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Former world No. 1 disintegrates Daniil Medvedev after knockout with Lerner Tien

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Former world number one and Olympic champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov goes down flat with a Daniil Medvedev in his first defeat of 2026: to hear him tell it, he had virtually no chance in the match played against American Lerner Tien in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

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Belarusian outfielder Aryna Sabalenka did not go unnoticed at the'debut in Melbourne
She left her mark among those present not only for the way she played and for her grit

Earrings, necklace, tattoo… as well as a colorful attire prepared for her by her technical sponsor
On the court, then, the world’s number 1 tennis player unleashed all her grit
In fact in the first set French Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah gave her a hard time
The 20-year-old transalpine took the luxury of immediately snatching service from her strongest rival
Obviously the Belarusian gave her back her serve in the next game
So the queen of world tennis, while not mind-blowing, took home the set with a score of 6-4
In the second segment of the game Sabalenka engaged the high gears and for the rival there'was little to do
The set ended with an eloquent and otherwise not unpredictable 6-1 in favor of Aryna
Rakotomanga, world number 118, was on the board thanks to a wild card
Aryna once again brought her experience and extraordinary effectiveness to bear on Australian concrete…
… so, happy and smiling, she posed for a selfie to dedicate to millions of fans

Sunday’s match ended with Medvedev losing 4-6, 0-6, 3-6. The Russian currently occupies the 12th position in the ATP ranking, while Tien is 29th. This is not the first setback against the American: Medvedev had already been eliminated by Tien at last year’s Australian Open, on that occasion in the second round. “Today Medvedev had no chance in the match. It is all quite obvious”, Kafelnikov told RIA Novosti.

In the opinion of the former champion, it is not correct to attribute the defeat to a simple bad day. “If one thinks this way, there will always be more days like this in Daniil’s career. What prevented him from playing without mistakes, as Tien did?”” he pointed out.

Kafelnikov also recalled that last season Medvedev was eliminated in the first round in three Grand Slam tournaments. “From this point of view, he played better at this year&#8217s Australian Open. But looking at the situation as a whole, Daniil has to do much more than before to maintain his status. What he has shown is no longer enough at this level: younger players have caught up with him and some have even become stronger” he concluded.

For Daniil Medvedev, however, there also came justifications from the president of the Russian Tennis Federation, Shamil Tarpischev: he pointed to what he believes is the main cause of his compatriot’s defeat against American Lerner Tien in the fourth round of the Australian Open. According to the’senior executive, Medvedev may have suffered a physical problem, pointing out that his thigh appeared bandaged.

“I don&#8220t think it&#8217s a total debacle, because if there’s a small injury, Tien is impossible to beat, as he”s dynamic and tenacious, said Tarpischev in an interview granted to the TASS news agency.

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