury.

"If you put everything together, it has probably been the biggest comeback of my tennis career," he said.

Chronic pain in Nadal's left foot restricted him to only one tournament in the final seven months of 2021, while a bout of coronavirus in mid-December also left him "very sick with fever".

Those setbacks meant the Australian Open was just his second competitive event in five months, having won a warm-up tournament at Melbourne Park earlier in January.

"For the last six months, I really fought a lot to try to be back on court," Nadal said.

"There have been very, very tough moments. There have been conversations, tough ones, because you don't know if I was going to have the chance to be back on the tour."

In the absence of the deported Novak Djokovic and the injured Roger Federer in Melbourne, Nadal has moved one ahead of his great rivals in the all-time list of players with the most major men's singles titles.

- bbc.com