MELBOURNE, Australia — In an intriguing first-round encounter at the Australian Open, Daniil Medvedev, the No. 5 seed, survived a surprising challenge from the unseeded Kasidit Samrej, ranked 418th, eventually triumphing with a score of 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday.
Medvedev, who claimed the U.S. Open title in 2021 and reached the finals in Melbourne on three occasions, including last year, showed signs of vulnerability in the second and third sets against the wild-card entrant from Thailand, who was competing in his first Grand Slam tournament.
“I know I play better when I play more tennis,” Medvedev quipped after the match. “So I was like, ‘Why play 1 hour, 30 (minutes)?’ A minimum of three hours would help me find my rhythm.”
The drama peaked during the final game of the third set, in which Samrej took a two-sets-to-one lead. Frustrated after losing a long rally, Medvedev experienced a moment of anger, smashing his racket multiple times into a small camera mounted on the net, despite the upset unfolding. He struck the camera with such force that it shattered, resulting in a code violation for racket abuse from the match umpire.
Medvedev’s outburst came after a rally that had seen him fall behind. Samrej’s shot skimmed the net, changing direction and disrupting Medvedev’s timing, ultimately leading to a winner that left him unable to respond.
Despite the setback, Medvedev regrouped swiftly, dominating the remainder of the match by winning 12 of the final 15 games and taking control of 61 of the last 94 points played. He ended the match with an impressive total of 24 aces while committing significantly fewer unforced errors than Samrej, with counts of 34 to 69.
“As I reflected on last year, this match, I probably would have lost,” Medvedev stated, drawing on his experiences from 2024, wherein he had a 3-1 record in five-set matches. “It’s a new year and brings new energy.”
Samrej, who required treatment for an issue with his left leg late in the fourth set, was aiming to achieve a rare feat by becoming the lowest-ranked man to eliminate a top five seeded player at a Grand Slam since the ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.
The previous record for such an upset occurred at the 2002 Australian Open when No. 234 Alex Kim defeated then-No. 4 Yevgeny Kafelnikov.
Having earned his spot in the Australian Open through a four-round wild-card playoff for the Asia-Pacific region last November, Samrej had never faced an opponent ranked higher than 78th prior to this match and had no prior victories against players positioned above 157th in the rankings.
“I watched his matches and did not see this level, so I was genuinely surprised,” Medvedev remarked about Samrej’s performance. “If he can maintain this caliber of play, he has a promising future.”
