Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev said that he had never thought about changing his sports citizenship.

Medvedev is 29 years old and a native of Moscow. In 2025, several Russian tennis players switched to the flags of other countries: Daria Kasatkina (Australia), Anastasia Potapova (Austria), Kamilla Rakhimova, Maria Timofeeva and Polina Kudermetova (all from Uzbekistan).

— Last year, many Russian players changed their citizenship. What do you feel about it? Do you understand why they took such a step?

“I said that I 100% understand and respect them, because this is what can be done, especially in sports. Perhaps this is even easier for athletes than for other people. I never thought about it because I believe that where you are born matters a lot. Politics and other things are another matter. I repeat, many players change their citizenship, and among them are my friends. This is their choice,” Medvedev said at a press conference.

On Wednesday, Medvedev beat Frenchman Quentin Alice in four games in the second round of the Australian Open. The Russian will play against Fabian Marozan from Hungary in the next round of the Australian Open.

Daniil Medvedev and Andrei Rublev want to quickly forget the unsuccessful last season.

And so far they are doing everything to return to a leading position in 2026. The country’s best tennis players reached the third round of the Australian Open without much difficulty.

“Are you going to start playing already, Medvedev?”

Medvedev’s performance at the Grand Slam tournaments in 2025 can only be described as a disaster. The former world number one won only one match in the calendar year. It is quite natural that many tennis fans have managed to write off the Russian. In addition, he even fell out of the top 10 in the world rankings.

Daniil came to the Australian Open after winning the tournament in Brisbane, where he showed the highest class. The Russian also started confidently on the courts of Melbourne, beating the representative of the Netherlands Jesper de Jong in three games.

Medvedev was also a favorite in the match against Quentin Alice, but the start of the meeting remained with the Frenchman. First, Daniil lost the first set in a tiebreak (7:9) in a tense fight, and then allowed his opponent to lead with a score of 2:0 in the second game. At that moment, there was a complete disgrace going on on social networks. Tennis fans openly laughed at the Russian.

— I thought Medvedev was a hard court specialist? Ha-ha,” @SoldierOfDaSnow ridiculed the Russian.

“Most likely he will lose this set, win the third and lose the fourth,” predicted @Conquistador233.

“Daniil Medvedev is losing not only the match against Alis, but also the battle with baldness,” @ElcontadorT said ironically.

— Will you start playing already, Medvedev? asked @AlexisEG.

— Medvedev, consider him to have already dropped out of the tournament. What this player was like and what he has become now,” wrote @dxnnvisual.

But the haters who wrote off the Russian were put to shame, and quite spectacularly. Daniil took three games in a row, after which he brought the set to victory – 6:3. Medvedev did not meet resistance in the next two games – 6:4 and 6:2.

Daniil Medvedev / Photo: © Morgan Hancock / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

For the Russian tennis player, this victory became significant. For the first time since 2024, he reached the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. In the live rating, the athlete is now one position away from returning to the top 10.

“Won a set against Djokovic”

Andrei Rublev, who also experienced serious problems last season, also had a successful second-round match. The Russian’s opponent was the promising Jaime Faria. Although the Portuguese made it into the main draw through qualification, he approached the tournament in excellent shape. Andrey had not met him before, so he had to prepare for the match using the Internet.

“I didn’t know anything about him, but then I looked for information and saw that a year ago he won a set against Novak Djokovic in the second round. This caught my attention. I saw that he has a great serve, a great backhand, he moves well, he fights hard. I watched a few videos of him playing and I was impressed and I wondered, watching him play, why he was playing in the qualifying rounds,” Rublev said after the match.

Andrey Rublev / Photo: © Shi Tang / Contributor / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

Andrey played the first two games almost perfectly, not allowing his opponent to make a single break. Moreover, the Russian demonstrated character in difficult moments, which was so lacking during last year’s recession. The Portuguese had five break points, but none of them were converted. Thanks to this, Rublev took the sets with scores of 6:4 and 6:3.

In the third game, Rublev made the fans a little worried, losing with a score of 4:6, but this failure remained the only one in the match. Already in the next segment, Andrei qualified for the third round – 7:5.

In the next round, Rublev faces a fundamental confrontation with Francisco Serundolo, who frayed his nerves in 2024. The last two head-to-head matches were left to the Argentine.