Rafael Nadal: Why Spanish great will be so missed at Australian Open

In that moment, he stood alone.He had just battled back from a two-set deficit against Daniil Medvedev, fighting for a little over five hours to lift the Australian Open title and secure a then-men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.It is a little different this year.The 37-year-old had arrived in Australia on the first leg of his farewell tour, having said 2024 will likely be his last, but the tape that has long held up the body has unravelled a little further. A hip injury sustained at the Brisbane International has ruled him out of this year’s tournament.Nadal may still return to Melbourne – and if there is one thing his career has taught us, it is to never rule him out – but he may also have said goodbye to the city that was home to one of his “most emotional” moments.

It might not be surprising that, given his dominance on the French Open clay, only two of Nadal’s 22 Slam titles came on the Melbourne hard courts.There was, however, a 13-year gap – and four final losses – between the two titles in 2009 and 2022. His 2009 victory was another chapter in his long rivalry with Roger Federer, while 2022 saw him hold off another upstart in US Open champion Medvedev.Both matches went to five sets., external Both went beyond the four-hour mark. Both saw an epic display of defence from Nadal, saving 13 of 19 break points against Federer and 16 of 22 against Medvedev.They were victories that, in many ways, were classic Nadal – hands taped up, headband in place, willing every inch of his body on to victory.But in between the triumphs were a series of misses. Nadal reached six finals in Melbourne, winning two of them, and fell at the quarter-final stage seven times.He has a 77-16 win-loss record at the Slam and an overall win percentage of 83% – the same as at Wimbledon, where he has played 23 fewer matches.Nadal has been unlucky with injuries throughout his career, which has been a factor in Australian Open crunch matches, as well as his opponents playing lights out tennis against him.