Medvedev's Gritty Advance Buries 2025 Ghosts

Daniil Medvedev stepped onto the sun-baked hard courts of Melbourne with a quiet fire burning from his Brisbane triumph. The former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings faced Jesper de Jong in a matchup that promised baseline attrition under the Australian Open‘s sluggish conditions. He navigated the Dutchman’s resistance to secure a 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) victory, carving out his second-round berth and bolstering his 6-0 ledger for the year.

Medvedev began his year by lifting the trophy at the Brisbane International presented by ANZ, a momentum builder that carried into this hard-court major. He converted seven of 13 break points against de Jong, his returns probing deep to expose second-serve frailties. The win marked their maiden ATP Head2Head encounter, with the World No. 73 pushing hard but ultimately yielding to the Russian’s tactical depth.

“Today was not easy. First match, different tournament, a Grand Slam,“ said Medvedev in his on-court interview. ”Last year, I lost almost [each major] in the first round, except here actually, so I’m happy to win in straight sets, even if some were up and down. The conditions felt slow, so we were both breaking each other’s serve a lot. The most important [thing] is to win and hopefully I can play better next round.”

DANIIL DELIVERS

He moves past de Jong 7-5 6-2 7-6(2) #AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/m9YKNzBUPe
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 19, 2026

First set tests resolve

Twice in the opener, Medvedev surrendered a break lead, the crowd’s low hum amplifying each slip as de Jong clawed back with flat crosscourt strikes. He reset with a heavy topspin forehand that pinned his opponent deep, forcing a forehand error on the next point to reclaim control at 7-5. That frame’s back-and-forth echoed the psychological scars from a 2025 season where he scraped just one Grand Slam win here in Melbourne, turning potential doubt into defiant momentum.

The slower Plexicushion surface extended rallies, demanding precise depth from both sides, but Medvedev’s scrambling defense turned de Jong’s aggression into unforced errors. His inside-out backhand sliced through a key exchange, sealing the set and quieting the inner voices of last year’s early exits. As the scoreline suggested, this wasn’t dominance yet, but a hard-won edge that fed his growing confidence.

Second set surges ahead

Momentum flooded into the second as Medvedev dismantled de Jong’s rhythm, breaking early with a deep return that sat up for a 1–2 finish—forehand crosscourt followed by a down-the-line backhand. He held serve with varied pace, mixing flat drives and looping topspin to keep the Dutchman guessing on the sluggish bounce. The 6-2 bagel came swiftly, his court coverage leaving scant room for winners amid the frequent breaks plaguing both players.

De Jong’s net rushes faltered against Medvedev’s passing shots, the Russian’s angles widening the court in his favor. This set highlighted how the Australian Open‘s conditions amplified his counterpunching, contrasting the quicker Brisbane decks where outright power had sufficed. With the match tilting, the air thickened with anticipation for the decider.

Tiebreak seals the shift

The third set tightened, de Jong saving breaks to force Medvedev to serve out at 5-4 and 6-5, tension coiling as the tiebreak approached after two hours and 53 minutes of grind. In the breaker, he struck first with a down-the-line forehand winner, then disrupted with underspin slices that skidded low, dominating 7-2. Relief etched his face at match point, a crosscourt return forcing the final error and burying the ghosts of 2025’s ATP 250 in Almaty as his lone late highlight.

Under coaches Thomas Johansson and Rohan Goetzke, this victory signals a tactical evolution suited to Melbourne’s demands. Next comes Quentin Halys, who dispatched Alejandro Tabilo 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(2) with baseline firepower, his lefty slice potentially probing Medvedev’s backhand. As the draw heats, this straight-sets survival positions him for contention, the Brisbane spark now a steady flame.

Monday’s action rippled wider, with Tommy Paul, the 19th seed, outlasting fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 through steady inside-out forehands. Andrey Rublev, seeded 13th, powered past Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, his groundstrokes thriving in the conditions. Reilly Opelka blasted 23 aces to defeat #NextGenATP’s Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, injecting big-serving drama into the early rounds.

For Medvedev, the up-and-down sets he acknowledged mask a deeper pivot: from fragile contender to resilient force. The Melbourne buzz hums with his potential, eyes fixed on channeling this grit into a major resurgence.