Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev is willing to pay a heavy price for breaking his racket and camera at the Australian Open. Look

Daniil Medvedev faces a hefty fine after he ruined his racquet and net chamber in an epic tantrum before going through a rollercoaster of five sets to start his Australian Open on Tuesday. The hard-hitting Russian, a three-time Melbourne finalist, lost his cool in the third set before rallying to defeat 418th-ranked Kasidit Sumray 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 v. Rod Laver. Arena. Fifth-seeded Medvedev was trailing 3–5 and on the verge of losing two sets against the Thai player when he exploded, repeatedly slamming his racket into the chamber net until they were both a mess.

WARNING: Daniil Medvedev lost 2 sets to 1 and was ranked 418th in the WC rankings of Kasidit Samrey and took out his network camera in the process. pic.twitter.com/RwvA9yYQp0

— Asud (@asud683385) January 14, 2025

The ball boys had to sweep up the debris when he lost the game and the set, and the match was briefly postponed while the umpires repaired the net.

Medvedev faces a large fine.

“Honestly, I hope it’s not too big. The fine is usually for breaking a racket and the camera will cost some money, but I don’t think a GoPro is that expensive,” he said.

“When I did this, I didn’t want to break the racket into pieces. When I saw the racket, I thought: okay, it’s probably time to get a new one.”

Medvedev played his first match since the ATP Finals in November after arriving late in Australia to be home for the birth of his second child.

Before the tournament he promised to “destroy” the big names this season, but his stuttering start against a player with no reputation showed he had his work cut out for him.

“Overall it was kind of top notch on his part, good serve, one break in each set, just what you need to do to win matches,” said Medvedev, who lost to Jannik Sinner in last year’s final.

“Two sets against one is not an easy feeling. I thought: I don’t want to get on a plane tomorrow.”

“I’m glad I managed to stay cool. I think I played pretty well in my opinion, I played pretty well and I’ll definitely try to play better throughout the tournament.”

The former world number one broke his opponent’s first serve and had no trouble in the first set, sweeping it in 30 minutes.

But the Thai player, who qualified for his Grand Slam debut by winning the Asia-Pacific playoffs, refused to quit.

He stunned the Russian, beating him 5-4 to take second place and leading in the third before Medvedev failed.

But the 28-year-old is a veteran of the five-setter in Melbourne, having taken four sets and won three last year, and he regrouped, using his experience to regain control as Sumray began to weaken.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)