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Defending champion Djokovic was already back in Serbia, two days after losing his legal challenge to stay in Australia despite being unvaccinated against COVID-19, when Medvedev went onto Rod Laver Arena and raced through the first set in 26 minutes.
Nobody has dominated on that court like Djokovic, who was unbeaten in the nine finals he reached at the Australian Open. Medvedev was the most recent recipient of one of those beatings, losing last year’s championship match.
But he avenged that with his breakthrough major title at the US Open, where his victory meant Djokovic’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam finished one win short.
“I like pressure,” he said. “Always want to do better than I did last year (but) it’s not going to be easy.”
Earlier in the men’s draw, No. 5 Andrey Rublev beat Gianluca Mager 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, No. 11 Jannik Sinner beat Joao Sousa 6-4, 7-5, 6-1, No. 13 Diego Schwartzman beat Filip Krajinovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to advance along with No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut and No. 27 Marin Cilic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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