Novak Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles in 2021, tying Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer for the most Grand Slam titles at 20. In 2022, the Spaniard made tennis history.
It all began with Rafael Nadal's surprising victory at the 2022 Australian Open, where no one anticipated him to win his 21st Grand Slam title. Later, at the 2022 Roland Garros, he added his 22nd title, taking two titles away from his two main opponents. When Novak Djokovic was winning Grand Slams one after another last year, no one could have predicted this scenario.
Novak Djokovic would have been the biggest favourite to win the 2022 Australian Open if he would take part in the tournament. However, he couldn't do that and so one of his main rivals got his chance.
Despite being the only player from the Big Three to take part at the 2022 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal wasn't one of the biggest favourites to win the title. However, after his victories over Marcos Giron, Yannick Hanfman, Karen Khachanov and Adrian Mannarino, it seemed that his confidence was building.
Then, he managed to win a difficult five-set match againt Denis Shapovalov and defeat Matteo Berrettini in the semifinals. Despite all of this, no one expected Rafael Nadal to beat Daniil Medvedev in the final. Moreover, no one expected him to win when he was 2-6, 6-7, 2-3 and 0-40 down.
Yet, he managed to come back and win his 21st Grand Slam title in what could be marked as one of the best final comebacks. In a recent tweet, Alex Corretja marked this as "Turning point of 2022, and who knows, maybe in tennis history."
Despite Nadal's incredible efforts this season, Novak Djokovic can still match him at 22 Grand Slam titles this season and win even more in the coming seasons, but that's future and the present says, that the Spaniards sits comfortably in front of Djokovic and Federer who are 2 Grand Slam titles behind him.
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