Sunday's men's singles final between Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev possibly had everyone by the edge of their seats as the duo battled it out in a five-set thriller in Melbourne. The marathon final, which had drama, emotion and a bit of show off as well, clearly lived up to the expectations with both Nadal and Medvedev displaying some stupendous skills on court. The Spaniard, however, pipped Medvedev to capture a record-breaking 21st grand slam after an exhausting match. Nadal fought hard and took the game deep to win 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
But despite Medvedev losing the final after being two sets to love up, he ended up captivating the fans watching all around the world with some breath-taking tennis.
One new member that Medvedev added to his already growing fanbase was Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ashwin was seen tweeting quite regularly as he followed the match from the very beginning. His tweets also revealed that Medvedev has indeed become his "new favorite" tennis player.
"My new fav," Ashwin tweeted.
In another tweet, Ashwin seems to have been smitten by Medvedev's brand of tennis. He wrote:
"How can you not like @DaniilMedwed #AO2022."
The final turned out to be a historic one for Nadal as he became only the first men's player to win 21 Grand Slam singles titles in the modern era.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are tied second with 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles.