Daniil Medvedev destroys net camera in wild Australian Open meltdown

Daniil Medvedev destroyed a camera attached to the net as the former World No 1 and three-time Australian Open finalist had a meltdown during his five-set victory over Kasidit Samrej.

Medvedev was behind in the third set against the Thai wildcard, ranked 418th in the world, and took five furious swings into the net with his racket after Samrej passed him with a winner.

The Russian fifth seed broke his racket while obliterating the small camera pinned to the centre strap, with the visual feed cutting out immediately as Medvedev took out his frustration.

He received a warning from the chair umpire and was booed by the fans in the Rod Laver Arena, while a ball-kid was required to sweep up the pieces of Medvedev’s broken racket from the court.

And to add to Medvedev’s anger, Samrej won the third set a few moments later to take an unlikely lead on the against the former runner-up and US Open champion.

Medvedev recovered to win 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 in over three hours after Samrej, 23, faded physically and struggled with cramp as the match went the distance.

Medvedev reached the Australian Open final for the third time last year but became the first player in grand slam history to lose multiple finals from two sets up when Jannik Sinner came from behind to win the title.

The 28-year-old, who has recently celebrated the birth of his second child with his wife Daria, struggled for form over the second half of last season - despite reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals and US Open quarter-finals.

He was playing in his first match of the season after missing warm-up tournaments to be with his family, but eventually eased to victory in five sets.

Five of Medvedev’s seven matches at last year’s Australian Open went to five sets and the Russian picked up where he left off after returning to Melbourne.

“Why play one hour 30? I need a minimum of three hours,” he joked in his on-court interview. Second and third set I couldn’t touch the ball.”