MEN'S DAY 3: Fritz fires warning with demolition job, Medvedev survives fright

Taylor Fritz dropped just five games to blitz into the Australian Open second round on Tuesday as he looks to build on a breakthrough 2024 and snap a long title drought by American men in Melbourne.

The world number four wasted little energy to swat aside Jenson Brooksby, who is on the way back from a doping suspension, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 on John Cain Arena.

He will next play either Croat Borna Coric or Chile's Cristian Garin.

"I'm super happy with how the match went today," said Fritz, who made the quarter-finals last year and is fresh from helping the United States win the lead-up United Cup.

"It's never easy playing that first match in a Slam, there are some nerves, so I did a really good job shaking them off early and playing really solid.

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"I work really hard and I think a lot of that is shown in how I have been able to keep making improvements in the later stages of my career," he added.

Fritz came out of the blocks strongly on a warm day, breaking for 4-2 and again to wrap up the opening set in just 28 minutes.

His baseline game was far superior and he dominated the rallies, earning a double break for 4-0 in the second set.

There was no way back for a flailing Brooksby, who was contesting his first event at any level since the 2023 Australian Open.

Brooksby had surgery on both wrists in 2023 and subsequently served a 13-month doping ban for missing three tests over a 12-month period.

Fritz powered into the US Open final last year, losing to top-ranked Jannik Sinner, but it has been more than two decades since an American man made the decider in Australia.

That was Andre Agassi, when he won the title in 2003 to become the ninth American in the open era to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.

Fritz is shaping as their best hope in years to rewrite the record books, with the 27-year-old also making the title match at the ATP Finals in 2024, again losing to Sinner.

MONFILS DOWNS PERRICARD IN MELBOURNE EPIC

French veteran Gael Monfils battled through a five-set thriller to topple young countryman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard as he enjoys a late-career resurgence.

The flamboyant 38-year-old became the oldest singles champion in ATP Tour history when he swept to victory at the Auckland Classic on Saturday.

He kept the momentum going against Mpetshi Perricard, 21, raising his arms in celebration after a 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 victory over 3hrs 46mins in the first round.

Monfils won the first two sets and should have wrapped it up in the third, when he had two match points against a player with one of the game's most lethal serves.

But Mpetshi Perricard, who has risen from 205 in the world at the start of 2024 to his current 30, fought back.

Ultimately, Monfils' experience paid off, keeping his cool to reach the second round in Melbourne for a 17th time.

RACQUET-SMASHING MEVEDEV SURVIVES FRIGHT

A volatile Daniil Medvedev mangled his racquet in an epic temper tantrum before battling through a five-set roller coaster to stay alive.

The feisty Russian, a three-time finalist in Melbourne, lost his cool in the third set before rallying to beat unheralded Thai Kasidit Samrej 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Fifth seed Medvedev was 3-5 behind and on the brink of going two sets to one down against a player ranked 418 when he exploded, slamming his racquet into the net camera repeatedly until they both became a broken mess.

Ball kids had to sweep up the debris when he lost the game and set, while the match was postponed briefly as officials ran repairs on the net.

Medvedev was playing his first match since the ATP Finals in November after arriving in Australia late to be at home for the birth of his second child.

He pledged before the tournament to be a "disruptor" against the big guns this season, but his stuttering start against a player with no pedigree showed he has his work cut out.

"I play better when I play more tennis so I thought, 'Why play one hour 30, I need minimum three hours to feel my shots better'," he joked afterwards.

"But really, second and third set I couldn't touch the ball. I didn't know what to do.

"I watched his matches before and didn't see this level, so I was surprised."

The former world number one broke his opponent's opening service game and was never troubled in the first set, racing through it in 30 minutes.

But the Thai player, who qualified for his Grand Slam debut by winning the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff event, refused to go away.

He stunned the Russian by breaking him at 5-4 to take the second and was well on top in the third before the Medvedev meltdown.

But the 28-year-old is a veteran of five-setters in Melbourne, contesting four and winning three last year, and he regrouped.

Medvedev used his experience to take charge in the fourth as Samrej began flagging and an early break in the fifth set put victory in sight.

Medvedev has reached three of the last four finals in Melbourne.

He was outplayed by Novak Djokovic in 2021 before a heart-wrenching defeat to Rafael Nadal a year later.

He imploded against Jannik Sinner last year, crashing in five sets after being two up.