Australian Open 2022: How many Grand Slam singles titles has Rafael Nadal won?
The 35-year-old was the only player of the “Big Three” to compete in this year’s Australian Open.
Rafael Nadal made history on Sunday as he came from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in the men's Australian Open final, winning a record 21st Grand Slam singles title. The Spaniard won 2-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-5 in five hours and 24 minutes on Rod Laver Arena. It is only the second Australian Open title of Nadal's stunning career.
Nadal breaks record
Nadal has now won 21 Grand Slam men's singles titles, an all-time record. After securing his 21st Slam, Nadal broke the three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most wins at the sport’s top four tournaments.
The 35-year-old was the only player of the “Big Three” to compete in this year’s Australian Open. Djokovic was deported from the country before the tournament over his failure to comply with the country’s covid-19 vaccination policy for travelers. Federer also missed the tournament Down Under as he continues to recover from two knee surgeries.
The 21st title moves Nadal closer to the overall record, held by Margaret Court (24). Nadal is also behind Serena Williams (23, including the triple career Grand Slam) and Steffi Graf (22, including the quadruple career Grand Slam).
Nadal has won all four major tournaments
This year’s Australian Open final was the 29th of Nadal’s career. He holds a win-loss record of 21-8 in them. Both Federer and Djokovic have played 31 Slam finals, for records of 20-11.
Sunday was Nadal’s sixth appearance in an Australian Open final, putting him behind Djokovic (9), Federer, John Bromwich, Jack Crawford and Roy Emerson (all 7) for the most appearances.
Nadal has won the French Open 13 times (a record for any Grand Slam tournament), the US Open four times, and Wimbledon and the Australian Open twice each. On Sunday, he also became only the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport's major titles at least twice.
Big earner
Nadal added another $A2,875,000 to his career prize total of $US125,050,235 ($A$178,975,647) by becoming the latest Australian Open champion.
That moves him closer to Federer in second on ($US130,594,339 or $A186,910,535), but he remains well behind leader Djokovic ($US154,756,726 or $A221,492,468).
Fifth in the world
Even after winning the Australian Open, the Spanish star remains in fifth place in the world rankings. He now sits on 6875 points, behind No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (7650), No.3 Alex Zverev (7780), No.2 Medvedev (10125) and No.1 Djokovic (11015).