Alexander Bublik has bemoaned the ‘slow’ court at Rod Laver Arena after he was blown away by Aussie star Alex de Minaur at the Australian Open on Sunday night. And one-time grand slam champ Daniil Medvedev has revealed he’s actually happy with his performance in Melbourne despite suffering an ugly career first.
De Minaur booked a quarter-final date with World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, demolishing Bublik 6-4 6-1 6-1 in just 92 minutes. It came after de Minaur lost to Bublik twice last year, including in the second round at the French Open.
Daniil Medvedev (L) suffered an astonishing career first as Alex de Minaur (centre) demolished Alexander Bublik (R) at the Australian Open. Image: Getty
The 10th seed Bublik cut a frustrated figure during the match, and was overheard complaining at how slow he thought the court was playing. Speaking in his post-match press conference, he continued to lament how slow he thought the ball was coming onto the racquet.
“The court was really slow. Like, it’s one of the slowest courts I think alongside Indian Wells that I played on,” he told reporters. “But it’s not an excuse. It’s just a fact.”
The Kazakh player admitted he erred in not getting enough practice on Rod Laver, preferring the faster Margaret Court Arena instead. “I should have adjusted more quickly,” he said. “I had a game plan in case that would be a slow court, because I haven’t hit on Rod Laver before.
“I hit it all the time on Margaret or (John) Cain (Arena)…I thought the conditions would be similar, which was probably my fault not to take it more deeply to check. Yeah, that’s the outcome. But, I mean, that’s life. I just try to get better next time.”
Alexander Bublik had no answer to Alex de Minaur at the Australian Open.
(Fred Lee via Getty Images)Daniil Medvedev upbeat despite unwanted 10-year first
Meanwhile, Medvedev is taking plenty of positives into the rest of 2026 despite a staggering straight-sets loss to Learner Tien. The 25th seed Tien took just an hour and 42 minutes to thrash Medvedev 6-4 6-0 6-3.
The one-sided second set marked the first time in Medvedev’s 10-year grand slam career that he’d been ‘bagelled’ (6-0) at a major. It marked an unthinkable career low for the 2021 US Open champion, who made the final at Melbourne Park in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Learner Tien blitzed Daniil Medvedev in extraordinary scenes.
(DAVID GRAY via Getty Images)
But the Russian star was quite optimistic after reaching the fourth round following his title triumph at the Brisbane International beforehand. “If we take the last eight tournaments, let’s say starting from the US Open, I played great,” Medvedev said.
“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, (Quentin) Halys and Fabian (Marozsan).
“So I should try not to focus on this match, which was not good, because he outplayed me. 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.”
with AAP