Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
Sport
Asharq Al-Awsat

Medvedev Eases into Second Round to Begin Title Charge

Russia's Daniil Medvedev is strongly fancied in Melbourne. Paul Crock AFP

Title favorite Daniil Medvedev wore down Swiss Henri Laaksonen to win his opening match at the Australian Open on Tuesday with little fuss.

The Russian, who is looking for back-to-back Grand Slam crowns after winning last year's US Open, prevailed 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) in 1hr 54min on Rod Laver Arena, AFP reported.

"I tried to win the third set, I thought I'll wait (for the tiebreaker), it managed to work out, so I'm really happy about it," the world number two said on court.

"I started well in Australia last year, won the ATP Cup and managed to be in the final here. I like to play here, I like hardcourts and I want to do better than I did last year."

Medvedev is aiming to go one better than last year's losing final appearance against Novak Djokovic, but with the world number one back home in Serbia after his deportation, the Russian is the nominated favorite for the title.

Medvedev dropped his opening service game against Laaksonen, but reeled off the next six games to take the first set.

When the 91st-ranked Laaksonen finally held service in the opening game of the second set the crowd loudly cheered.

The Swiss was more competitive in the second set, but the second seed was still controlling things with his methodical groundstrokes.

Laaksonen raised his level and came out on top of several long rallies, but Medvedev's experience proved the difference in the third-set tiebreaker.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.