Daniil Medvedev beat the heat and maintained his unbeaten record on the Margaret Court Arena on Monday as he defeated Terence Atmane 5-6, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 to start with a win at the Australian Open..
The French qualifier felt the full weight of a 30 Celsius Melbourne summer day as he failed to finish the exhausting encounter which lasted for nearly two and three-quarter hours.
At one low point, the frustrated neophyte reduced his racquet to scrap.
Medvedev, twice runner-up here (2021, 2022) managed the conditions better to reach the second round.
He was also heartened as he continued an informal personal win streak: “I’ve never lost on Margaret Court – so I really like it here.
“After seven days in Melbourne, this is the first really hot day,” Medvedev said.
“When it felt tough for me I could look over at him and see that he was cramping.
“I put a lot of intensity on court and get tired. But that also means that the other guy will be tired also.
“I’m happy to get the win and be through to the next round.”
Atmane has won just one Tour-level match and was facing a Top 10 player for the first time.
Former world No. 1 Andy Murray suffered a major disappointment as he crashed out of the first round here for the only time since 2008, going down to Argentine Tomas Etcheverry 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas escaped a possible slide out of the Top 10, with the Greek staging a comeback to overwhelm Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
Had he lost the match, the Greek No. 7 would have exited the elite grouping for the first time in more than half a decade.
Bergs entered the main draw when Italy’s Matteo Berrettini had to withdraw due to a foot injury.
“Things come unexpectedly when you have been preparing for one opponent for many days, I had been expecting Matteo.
“But (Bergs) did a great job of making things as difficult as he could for me.
“But in the second set I felt the determination and the fire – I felt on top of my game.
“I’m glad things turned around, I felt like I was pushing him to the limit in the last three sets.”
2014 tournament winner Stan Wawrinka felt the disappointment of his first-even first round Melbourne loss as he played in his 18th edition.
The 38-year-old Swiss was bageled in the final set as France’s Adrian Mannarino earned a 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win after more than three and a half hours.
Three-time Grand Slam champion wawrinka has not reached the second week of a major since January, 2020, here.
2023 Melbourne quarter-finalist Ben Shelton started with a 6-2, 7-6 (2), 7-5 defeat of Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in two and three-quarter hours.
Semi-finalist last weekend in Adelaide Sebastian Korda – a quarter-finalist here in 2023 – began redeeming himself with an opening win as the American son of 1998 Open champion Petr Korda defeated Czech Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Finnish No. 1 Emil Ruusuvuori reached the second round here for the third time in his career after stopping American Patrick Kypson 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) and will attempt to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in the next round against Medvedev.
Denis Shapovalov continued to have his post-injury troubles, with the Canadian dispatched in the first round 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 by Czech qualifier Jakob Mensik.
Main photo:- Daniil Medvedev beat the Melbourne heat – by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
