Aus Open: Medvedev races into second round after beating Jesper de Jong

Melbourne, Jan 19 (IANS) Former World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev showcased strong form on Monday at the Australian Open, comfortably defeating Jesper de Jong 7-5, 6-2, 7-6(2) to advance to the second round.

Medvedev, who started his year by winning the Brisbane International, converted seven out of 13 break points against De Jong. This victory also marks his perfect start of 6-0 for the 2026 season, ATP reports.

Medvedev overcame some inconsistency to defeat the World No. 73 in his first career meeting, winning in two hours and 53 minutes. Despite twice surrendering a break lead in the opening set and failing to serve out the match twice in the third, he maintained control and dominated the deciding tie-break at the Margaret Court Arena.

After a challenging 2025 season that saw just one Grand Slam win, Medvedev ended the year strongly with an ATP 250 title in Almaty. He will face Quentin Halys next, after the Frenchman beat Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets.

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 of them 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,” Medvedev said in his on-court interview.

He added that he was eager to cool down in an ice bath afterwards, explaining, “It is warm, but I felt okay and I think then he was probably struggling a tiny bit more than me... Hopefully it doesnt get worse than what we felt here. For sure, a bit of an ice bath never feels bad after such a warm match.”

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