Daniil Medvedev destroys TV network cameras in Australia's five-set win
MELBOURNE, Australia — Daniil Medvedev smashed a tiny camera attached to the net with his racket while trailing the 418th-ranked player at the Australian Open, but ultimately avoided a huge upset and finished 6 -2, 4-6, 3-6 wins. The teams are 6-1, 6-2 in Tuesday's first-round matchup at Rod Laver Arena.
Fifth-seeded Medvedev, who won the 2021 U.S. Open and was runner-up three times at Melbourne Park, including a year ago, struggled in the second and third sets against Cassidy Samray Jishi was hardly at his best. A wild card player from Thailand makes his Grand Slam debut.
“I know I'll play better when I play more tennis,” Medvedev joked afterwards. “So I thought, ‘Why play for an hour and 30 (minutes)?’ It’s going to take at least three hours to get a better feel for my shot.”
The camera-destroying racket swing occurred in the final game of the third set as Samregi claimed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five set.
Medvedev showed anger as he fell 13 shots behind at 40-15. Samregui hit the ball into the net, changing the ball's trajectory and throwing Medvedev off balance, before a cross-court forehand pass winner kept Medvedev out of reach.
Medvedev walked to the net and thrust his racquet forward five times, breaking his gear and shattering a small black camera, sending shards flying. This resulted in the referee issuing an infringement warning for racket abuse.
Medvedev quickly dropped the set, leaving him with a lot of work to do to avoid a huge upset in the first game of the 2025 season. However, Medvedev quickly turned the tables, winning 12 of the remaining 15 games and scoring 61 of the remaining 94 points.
He finished with 24 aces and less than half as many unforced errors as Samrej (34 to 69).
“At the end of last year, this was a match I would have lost,” said Medvedev, who went 3-1 in five sets at the 2024 Australian Open. “New year, new motivation.”
Samregi was treated by his coach late in the fourth set for a problem with his left leg.
He was trying to become the lowest-ranked man to knock out one of the top five seeds at a Grand Slam tournament since the ATP computerized rankings began in 1973, according to the International Tennis Federation.
The biggest result entering Tuesday was No. 234 Alex King's win over No. 4 Evgeny Kafelnikov at the 2002 Australian Open.
Samregi entered this year's Australian Open via the Asia-Pacific four-round wild-card play-offs in November. Until Tuesday, he had never fought anyone ranked higher than 78th or beaten anyone ranked higher than 157th.
“I watched him play and I didn't see that level, so I was surprised,” Medvedev said. “If he plays like this every game, his life will be great.”