THE UNDERDOG TRIUMPHS

THE odds were heavily stacked against him. His opponent was 10 years younger, a towering 1,98m Russian with a creative game and the skill and stamina of an athlete in his prime.

Rafael Nadal, by contrast, was 1,85m tall, 35 years old, beset with injuries, and exhausted after a gruelling road to the Australian Open final.

For a while, it looked like Daniil Medvedev would cruise home – he was two sets to love up, cool as a cucumber, while across the court Rafa sweated buckets in the Rod Laver Arena.

But the Spaniard hung on to fight an astonishing battle that’s been