SYDNEY, January 14. /TASS/. Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev cleared the opening round of the 2025 Australian Open on Tuesday, squeaking by Thai wildcard Kasidit Samrej in five sets.
In a match that lasted over three hours, the 5th-seeded Medvedev took down his 23-year-old Thai opponent, ranked No. 418 in the ATP (the Association of Tennis Professionals) Rankings, with a final score of 6-2; 4-6; 3-6; 6-1; 6-2.
Speaking after the match Medvdev joked: "I know that I play better when I play more tennis."
"So, it was like ‘why play one hour and 30, you need minimum three hours at least to feel your shots better, to have a good sensation’," the tournament’s official website quoted the Russian player as saying.
"Really speaking though, second and third set I couldn’t touch the ball. Full power, everything in, I didn’t know what to do," he added.
The Russian, who is playing in the tourney as a neutral, will face American Learner Tien in the next round. The unseeded 19-year-old US player defeated Camilo Ugo Carabelli from Argentina in the opening round.
Medvedev, 28, is currently fifth in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Rankings. In 2022, the top Russian racquet spent sixteen weeks as the number one player in the world. He is the 2021 US Open Champion and has 20 ATP tournament titles under his belt. He won five of these 20 titles in 2023. Also, in 2021, he won the Davis Cup as well as the ATP Cup playing for the Russian national team.
The 2025 Australian Open tournament is being played on hard courts at Melbourne Park on January 12-26 and has a purse of $59.7 million in prize money up for grabs. The season’s first Grand Slam, this year marks the 113th edition of the tournament. Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Belarus’ Aryna Sabalenka are the reigning Australian Open champions in men’s and women’s singles, respectively.
Russian players’ neutral status at tennis tournaments
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC's recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) ruled on March 1, 2022 to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian national tennis federations while also canceling all previously scheduled tennis tournaments in the two countries.
On March 14, 2022, the ITF also confirmed its prohibition on the Russian and Belarusian national tennis teams from taking part in the 2022 Davis Cup and 2022 Billie Jean King Cup.
However, the Women Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) allowed tennis players from Russia and Belarus to continue participating in WTA and ATP tournaments, but only under a neutral status.