Melbourne, Jan 14 The three-time finalist at Melbourne Park, Daniil Medvedev avoided one of the biggest upsets in recent Grand Slam history on Tuesday by rallying to a 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 first-round triumph against World No. 418 Kasidit Samrej of Thailand on Tuesday.
Medvedev's mid-match struggles were reflected in his uncharacteristically high unforced error tally of 34, of which 17 came across the second and third sets, according to tournament stats.
Samrej demonstrated some big-stage nerve at key moments, particularly when he held serve from 3-3, 0/40 en route to clinching the third set. He also deployed plenty of crafty drop shots to take the fight to Medvedev on his Grand Slam debut.
Medvedev reached his breaking point mentally after losing the third set, falling behind to the Thai wildcard in a surprising turn of events. He slammed his racquet into the net several times, damaging a camera positioned there.
Despite holding a two-sets-to-one lead after losing the first set, Samrej was unable to maintain his bid to pull off the lowest-ranked upset of a top-five seed at a Slam in the Open Era.
“I watched his matches and didn’t see this level, so I was surprised. 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," Medvedev in his on-court interview.
Samrej, who has never played more than three sets in a professional match, drank pickle juice after suffering from cramp in the fourth set, during which Medvedev regained complete control in the match and broke Samrej’s serve twice in each of the fourth and fifth sets enroute to a three-hour, eight-minute victory.
Medvedev's second round opponent will be another event debutant Learner Tien, who earlier overcame Camilo Ugo Carabelli 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
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