The Russian Daniil Medvedev, three-time finalist at the Australian Open, needs five sets against the Thai Kasidit Samrej, the world number 416. These are the facts of the third day of the tournament.
14.01.2025, 08:57
14.01.2025, 09:11
SDA
Medvedev was even 6:2, 4:6, 3:6 behind against Samrej, who made it into the main draw thanks to a wild card, before clearly winning sets 4 and 5 (6:1, 6:2). In the third set, Medvedev destroyed the net camera in frustration over a missed volley. At the Australian Open, including his last three matches last year, Medvedev had to go through five sets for the fourth time in a row. Medvedev lost two of his three finals in Melbourne - 2022 against Rafael Nadal and 2023 against Novak Djokovic - in five sets after leading 2:0.
Rybakina's coach
Kazakh Yelena Rybakina (25), the 2022 Wimbledon winner and world No. 7, won the opening match against 16-year-old Australian Emerson Jones 6:1, 6:1. Rybakina has now won 90 sets either 6:0 or 6:1 in her professional career.
More interesting than Rybakina's victory, however, was her coaching situation. Newly signed Goran Ivanisevic, the ex-coach of Novak Djokovic, coached her. Stevano Vukov, her second coach who had been provisionally suspended by the WTA, was not present. "But," says Rybakina, "he coaches me too. We talk on the phone every day." Rybakina apparently hired Vukov, under whose wing she had won Wimbledon, behind Ivanisevic's back.
