Daniil Medvedev’s new outlook fuels Australian Open comeback

By Canadian Press on January 21, 2026.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — After the season he’s coming off, 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev is celebrating his run to the third round at the Australian Open as positive progress.

His results in Grand Slam events in 2025 — losing in the first round at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open after a second-round exit in Australia, after smashing a tiny camera attached to the net while avoiding a monumental upset in the first — were his first since his debut season in 2017.

He lost his cool in New York and was fined $42,500 by the U.S. Open — more than a third of his $110,000 tournament prize money — for his meltdown during a first-round loss after a photographer wandered onto the court during the match.

He won a single title in 2025 — at Almaty, Kazakhstan in October — from 24 tournaments contested, and only reached one other final. He has 22 career titles.

Nothing much was working for the three-time Australian Open runner-up.

So after he dropped the first set Wednesday against French qualifier Quentin Halys in the second round, he had to mentality set it aside and start all over again.

“Performance could be better I think, but a win is a win,” he said. “Last year on Slams, when people played good against me, I was struggling.

“So I’m happy that I managed to win it, turning it around and … looking forward for next rounds.”

He reached three finals in four years at the Australian Open but lost them all, including the 2024 championship to Jannik Sinner.

The 29-year-old Russian opened this year with a title in Brisbane, and now he’s on a seven-match winning streak in Australia. He has put 2025 behind him. The difference, he said, comes down to mentality.

When he was regularly in the top five and going deep at the majors, he expected to win all the time. Now he’s learned to compartmentalize, and can put losing — games, sets or matches — behind him.

“I managed to fight. I was losing with a break in the second — I mean, you saw the match. Why am I telling you?” Medvedev said in his on-court interview Wednesday. “His forehand was on fire. He didn’t miss much. He made some unbelievable ones.

“Very tough match mentally but I’m happy (I could) dig deep and managed to win it.”

He’s looking forward to his next match against Fabian Marozsan of Hungary, and won’t think any further than that for now.

“I need to rebuild my confidence step by step,” he said. “Always, always keep the faith!”

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John Pye, The Associated Press