Tennis: Rafael Nadal claims 19th Grand Slam title

Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal has survived an epic match in New York against young Russian Daniil Medvedev to clinch the U.S. Open crown, the 19th Grand Slam title of his career. Nadal had taken a two-set lead and it seemend the match was going to be over at the end of the third set, but 23-year-old Medvedev fought back and pushed the match into a fifth set. In the end Nadal won the decider four hours and fifty minutes after the start of the match. The match duration was just four minutes shorter than the longest ever U.S. Open final. 

This victory puts Nadal just one Grand Slam title behind all-time record holder Roger Federer. "It has been one of the most emotional nights in my tennis career," Nadal said after the match. "It has been an amazing final. It has been a crazy match." He also gave credit to Medvedev for the performance: "It was an amazing final, since I had the match under control more or less. Tonight everybody saw why he is number four in the world. The way he was able to fight, to change the rhythm of the match, was incredible."

Daniil Medvedev fought really hard and even denied Nadal two match points, but in the end had to settle for the runner-up spot. The young Russian has won five ATP titles in his career and now moves up to fourth place in the world rankings behind Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. "I just want to congratulate Rafa, a 19th Grand Slam title is something unbelievable, outrageous," said Medvedev. "I definitely will remember tonight. I'm sure even talking about Rafa's 19 Grand Slams, I'm sure he remembers his first final, even though he won it and I lost it. It was an amazing match." 

Now Rafael Nadal can draw level with Roger Federer if he wins the 2020 Australian Open, he is 7/2 at William Hill to win it while Novak Djokovic is 6/4 to grab the title. Roger Federer is 6/1 to win next year's Australian Open.