The Australian Open has Novak Djokovic as the winningest male tennis player in its history, but its current king is Rafael Nadal.

The Spaniard will try to defend the title he managed to lift in 2022 in Melbourne, looking for another great start to the season like the one who lived last year.

The Australian tournament is not the most productive of Nadal’s career, with fewer crowns than the four he achieved at the US Open. not to mention when compared to his 14 Roland Garros titles, but with his consecration last season he managed to make the third Grand Slam with the best winning percentage for him: 84%, compared to 83% at Wimbledon and still below 85% at the US Open.

The Black Beast Hewitt

Nadal made his Australian Open debut in 2004, before he turned 18: he barely dropped a set on his way to the third round, but there he fell to local Lleyton Hewitt and fell in straight sets, two of them in tiebreaks. In 2005, Rafa, who had not yet arrived, lost to Hewitt (a finalist of that edition) again, but this time in the fourth round and in five sets.

From the first defining moments to the long-awaited title

Rafa was absent in 2006 and returned in 2007, already a two-time Roland Garros champion, only to lose in the quarterfinals to Fernando Gonzalez. In 2008 he was eliminated in the semi-finals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

It wasn’t until 2009 that Nadal claimed his first crown in Australia, beating Roger Federer in an incredible final 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6 and 6-2 in almost four and a half hours. Pair.

Over a decade without success

Eliminated by Andy Murray in the 2010 quarter-finals and by David Ferrer in the 2011 quarter-finals, Nadal would only return to the final in Australia in 2012: losing to Novak Djokovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6 -7 (5) and 7-5. Rafa did not play in 2013 and lost the final again in 2014, this time to Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

In 2015 the Spaniard lost in three sets to Tomas Berdych in the quarter-finals and in 2016 he had his worst performance when he was knocked out by Fernando Verdasco in the first round. He came back strong in 2017, although once again the final was elusive when he fell to Roger Federer, as he did in 2019 against Novak Djokovic. In between, he was knocked out by Marin Cilic in the 2018 quarterfinals.

In 2020 and 2021, Nadal was again eliminated in the quarterfinals, by Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively.

the last big hit

In 2022, aged 35 and more than a decade after first establishing himself in Melbourne, Nadal returned to glory at the Australian Open: knocking out Marcos Chiron, Yannick Hanfman, Karen Khachanov, Adrian Mannarino, Denis Shapovalov and Matteo Berettini. road to the final with Daniil Medvedev, whom he beat 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5 in 5 hours and 24 minutes of play.

Rafael Nadal Australian Open stats

• Participations: 17 (not including 2023).
• Record: 76-15.
• Titles: 2.
• Nearest precedent: in 2022 he was crowned champion by beating Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in five sets.