Medvedev Makes Fast Start In Melbourne

Daniil Medvedev wasted little time in reaching the second round at the Australian Open Monday when he dismantled American Marcos Giron 6-0, 6-1, 6-2 to start his title quest in style.

The World No. 8 is aiming to go one step further than his previous best showing showings at the first major of the season this fortnight, having lost in the final in 2021 and 2022. Competing on Rod Laver Arena, Medvedev made the perfect start, hitting 28 winners en route to a one-hour, 36-minute win.

“I am really happy with the match,” Medvedev said. “Marcos is a tough opponent, so to beat him with this score in the first round at a Slam is great. I am really happy with my level and I am looking forward to the next round.”

With his fourth tour-level victory of the season, Medvedev improved to 2-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against the 29-year-old Giron. The seventh seed will next face John Millman after the Australian wild card defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-7(8), 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-3.

“In five or six years that I have been on the Tour, I have never played [Millman]. He is a great player, especially here in Australia,” Medvedev said. “He is a great player. He beat Roger [Federer] at the US Open when Roger was at the top, so he is capable of playing some great tennis. I am going to have to play my best as well.”

The 2021 US Open champion looked comfortable throughout his clash against Giron, hitting with precision and depth to outlast the American in the baseline exchanges. Medvedev won 54 per cent (25/46) of points on Giron’s first serve, breaking seven times to improve to 20-6 at the Australian Open.

Medvedev arrived in Melbourne off the back of a run to the semi-finals in Adelaide International 1, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. The 26-year-old, who is in the opposite half of the draw to the Serbian at the hard-court major, is trying to become the fourth man to reach three consecutive Australian Open finals. Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl and Djokovic have all achieved the feat.