[dailydriver]

A lot of things are going through the mind, having been glued to the screen for the better part of the afternoon.

Suffice it say that I am glad this match is being played on a Sunday, offering us an opportunity to witness history in the making.

Every time the crowd cheers for Rafa, my heart beats a tad faster. Though I will feel bad for Medvedev if he loses, I am sure he will console himself with the thought that he lost to one of the better players that modern tennis has seen.

Keeping my fingers crossed; but wishing for Rafa's trademark bite on the trophy.

OFF TOPIC: Interesting to see Infosys advertising prominently on the court.

[Chetan_Rao]

I really, really miss Vijay Amritraj and Alan Wilkins on commentary. Would've added a fantastic off-court dimension to this epic.

[deathwalkr]

What a classic match this has turned out to be! Nail biter all the way

[jkrishnakj]

How expensive could that double fault of Nadal, serving at 30-15, 5 games to 4 up, in the last set be? Nerves!

And Medvedev, having equalled to 5 games all is struggling to hold serve. These guys have some incredible physical and mental stamina.

[Chetan_Rao]

Wow! Credit to Medvedev, an absolutely fantastic player and arguably the cream of the next generation, and what do you even say about Nadal?

The legs, and the sheer bloody-mindedness, to hang in there until it goes his way.

[HTC]

Originally Posted by HTC

But Nadal should have converted the winners and won the second set when he had a chance. Seems impossible for him to get back in the game at this stage.

I'm very happy to eat my own words .

WoW! What a match. Unbelievable. From game one, except Nadal, I dont think anyone believed he could win. This is what differentiates great players from normal ones. They are mentally very tough and dig too deep into their reserves and end up making their opponents to doub their abilities. This is exactly what happened today I feel.

To be fair on Medvedev, he didnt had crowd support and gave too many gift points in last two sets. But he has what it takes to become a great player in future. Overall, a sunday well spent watching some history in the making.

"Vamos Rafa"!! You earned it. Happy for you.

-HTC

[Emvi]

WHAT A MATCH! INCREDIBLE!!
One of the longest and best Grand Slam finals ever! Medvedev played a gem, but Rafa is Rafa. Count him out at your own peril.

Even though I am not a Rafa fan by any stretch of imagination, I just can't help but admire his greatness!! He is the "King of Clay" without a speck of doubt, but is he the undisputed "King of Tennis"? Only time will tell.

[jkrishnakj]

I surely feel sad for Medvedev. Rafa clearly had to put everything he had for every point, even to hold serves. Medvedev, on the other hand had a lot of < 2 minute service games.

It all finally boiled down to those very minor errors.

What an epic match in the end and a big congrats to Rafa.

[neeraj0272]

Originally Posted by HTC

To be fair on Medvedev, he didnt had crowd support and gave too many gift points in last two sets. But he has what it takes to become a great player in future. Overall, a sunday well spent watching some history in the making.

"Vamos Rafa"!! You earned it. Happy for you.

-HTC

Simply put, Big three are in a league of their own and no other player can not touch them. We all know that odds are overwhelmingly that Nadal or Nole even today at their age will win over any other competitor then that itself is a testament to the greatness of these players.

Originally Posted by Emvi

WHAT A MATCH! INCREDIBLE!!
One of the longest and best Grand Slam finals ever! Medvedev played a gem, but Rafa is Rafa. Count him out at your own peril.

Even though I am not a Rafa fan by any stretch of imagination, I just can't help but admire his greatness!! He is the "King of Clay" without a speck of doubt, but is he the undisputed "King of Tennis"? Only time will tell.

I am a Rafa fan but I can concede that Nole is the best.
But right now it's Rafa who leads with 21

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

I surely feel sad for Medvedev. Rafa clearly had to put everything he had for every point, even to hold serves. Medvedev, on the other hand had a lot of < 2 minute service games.

It was only up to Medvedev to win and if he didn't win this match against an ageing Rafa then that means that...
Rafa is from another planet


Vamos!

[rbp]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Medvedev, on the other hand had a lot of < 2 minute service games.

Once Rafa broke Medvedev, he just didn't want to waste his energy to break Medvedev again, he was preserving his energy just to hold his serve. The AO is very tough physically for the players.
No disrespect to Medvedev, he will win many slams in the years to come if he can control his temper.

Rafa is my all time favourite, he is so humble and down to earth, never lets his frustration out, what a role model he is .

[neeraj0272]

I thought that it was a heartfelt press conference from Medvedev. But a hostile crowd is a part of the game and nothing new. Somehow Medvedev attributed this defeat and of his failure to rise to the top due to hostility of crowds but I think it reflects poorly on him.
Djokovic was once in this position and in fact he still is to some extent. But Djokovic has used this to up his game and make himself stronger mentally.
Anyhow Rafa played the game that was the hallmark of his prime and showed the new gen including Medvedev why the Big Three are all time best and that this new gen is very much behind and I am afraid Tennis will have to wait a long time to find new players of this calibre.

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by neeraj0272

I thought that it was a heartfelt press conference from Medvedev. But a hostile crowd is a part of the game and nothing new. Somehow Medvedev attributed this defeat and of his failure to rise to the top due to hostility of crowds but I think it reflects poorly on him.

Exactly my thoughts. Everyone faces partisan crowds. Even Rafa has faced partisan crowds playing against Federer, and likewise at French Open or in Spain. The key is to focus beyond all this and continue to play your game. I think Medevedev is 99 % there. He just needs some good advice to ignore this and most importantly avoid getting involved by riling crowds up. Unless he is a Jimmy Connors or John McEnroe. But that was an era where political correctness was not heard of. It would be better for Medvedev to cool down, put a few slams under his belt and then talk. He had quite a few chances but squandered them away. Rafa played very patiently like the seasoned warrior that he is.

[neeraj0272]

Rafa now leads with 21 grand slams and for now we can declare him to be the GOAT.
One very important achievement besides winning most number of grand slams is that he has also won each grand slam at least twice which means that he didn't win any particular grand slam by luck. He is a champion on all surfaces. Djokovic has also done the same and will most probably better Nadal's record and then lay claim to be the GOAT.
But Federer has won FO only once and it can be said that lady luck had some say on it.

[Slick]

What an amazing and nerve wracking match! Didn't think Nadal had it in him to fight from two sets down - Absolute Legend.

Simply cannot imagine how he can bring himself to fight after the heartbreak of 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019. Anyone would accept it as destiny.

It seemed poetic that he would never win another AO title and that would be a blot on his career. His proverbial "Achilles Heel".

He won in the absence of Djokovic and probably would have either lost to Djokovic, or had he by some chance won, would have lost in finals because of tiredness.

Medvedev is no ordinary player and his dismantling of Djokovic in USO was spectacular. So credit to Nadal for doing the unthinkable.

Nadal has had the most injuries of the three GOATs and has adapted his game for his loss of movement. A special special athlete.

What an era for tennis this has been, too bad it's coming to an end.

Waiting for the RG, another season of Nadal vs Djokovic to resume.

- Slick

PS - The crowd was too hostile to Medvedev this year, a little unfair.

[C300]

What a match!! Was rooting for Medvedev to win this. He is an exceptional talent and player to watch out in coming years.
What he needs is a better PR agent to get crowd on his side. Do some photo ops, hug a Koala to build that 'good guy' image. He is currently doing the opposite.