Daniil Medvedev was made to sweat by world number 418, Kasidit Samrej, and found himself smashing a net camera out of frustration on the way to a thrilling five-set win in the Australian Open first round.
A three-time finalist at the first Grand Slam of the year, Medvedev found the going tough against his opponent from Thailand, who was making his Grand Slam debut and was close to causing a major upset.
Samrej recovered from losing the first set 6-2 by taking the next two sets, much to the frustration of his more illustrious opponent, who smashed his racquet against the central net in the course of the third set and destroyed a camera as a result.
Medvedev, seeded fifth, would regain his composure, though, and take the next two sets to book a spot in the second round with a 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 win in Melbourne.
Elsewhere, Taylor Fritz swept to a 6-2 6-0 6-3 win over Jenson Brooksby, and 38-year-old Gael Monfils came out a five-set thriller victorious over 21-year-old Giovanni Perricard.
Eighth seed Alex de Minaur of Australia beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1 7-5 6-4, while Danish 13th seed Holger Rune needed five sets to defeat China’s Zhang Zhizhen.