Australian Open 2025 Day 3 Recap – Perfect Tennis

Day three at Melbourne Park saw the completion of the opening round and the upset of Andrey Rublev, who fell to qualifier Joao Fonseca in straight sets.

Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev were the other two highest-ranked players in action, and their matches were polar opposites.

Fritz comprehensively dispatched Brooksby in straight sets while Medvedev avoided becoming the second high-profile Russian casualty of the day, defeating Thai wildcard Kasidit Samrej in five sets.

Flavio Cobolli, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and Alexei Popyrin were the other seeded players to lose. The latter coming unstuck with Corentin Moutet’s game style to disappoint the home crowd.

Full results and select highlights below.

Day Three 2025 Australian Open Round of 128 Results

Winner	Loser	Scoreline
Marcos Giron	Yannick Hanfmann	2-6 7-5 6-1 7-5
Thomas Martin Etcheverry	Flavio Cobolli (32)	6-7(8) 6-3 7-5 6-1
Hubert Hurkacz (18)	Tallon Griekspoor	7-5 6-4 6-4
Miomir Kecmanovic	Dusan Lajovic	7-5 3-6 6-3 3-6 6-3
Matteo Berrettini	Cam Norrie	6-7(4) 6-4 6-1 6-3
Holger Rune (13)	Zhizhen Zhang	4-6 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-4
Gabriel Dallo	Luca Nardi	6-7(1) 7-6(3) 5-7 6-1 6-2
Karen Khachanov (19)	Adrian Mannarino	7-6(5) 6-3 6-3
Francisco Cerundolo (31)	Alexander Bublik	7-6(1) 6-3 6-2
Facundo Diaz Acosta	Zizou Bergs	6-7(5) 6-4 1-6 6-3 6-4
Tristan Boyer (Q)	Federico Coria	6-3 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5 6-1
Alex de Minaur (8)	Botic van de Zandschulp	6-1 7-5 6-4
Taylor Fritz (4)	Jenson Brooksby	6-2 6-0 6-3
Cristian Garin (Q)	Borna Coric	7-5 6-1 6-2
Daniel Altmaier	Francisco Comesana	6-2 3-6 7-6(4) 4-6 6-4
Gael Monfils	Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (30)	7-7(7) 6-3 6-7(6) 6-7(5) 6-4
Ben Shelton (21)	Brandon Nakashima	7-6(3) 7-5 7-5
Pablo Carreno Busta	Kamil Majchrzak (Q)	6-4 6-4 6-3
Denis Shapovalov	Roberto Bautista Agut	3-6 6-4 6-4 7-6(8)
Lorenzo Musetti (16)	Matteo Arnaldi	7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(5) 6-3
Joao Fonseca (Q)	Andrey Rublev (9)	7-6(1) 6-3 7-6(5)
Lorenzo Sonego	Stan Wawrinka (WC)	6-4 5-7 7-5 7-5
Corentin Moutet	Alexei Popryin (25)	4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4
Mitchell Krueger (Q)	Rinky Hijikata	6-4 6-4 6-3
Learner Tien (Q)	Camilo Ugo Carabelli	4-6 7-6(3) 6-3 5-7 6-4
Daniil Medvedev (5)	Kasidit Samrej (WC)	6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2

Medvedev Sidesteps Samrej to Avoid Upset

Daniil Medvedev has reached three of the last four finals in Melbourne, but after losing last year from two sets up, his season never really got going, aside from a final run in Indian Wells.

That trend appears to have continued into 2025, as he was forced to battle back from two sets down to defeat World No. 418 Kasidit Samrej 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a dramatic first-round encounter.

Medvedev has struggled lately to impart authority on the game, and the Thais’ bold play caused him trouble.

However, he still has excellent fitness and the legs to track down a lot of balls, so when the wildcard tired, he found his rhythm in the fourth and fifth sets to seal the win in just under three hours. 

Samrej, who was making his Grand Slam debut, was spotted training with Novak Djokovic in the off-season and displayed a varied game, mixing powerful groundstrokes with clever drop shots, so I was impressed.

But Medvedev’s game has felt undercooked lately. He uses powder puff-type groundstrokes, so I don’t see how he can disrupt the top guys as he hopes to unless something changes. He’s also turning into more of a racket smasher, and he delayed play when he smashed his racket into the net camera. A bit lame.

Medvedev will face Learner Tien next, who won a five-set thriller against Camilo Ugo Carabelli. I think that will be another tricky day at the office.

I know that I play better when I play more tennis. So I was like, ‘Why play one hour, 30 [minutes], I need minimum three hours to feel my shots better and have a good sensation. But speaking seriously, in the second and third sets I couldn’t touch the ball, no power or anything. I didn’t know what to do. Medvedev on his tough 1st round.

Monfils Pips Perricard

Just days after becoming the oldest player to win an ATP title, surpassing Roger Federer, Gael Monfils pulled off a dramatic five-set victory over fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Australian Open. Monfils triumphed 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-7(8), 6-7(5), 6-4 in a nearly four-hour battle on Court 3.

The younger Frenchman has topped the serving stats lately, and while he hit 19 aces, it was Monfils who didn’t lose serve throughout the match—a first in a five-set Grand Slam match since 1991.

I knew Monfils would be tricky, but I thought youth would triumph over experience, and Gael would probably be tired from Auckland.

However, in the fifth set, Monfils capitalised on two double faults from Mpetshi Perricard to break in the opening game and held his lead to seal the win.

I don’t focus on my age. It’s just a number, but I’m sure I’ll feel more 48 than 38 tomorrow morning.

Giovanni is in the category of Reilly (Opelka), John (Isner), Ivo (Karlovic), Milos (Raonic). Of course it’s a bullet, his first serve, but where for me he stands out … is because his second serve is crazy good.

His second serve is the best, because of the way he hits it, the accuracy, the power that he puts (on it). I think he is the first guy on tour who hits a second serve as big.
Monfils on his veteran status.

Fonseca Routs Rublev

Joao Fonseca got people talking after he swept to the Next Gen finals title in December. He started 2025, where he left off, winning the Canberra Challenger and progressing through qualifying without dropping a set.

Today, he wiped out Andrey Rublev 7-6(1), 6-3, 7-6(5) to record a winning debut in Melbourne and his first top 10 career victory.

Beating the world’s number 9 is a huge win, but if you had to pick anyone in the top 10 to face, Rublev would probably be at the top of most people’s lists.

The Russian hasn’t played well in recent months, and Fonseca’s effortless power on both wings was too much for him to handle.

Aside from his blazing forehand, the most impressive part of the match was his composure on the big points. He relinquished a 4-0 lead in the third set tiebreak, but at 5-5 he crushed two clean winners to get he job done. 

Fonseca now faces Lorenzo Sonego in the second round after the Italian defeated Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

Other Matches of Note

Fourth seed Taylor Fritz eased into the second round with a dominant 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 win over Jenson Brooksby. Fritz will meet Cristian Garin, who defeated Borna Coric in straight setups.

Meanwhile, Matteo Berrettini defeated Cameron Norrie 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, firing 32 aces. The Italian will face Holger Rune, who overcame Zhang Zhizhen 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Eighth seed Alex de Minaur advanced with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win over Botic van de Zandschulp. The Australian saved four of five break points and I think he has a good chance at making the second week after his standout 2024 season. He will next face American qualifier Tristan Boyer, who defeated Federico Coria in a five-set battle.

Australian Open Day 4 Round of 64 Matches