Rafael Nadal got to 21, but took the scenic way by coming back from two sets down to beat Daniil Medvedev in an almost five-and-a-half hour marathon Australian Open final that didn’t finish until the early hours of Monday morning in Melbourne.

With the 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win that started Sunday night, Nadal also became just the fourth man in history to win all four of the sport’s major titles at least twice.

Nadal won his first Australian Open title in 2009 and lost four other finals at Melbourne Park before his dramatic win over US Open champion Medvedev. His conversation rate in major finals is now 21 out of 29. Federer and Djokovic each have 20 majors from 31 finals appearances.

Nadal was broken when serving for the championship at 5-4 in the fifth set but made no mistake the next time. At 5 hours and 24 minutes, it was the second longest Australian Open final after Novak Djokovic beat Nadal in five sets in 5 hours and 53 minutes in 2012.

The 35-year-old Spaniard now has one more Major than Roger Federer and Djokovic, his long-time rivals in the so-called Big Three.

Here are some reactions to Nadal’s win:

Spain's Rafael Nadal posing with the trophies of his 21 Grand Slam victories. STF / AFP
Roger Federer's message on Instagram stories

With PTI inputs