Daniil Medvedev dodges upset against Kasidit Samrej at Australian Open

Daniil Medvedev had to sweat hard for his win in the Australian Open opening round as he registered a 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory against Thailand’s Kasidit Samrej at the Melbourne Park on Tuesday.

The Russian took the opening set comfortably but the World No. 418 made a stellar comeback in the next two sets to take a 2-1 lead. However, the 2022 Australian Open runners-up took the next two sets to complete a come-from-behind win.

Medvedev revealed that Samrej lifted his game against him and he was surprised with his game as he was not playing at the same level when he saw his old videos.

“I watched his matches and didn’t see this level, so I was surprised,” acknowledged Medvedev in his on-court interview. “If he plays like this every match, life can be good… I wish he can play like this every match. [Not] if I’m facing him. You need to be consistent to make it in tennis, and I wish this for him.”

The former World No.1 jokingly added he raised his level after playing more tennis as he has done so in the past.

“I know that I play better when I play more tennis. So I was like, ‘Why play one hour, 30 [minutes], I need minimum three hours to feel my shots better and have a good sensation’,” joked Medvedev. “But speaking seriously, in the second and third sets I couldn’t touch the ball, no power or anything. I didn’t know what to do.”

On the other hand, Andrey Rublev was shocked by Brazil’s Joao Fonseca in straight sets. Earlier, Stefanos Tsitsipas was surprised by USA’s Alex Michelsen in a four-set contest.

Daniil Medvedev will next take on Learner Tien in the second round at the Australian Open on Thursday.