Back at Wimbledon, Medvedev gets a warm reception and the win

By his own admission, Daniil Medvedev isn’t exactly a crowd favourite, no matter which Grand Slam he steps into. Often the one to react rather than shut out crowd distractions, he had even shushed a section of fans during an on-court chat with the umpire in his French Open first round last month.

Naturally, therefore, the Russian world No.3’s return to Wimbledon, which had banned players from Russia and Belarus last year over the war in Ukraine, ran the risk of not exactly being a happy reunion. Especially coming off scenes of boos reserved for players from those nationalities at Roland Garros.

The All England Club, though, welcomed Medvedev back, with not just a win but also a warm reception, despite playing against one of their own. A standing ovation greeted the 2021 US Open champion after he defeated Slam debutant Arthur Fery of Britain 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in front of a packed Court No.1 on Wednesday.

“I was pretty nervous. I didn’t play here for two years,” Medvedev said on court. “It was amazing, because, honestly, I didn’t know which reception I would get. It was unbelievable guys. I need to be honest here… I’m not loved everywhere for who I am; sometimes I go crazy on court, sometimes with the crowd.”

And sometimes, especially on courts that are not hard and fast, with his tennis too. Look no further back than his opening-round ouster from this Roland Garros, for which he came high on belief as the Italian Open champion. But his horrors of the red dirt came back to haunt him soon as he was sent packing by 172nd ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild for his earliest Slam exit since 2020.

Grass has been no less uncomfortable for the Russian and his early exits in two Wimbledon warm-up events (first round in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, quarter-final in Halle) further showed that. However, on Wednesday in his first Wimbledon outing since the fourth-round defeat in 2021, the lanky Russian looked largely solid. The more grass-tuned game of 20-year-old Fery — he came to the net 73 times with serve and volleys aplenty — did trouble him a bit, but not nearly enough to cause alarms.

The two were locked 5-5 when rain — persistent showers continued to disrupt and postpone play for a second day running — took them off the court for a long delay with the roof surprisingly being kept open. Once they came back, Medvedev pushed in front, breaking immediately and then serving the first set out.

Medvedev had to save break points in the fourth game of the second set and was even broken in the set, but Fery’s own serve remained constantly under fire. Which meant the third seed passed the opening test in an efficient manner, notching up good numbers behind his serve (79% points won on first serve) and the net (25 of 29 points won).

Sakkari ousted, Swiatek cruises

In the biggest upset of the day and the most startling turnaround, eighth seed Maria Sakkari lost to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk after handing her an opening-set bagel in a 6-0, 5-7, 2-6 defeat in her first round. The Greek, who was world No.3 last year after reaching the semi-finals of the French Open and US Open in 2021, has not gone beyond the fourth round in a major since.

The women’s top seed Iga Swiatek outclassed Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-0 to enter the third round.