Defeating Daniil Medvedev Rafael Nadal becomes the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles.

In the ongoing Australian Open Men’s singles final at the Rod Laver Arena on Sunday Rafael Nadal defeated Daniil Medvedev. Nadal won the final match 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

Before the match, Nadal was tied with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the all-time list of men’s singles titles. Defeating Daniil Medvedev in the 21st Grand Slam final, Rafael Nadal pulled off a comeback for the ages. He became the first man to win more than 20 Grand Slam titles in singles by overtaking Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic with his victory.

The opening set was won 42 minutes later by Medvedev with breaks in games five and seven. Medvedev prevailed in a gripping tiebreak in an 84-minute set in which they exchanged two breaks each.

After losing the first set, Nadal won the third set through a break in the ninth game against Daniil Medvedev. Nadal managed to keep his hopes alive by grinding down an increasingly agitated Medvedev, breaking twice to Medvedev’s one. It was a dramatic final set as Nadal broke Medvedev’s serve in the fifth game, but Medvedev broke back in the 10th game.

After Novak Djokovic won the 2012 Australian Open in five sets in 5 hours and 53 minutes, it was the second-longest final at the Australian Open. In addition, Nadal becomes just the fourth man in history to have won all four major titles at least twice. Currently, Rafael Nadal has 90 ATP titles to his name and has won all four Grand Slams twice.

With Roland Garros (French Open) coming up in May, Rafael Nadal is now the favorite to win his 22nd Grand Slam.