Rafa Nadal, the greatest tennis player of all time

Rafa Nadal defied all odds and completed an epic comeback in the Australian Open final on Sunday night (local time). The Mallorcan tennis player was two sets down against world number two Daniil Medvedev, but found the mental strength to win the match and add a 21st Grand Slam to his trophy cabinet - the first ever male player to do so.

The Spaniard's comeback was the greatest and most important one of his career. With the match just two minutes shy of five-and-a-half hours, he defeated Medvedev by 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4 and 7-5. It had been 15 years (Wimbledon 2007) since Nadal last came back from being two sets down in a Grand Slam match, after 13 failed attempts in the time since.

Nadal was tied with fellow tennis greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for the most Grand Slams won (they each had 20), before his most recent victory put him ahead of them both.

The Spaniard's tally leaves little doubt that he is the greatest tennis player of all time. As well as overcoming his aforementioned colleagues, Nadal is now head and shoulders above other tennis legends. He was won seven more Grand Slams than Pete Sampras, nine more than Roy Emerson, and ten more than both Rod Laver and Björn Borg.

Nadal also sits fourth in the most tennis games won in the Open Era. The Mallorcan has seen victory 1,038 times, 30 shy of Ivan Lendl's 1,068 wins. Ahead of them both are Roger Federer (second, 1,251 wins) and Jimmy Connors (first, 1,274 wins).

The Australian Open also opened the door for Nadal to become the second ever player (after Djokovic) to win a double Grand Slam. On top of his two majors Down Under, the Spaniard has also won Wimbledon twice, the US Open four times and Roland Garros an incredible 13 times - which has earned him the nickname the King of Clay.