It's never boring when Danil Medvedev plays - whether it's because of his tennis or his behavior.
The grandmaster from Moscow was on the brink of a precipice against the 418th ranked tennis player in the world, Kasidit Samrej, losing in the first round of the Australian Open 1:2 in sets, and then he vented his anger by hitting the net and completely turning the match against the Thai - 1:3 (2:6, 2:4, 6:3, 6:6, 1:6).
The Russian hit the net, the racket and the camera on the net were damaged, but after that his game picked up in the next two sets - Samrej won only three games by the end (the truth is that he was also struggling with an injury), and Medvedev "bombarded" him from the serve and "closed" the match with 13 aces.
Interestingly, it was the fourth match in a row in Melbourne that Medvedev finished after five sets, after that was the case in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final last year.
Last year's runner-up will play against Lerner Tien in the next round.
When it comes to marathons, Gael Monfils also played one the night before - the Frenchman defeated fellow competitor Giovanni Mpesa Perikar 7:6, 6:3, 6:7, 6:7, 6:4 after five sets and four hours of tennis.
The match was also marked by a point by the younger Frenchman, probably the most beautiful in the tournament so far.
Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Kristia Garin and Francisco Serundolo also advanced to the next round, with the Dane struggling against China's Zizhen Zhang.
In the end, Rune, like Medvedev and Monfils, celebrated after five sets - 4:6, 6:3, 6:4, 3:6, 6:4.
Bonus video:
