After snapping a late-season, four-match losing streak, Daniil Medvedev is determined this year will unfold more like his 2021 than his 2022.
Ranked as high as world No.1 last February, the 26-year-old’s confidence took a hit following that defeat to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final and he finished the season six places lower.
On Monday, the 2021 US Open champion showed more of his old self, pulling through a gutsy opening set from nine set points down before his opponent, Lorenzo Sonego, retired with a right arm injury at 7-6(6), 2-1(ret).
“Yeah I didn’t know it was nine [set points],” Medvedev said. “That’s actually crazy. Probably maybe the first time in my life I’ve saved nine set points. What a match to start the year.”
The third seed returns to action on Wednesday when he tackles Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, a player against which he has not dropped a set in both previous showdowns, including in the semifinals en route to one of his two titles last year, in Los Cabos, and in the third round at Roland Garros.
“Miomir, we played only one time last year, actually two times. He’s a really tough opponent,” Medvedev said. “The field here is really strong. If you get an easy opponent here I’d be really surprised. I’m really looking forward to this great match.”
Kecmanovic had few problems accounting for Australian Chris O’Connell first up but has not beaten a top-10 player in his past six attempts.
Women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka has already notched a pair of doubles wins alongside Lidziya Marozava to kickstart her Adelaide campaign ahead of her singles opener against Liudmila Samsonova.
The world No.5 fell to the 20th-ranked Samsonova in three sets in Guadalajara last October before she rounded out her season with a 33-22 record, which included runner-up showings at the WTA Finals, Rosmalen and Stuttgart and semifinals at the US Open, Cincinnati and Rome.
The 24-year-old Samsonova has struck form in Adelaide, clocking 17 aces on her way past Zhang Shuai in the first round and collected trophies in Tokyo, Cleveland and Washington last year to crack the top 20.
After securing out one of the biggest wins of his young career over second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin returns to centre court, this time under lights, against Marcos Giron.
It will be a test of the 23-year-old’s mental fortitude facing the 61st-ranked American – a three-set victor over French veteran Richard Gasquet – after such a sizeable upset against the world No.6.
After rising to a career-best No.59 in the rankings in 2021, Popyrin endured a leaner 2022, falling in the first round at 12 of his 17 tour-level events.
“I’m not anywhere near the top right now, but I fully believe that if I continue along the path that I’m going in right now, then I have a chance of getting there,” Popyrin said.
“There will be a few bumps along the road. There will be a few bruises along the road, too. Yeah, for me it’s just going, learning, always learning, and trying to get to the top as quick as I can.”
Opening Wednesday night’s session, former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu looks to back up her first-round victory over two-time major winner Garbine Muguruza when she takes on fourth seed Veronika Kudermetova.
A runner-up in last year’s Melbourne Summer Set, Dubai and Instanbul, the 25-year-old Kudermetova has never met the Canadian, a finalist last year in Bad Homburg.
A runner-up to Ash Barty in the 2019 Roland Garros final, Czech Marketa Vondrousova is looking for her second win from as many clashes with heavy-hitting Estonian Kaia Kanepi. The Czech brought down eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her first match while Kanepi recovered to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich.