Ukraine’s first racket Elina Svitolina She held a press conference after defeating Linda Klimovicheva in the second round of the 2026 Australian Open:
– Elina, congratulations on your victory. How does it feel to get to the third round again?
– Yes, I am very happy. This is certainly a good start to the year. The first set was not easy, but after that I felt quite confident on the court. It’s nice to get back on track.
– If we talk about the end of the first set; Everything was very smooth before the break, then you served in the set. How did you approach this moment with the score of 6:5?
“I expected the first set to be difficult, and I realized that my opponent would also play well. Young players usually come on the court very excited, they have beaten a lot of winners and are very motivated. At such moments you need to be patient, use your experience, stay in the match, “go deep” and try to take the first set. After that, if the game continues, it becomes a little easier. So it was good to get this set.”
– You took a break at the end of last season and said you were exhausted. Is it more physical fatigue or mental fatigue?
-More like mental. Physically, of course, you get tired after months of playing at a high level, but psychologically I was a bit “off”. Sometimes you need to take a step back, get away for a bit, to regroup and come back with renewed energy.
– How different do you feel now compared to August-September? Do you feel like a different player? Was that pause the reason you’re playing so well now?
– Without a doubt. If I had pushed myself to finish the season, I probably wouldn’t have started this year in Australia. I would be completely “dead” mentally and physically. In that mental state I could have gotten injured because when you push yourself and play at the highest level with my style of play, it really pushes you beyond your limits.
It was important for me to step back. Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t give myself a chance to compete for the Final Tournament or get back into the top 10, but it was the right decision. Now I feel fitter and ready for difficult situations during matches. And I think the games I had in Auckland a few years ago where I was faced with difficult situations showed me that I was willing to accept the fact that sometimes things don’t go to plan and you have to fight, dig deep and find a way to win.
– Did you watch Oleynikova’s match against Madison Keys yesterday?
– Unfortunately there were only a few draws because I was training at the time.
– What do you think of his playing style? It’s rare to see players playing such unconventional and unorthodox tennis these days.
– Yes, of course it brings something new to the game. There are several players of this type and it is always interesting to watch how they create games, how they create the game. It’s very impressive for him to start his first Grand Slam like this, playing well in his own way. This is very uncomfortable tennis. I think he will be a particularly difficult opponent on clay and you will have to work really hard to beat him.
– After the match, Oleinikova said that she found it wrong that Russian and Belarusian players were allowed to participate in tournaments while they were excluded from other sports. Do you agree with this?
– The war has been going on for four years. We’ve talked about this many times, and for me it’s already… gone away. The decisions have been made by the WTA and now we can just go out there and try to perform well, we can represent our country properly, we can use our voice to attract attention, we can help and remember, we can use our voice to draw attention to our homeland.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
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.
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Medvedev and Rublev simultaneously reached the third 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.
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 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.
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
(Melbourne) Quentin Halys, 83e world, held up well, but did not find the solution against the Russian Daniil Medvedev (12e) who won 6-7 (9/11), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, Wednesday in the second round of the Australian Open.
The triple finalist in Melbourne (2021, 2022, 2024), beaten last year in the second round, will face the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (47e) to try to climb into 8are of final.
After snatching the first set, Halys achieved the entry break in the second set and had three balls at 40/0 to lead 3-1.
But instead, the Russian chained five points in a row to get back to 2-2 and dominate the rest of the round. And the game ended with an ace.
Halys therefore does not equal his best Grand Slam result, obtained three times by reaching the third round at Wimbledon (2023, 2024) and Roland-Garros (2025).
PHOTO PAUL CROCK, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Quentin Halys
“Quentin played very well and I’m happy to have played at a good level to win,” commented Medvedev who believes he is not yet playing as well as in Brisbane where he won before coming to Melbourne where he is “struggling” to adapt to the courts.
“His forehand was very dangerous, even at the end when he was tired. But I dug deep and managed to prevail,” he added.
“It’s been over a year since I last got past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament, so I’m happy,” he added with a laugh.
He indeed played in the quarter-finals of the United States Open in 2024, where he won his only Grand Slam title to date in 2021, before falling in the second round in Melbourne in 2025 then in the first at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
“Above all, I need to rebuild my confidence. If I win five more matches here (and therefore the title, Editor’s note), it will be great. But I will take the matches one after the other,” he concluded.
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
