Stefanos Tsitsipas has beaten the king of comebacks himself, Rafa Nadal, to win an epic clash at the Australian Open.
Surely this will and should go down as one of the best matches in recent memory.
Tsitsipas did to the champion fighter, Nadal, what Nadal himself has done so often unto others – not giving up till the last point, coming back from the brink of defeat and finally landing the killer punch, and of course winning.
Tsitsipas’ win is even more special because Nadal’s quality never dipped through the match, it was pristine for the most of it, and often in the first two sets, Tsitsipas had no answers for it and he duly lost the sets.
That’s what makes this comeback even more breathtaking.
Rafa made precisely two errors in the entire first three sets – missing two overhead smash winners, but those came at a crucial time and proved costly as it came in the third set tiebreak, enabling Tsitsipas to escape with a set when his confidence wore thin and he looked all ready to leave the Arena.
And just like that, the momentum swung.
Confidence is a strange thing in Tennis. It often evaporates when you least expect it to. It can very easily switch sides.
Rafael Nadal (Lev Radin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Rafa losing the third set was so unexpected that the legend himself seemed to have come unstuck momentarily. Tsitspas capitalised, roared and mounted a comeback of epic proportions from that point on. Confidence had switched sides as Tsitsipas made winners at will.
His serves were menacing, his groundstrokes breathtaking and he matched Rafa toe to toe in quality, groundstrokes, serves and most importantly the never-say-die spirit. He then bettered it in moments that warranted it.
The young challenger’s never-say-die spirit did halt Rafa’s indomitable will to win. He broke Rafa in the fourth set at 4-4 and then in the deciding set at 5-5. With ‘Tsi’ serving for the match, Rafa’s fighting spirit did rekindle again and again as it did for much of the fifth set, only to be firmly doused by his opponent’s refusal to wilt.
Ultimately Tsitsipas completed a comeback for the ages after being two sets down against one of the greatest fighters the game has seen.
He refused to wilt, he refused to give up, he brought his fighting spirit to the fore. Even Rafa, the king of comebacks and the epitome of the never-say-die spirit could do nothing about it.
Maybe the Change of Guard has well and truly begun.
Kaushik Lakshman
Roar Rookie
If Tsitsipas can serve the way he did in the last 3 sets in this match, then it will play a massive factor at Wimbledon.
Kaushik Lakshman
Roar Rookie
True, there was nothing that looked wrong with Nadal's game. Maybe after being sublime in the first 3 sets, there must have been the slightest of dip in Rafa's level of play and that was enough for Tsitsipas to capitalize. Maybe it's an age thing as well. Physically, Rafa is getting more fatigued nowadays over 5 sets and when two quality players play each other that could be fatal.
Kaushik Lakshman
Roar Rookie
Feel it’s more likely that Medvedev’s time is approaching, especially in hard courts. He has been knocking on the door for a while now. If he defeats Tsitsipas in the semis, will he have it in him to triumph over Djokovic in the final? Hard to say, with Djokovic’s record of never losing a final in AO. At the same time, I feel he is the only guy presently capable of defeating Djokovic if he reaches the final of the AO. If Tsi wins the semis, then I can’t seem taking down Djokovic as well in the final. He might be too tired.
Gary David
Roar Rookie
It was an amazing match! I've been waiting for the changeover of the young generation finally toppling the big three and indeed it may have begun. It was amazing to watch and try to work out what slipped in Nadal's game, I really don't know. That's what makes Tsitsipas' comeback all the more impressive.
Brian
Guest
Medvadev looks to me most suited to hardcourts. Tsitsipas will struggle to get past both Medvadev and Djokovic (who wouldn't), however he definately looks every bit like a future Wimbledon champion
malibu77
Roar Rookie
Just a phenomenal win by Tsitsipas. The hard bit now is backing up against Medvedev tomorrow night and then Djokovic on Sunday. Only third time in his career that Nadal has lost in 5 from 2 sets up. This AO has confirmed for me that neither Zverev nor Kyrgios is likely to ever win a major. However Tsitsipas is a different story (put Medvedev in this category too). Can this be one of their years?