AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 25, 2026

Daniil Medvedev

Press Conference

L. TIEN/D. Medvedev

6-4, 6-0, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I know you know Learner pretty well, but it seemed like he played at a really high level today. What did you see from Learner, and what were you struggling with?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it's true. He played too good for me today. Could I do better? I mean, you can always do better if you lose with the scoreline I did, but I felt like, yeah, he had a match probably of his life or not.

It doesn't matter. He had a good match. I didn't manage to rival his level, and that's why basically I lost, and there is nothing to change anymore right now.

Q. How do you compare your level today to what it was a year ago when you played Learner?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: It's a very tough question, because it's completely -- honestly, I cannot answer, because I would probably say, in general, I'm playing much better, but if you compare the exact match, I don't know.

I want to say I played better last year, but maybe I say this because of the scoreline. So I don't have an answer. I don't have an exact answer to your question, sorry.

Q. How were your legs today after the five sets with Fabian? Do you think that played any role in it?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I don't think so. I mean, the match with Fabian was for sure intense, but it was not even four hours. I felt fine.

Yeah, for me, it was not about the legs today. It was just about the tennis, so my opinion, that probably not physically. Physically I was fine.

Q. Daniil, where does this leave you confidence-wise for the rest of the year? Disappointing, but a much better Grand Slam result than any time last year.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, I think I should focus more in general. If we take last, like, maybe eight tournaments, let's say starting from US Open, so I don't know if it's, like, eight, nine, I played great.

I beat a lot of players. I played great against some top players. In general, I was going far in the results. Even here, I won two very tough matches against opponents who played well, Halys and Fabian.

So I should try not to focus on this exact match, which was not good, because, I mean, he outplayed me, so that's not a good feeling. But I should focus more on the general picture and just continue working the way I did for the last tournaments.

And, again, if I manage to play good, beat all the players I have beaten in all these tournaments, I can get where I want. Of course, it's unfortunate to finish a Grand Slam like this when I was feeling well and confident, but it is what it is.

Q. Daniil, tough one today. During the 11 games in a row that he won, what was going through your head?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I was just trying to win one more. The one I won was not easy. I don't know if he had a breakpoint, but for sure, it was a couple of deuce points.

I mean, I was trying to figure out what can I do to kind of disturb his level that he had at this moment. I do want to say I guess I did something, because it became 4-3, and I even felt like, you know what, 4-3, it's small chance. Then, well, there was not a big chance finally.

That's how I am no matter the score. I try to win one game at first, maybe one more after. The matches can turn a bit more probably in women's tennis, but in men's tennis as well we saw some crazy things.

So I just try to say to myself, like, till the last point, try to fight. Then the last point was not for me this time.

Q. You have obviously spoken really highly about Learner after your previous matches. Did this even surprise you, you know, what he was able to kind of produce the whole match?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: In a way, yes, because yeah, he played great. He played great, super-aggressive. Even when I was making good shots, he was making a better shot back.

Didn't find many solutions today on the court, which is rare, and I didn't feel that many times in my life like this.

But, again, these things can happen. He had, like, unbelievable match where everything went in. It did happen to me as well a couple of times, and you even kind of feel sorry for your opponent, because, okay, I can go for tweener now and probably with closed eyes and make it. It happens.

I should have, yeah, should have done maybe something a little bit better to try to disturb this rhythm of his.

Q. On not finding solutions, late in the third set you hit the underarm serve and then served right from the corner. I interpreted that as you not really knowing what to do. How did you feel at that moment?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I always have this in back of my mind, right? What I did by this is I just tried to do something to, as I say, throw his rhythm off. You can take, like, a medical timeout, but I didn't want to do it. I was like, you know what, maybe underarm, maybe something like.

But I felt like that's not the exact solution in the long run today. So then I came back to the normal position. And, again, I don't think, I mean -- I don't think if I would go all the time in different positions on the serve, that would change much today.

Q. When you analyze your game at the moment, what's the main difference now between now and when you were getting to the back end of Grand Slams?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Tough to say. I don't have an answer. Maybe the serve was a bit more precise, but here, exactly during this Australian Open, meaning not one year ago, two years ago, I felt like it's not easy to serve for someone like me, meaning I never go, like, 220.

So my strength is, like, I can kind of pop it, and I felt the balls heavy. It doesn't mean they're bad, because as I say, since some time, I feel like they're improving throughout the tour. So it's kind of normal to sometimes have heavy and sometimes have light balls, because that favors, like, all the tour. Here I feel like it didn't favor me.

So if you see all my matches, I was struggling on my serve, even in the first round, and the kilometers per hour were lower than, for example, in Brisbane. Against someone like Learner today, that was not enough.

So yeah, maybe the serve, but yeah, I don't know what else to say.

Q. You might not have heard yet, but some news just recently, Jakub Mensik has had to pull out.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Really?

Q. As someone who has done this many times before, how tough can that be on a player who has to pull out this far along in the tournament?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: What happened, did he say?

Q. Abdominal injury.

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Abdominal. Yeah, that's super unfortunate. These things happen. I mean, Rafa had to pull out what, I think after semifinal at Wimbledon, so even a bit more unfortunately, not the quarterfinal.

Who was he supposed to play? Oh, Novak in fourth round. Yeah, unfortunate, that would be a great match. He beat him in Miami.

These things happen. Only thing, I saw him in the locker room, I had no idea. Only thing I can say, it's unfortunate for him. He's a strong guy, super young, so he'll have his chances more. Hopefully nothing too serious.

Yeah, he's a great player, but unfortunate.

Q. Easy one for Djokovic?

DANIIL MEDVEDEV: Yeah, it happens, it happens. As I say, did that ever happen in the final? It could. One time in the history, it could. You never know.

It happens. You can see it in both ways. From one way, of course, no, you're pretty happy, okay, easy quarters, don't play the fourth round against a strong guy. This could throw your rhythm a bit off, because now he has three days off before probably strong opponent. I don't know who he has next. It's okay. These things happen. Just have to roll on.