Dark horse of Australian Open 2026: Daniil Medvedev fires early warning to Alcaraz and Sinner

Australian Open 2026 has begun and Russian Daniil Medvedev could be the drak horse in men's singles to challenge a fourth consecutive Carlos Alcaraz vs Jannik Sinner grand slam final. Medvedev started off his campaign with a straight-set win on Monday (Jan 19) at Margarte Court arena in Melbourne. He beat Jesper de Jong 7-5 6-2 7-6(2) for the first win in a major in over an year. Medvedev was aggressive in his play and used the courth depth effectively to send off an early warning to Alcaraz as well as defending champion Sinner.

Medvedev could be dark horse at Australian Open 2026

The Russian, seeded number 11, played the best shot of the night to win the match - a forehand from the deep end of the court. Speaking after the match, he said: "When I play good, I am aggressive. When I play bad, my ball is not going through the air, so I become a bit more defensive."

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"(De Jong) was also far behind the baseline, and there were many times I managed to move him around … in some moments, I could have been a bit more clinical, but in the first round, it’s never easy. Hopefully, I can be a bit more clinical in the next round," he added after finishing the match in 2 hours 43 minutes.

Medvedev vs De Jong Match Summary

In the match, Medvedev hit 9 aces compared to his competitor's three. Medvedev also mae five double faults while De Jong only made one. As for break points won, Medvedev won 7/13 while his opposite number won 4/10 - highlighting the difference between the result for the players. Overall, the Russian won 125 points and 20 games while De Jong managed 103 points and jusr 13 games. The Russian, who had lost in the second round of Australian Open 2025 before being a finalist in 2021, 2022, 2024, will now face France's Quentin Halys in the second round on Wednesday (Jan 21) with time still to be decided.