MELBOURNE: Daniil Medvedev joked about diving into an ice bath after overcoming the Melbourne heat and patchy serving to defeat Jesper de Jong 7-5 6-2 7-6(2) in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.
The 11th-seeded Russian, fresh from lifting the title in Brisbane, prevailed in a topsy-turvy opening set on Margaret Court Arena that featured five breaks of serve as both players struggled with their deliveries in slow, warm conditions.
“The conditions felt slow, so we were both breaking each other’s serve a lot,” said Medvedev, a three-time runner-up at Melbourne Park. “It is warm, but I felt okay… For sure, a bit of an ice bath never feels bad after such a warm match.”
Medvedev finally broke at 5-5 and sealed the first set with a crisp backhand winner, before taking full control in the second as he surged to a 4-0 lead. Mixing forehand and backhand winners, he piled pressure on De Jong, capitalising on a stream of errors to move two sets clear.
“When I play good I am actually aggressive and when I play bad I become a bit more defensive,” Medvedev said. “First round is never easy, so hopefully I can be more clinical in the next rounds.”
The third set briefly threatened to extend the contest after Medvedev was broken while serving for the match at 5-4, but the Russian regrouped quickly and dominated the tiebreak to book his place in the second round.
