Rafael Nadal wins Australian Open for 21st major title
Melbourne, Jan 30: Rafael Nadal got to 21 first, breaking the men's record for most Grand Slam singles titles and doing it the hard way by coming back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in an almost 5 1/2-hour Australian Open final.
Nadal was broken when serving for the championship for the first time at 5-4 in the fifth set, but he made no mistake two games later by served an ace to earn three championship points and converted it on the first attempt.
The 35-year-old Spaniard now has one more major title than Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, his long-time rivals in the so-called Big Three.
With the 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win that started Sunday night, was delayed in the 84-minute second set when a protester jumped onto the court, and then finished early Monday morning, Nadal also became just the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport's major titles at least twice.
Good evening. No, good morning! Nadal, looking at his watch, told the crowd at Rod Laver Arena when he finally got up for his acceptance speech at 1:30 a.m.
In the background, Rod Laver, the ageing Australian tennis great, was in the stands holding up his smartphone to capture the scenes. A woman nearby held up a sign that stated: Rafa is the GOAT.
For now, in terms of men's major titles at least, Nadal is the Greatest Of All Time.
Nadal said it had been one of the most emotional matches in my tennis career, and he praised Medvedev for the part he played in the 5-hour, 24-minute final. It was the second longest Australian Open final ever, after Nadal's loss to Djokovic in the 2012 decider that lasted 5:53.
His victory was even more remarkable considering Nadal flew to Australia with just two matches under his belt in the second half of 2021 because he was sidelined with a chronic foot injury that can be treated but not cured. He also overcame a bout of COVID-19.
For me, it's just amazing. Being honest, one month and a half ago, I didn't know if I'd be able to play on the tour again, Nadal said.
"Without a doubt, (it's) probably been one of the most emotional months in my tennis career.
The huge support I've received for the last three weeks will stay in my heart for the rest of my life.
Nadal won his first Australian Open title in 2009 and lost four other finals at Melbourne Park before his dramatic win over U.S. Open champion Medvedev. His conversion rate in major finals is now 21 out of 29. Federer and Djokovic each have 20 majors from 31 finals appearances.
Medvedev, who was aiming to be the first man in the Open era to win his second Grand Slam title at the very next major, was ever-so-close to spoiling another 21st celebration.
Djokovic was chasing the same record at the U.S. Open last year, and a calendar-year Grand Slam, when Medvedev beat him in straight sets in the final.
Federer also had his chance at 21, but Djokovic stopped that when he saved match points before winning the 2019 Wimbledon final.
Medvedev now joins Andy Murray among those who've lost the final at the next major tournament after their career breakthrough at the highest level.
It was just the fourth time Nadal has rallied from two sets down to win a best-of-five-set match, and the first since a fourth-round victory in 2007 at Wimbledon over Mikhail Youzhny.
He's is the first Australian Open champion to come back to win after dropping the first two sets of the final since Roy Emerson in 1965.
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TikTok shuts down as US ban takes effect
Houston: TikTok’s app effectively shut down in the US, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect. The app was shut down on Saturday.
“A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the US Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now,” a message reads when American users open the app.
“We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!”
While the Biden administration dismissed TikTok’s shutdown threat as a "stunt" and handed enforcement to the Trump administration, TikTok maintained that without clear assurances, it had no choice but to suspend its services in the US.
An internal email to employees stated that President Trump has expressed his intention to work on a solution to restore TikTok once he assumes office on January 20th. TikTok assured teams are working to resume services as soon as possible.
On Saturday evening, a warning appeared in both TikTok and CapCut apps at 9 PM Easten time:
"We regret that a US law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19th, forcing us to temporarily suspend our services. We’re working to restore our service in the US as soon as possible. Thank you for your support. Stay tuned."
By 10:30 PM ET, users were blocked from accessing both apps, with TikTok displaying a message that the app "isn’t available right now," but expects resolution under President-elect Trump.
It comes after days of speculation and confusion over the platform’s future.
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the divest-or-ban law, which gave TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance until Sunday to divest from the app.
The law directed Apple and Google to remove the service from app stores. It also required web-hosting firms, including TikTok's back-end cloud provider, Oracle, to stop supporting the app or face penalties that could reach into the billions of dollars, NPR reported.
Trump said Saturday that he would most likely give TikTok a 90-day extension.
“The 90-day extension is something that will be most likely done, because it’s appropriate. You know, it’s appropriate. We have to look at it carefully,” Trump said in a call with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker. “It’s a very big situation.”
The law, which passed Congress with wide bipartisan majorities and was signed by President Biden in April, allows the president to provide a 90-day extension, as long as progress is being made toward a divestiture.
Following Friday’s Supreme Court decision, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew thanked the president-elect for his commitment to finding a solution to keep the app accessible in the US, Chew who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, is set to attend Monday’s inauguration, the Hill reported.
While the app’s message and Trump’s remarks suggest the app could be revived in the US soon, it remains unclear exactly what that would look like and how long a divestiture deal could take to hammer out.
JUST IN - TikTok officially goes offline in the US. pic.twitter.com/QpJU97grSh
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 19, 2025
