Daniil Medvedev is careful never to let complacency creep in.
Even for an athlete who reached the pinnacle of the rankings and hoisted a Grand Slam trophy, the 29-year-old knew there was no stemming a form slump without change.
On Wednesday, the top seed at the Brisbane International returns to Pat Rafter Arena for a second-round blockbuster against former top-10 American Frances Tiafoe, a rival he owns a 5-1 record against.
The 30th-ranked Tiafoe scored his first win against Medvedev at last year’s Laver Cup and while both have slipped outside the top 10, they were on song in their respective opening outings against Aleksander Vukic and Marton Fucsovics respectively.
Having overhauled his coaching set-up to include former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, Medvedev said there were already tweaks in motion in his bid to return to the top 10.
“Volley improved quite a lot. Trying to work on the serve because it was a bit too much up and down last year,” Medvedev said.
“There were some matches where it was great and some where it could be better. So maybe say volley and serve, and of course we do still work on the forehand and backhand, but if we need to point out something, maybe volley and serve.”
Women’s second seed Amanda Anisimova has already enjoyed a warm welcome to Brisbane after her best friend on tour, Priscilla Hon, showed her round ahead of her tournament debut.
The American returned to Australia last week at a career-high world No.4 following a season that included her first two Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open and titles in Doha and Beijing.
On Wednesday, the No.2 seed meets another good friend of Hon’s, Kimberly Birrell, for the second time, in her first match of the new season.
Anisimova defeated the Queenslander in the opening round en route to the title match in New York last year but Hon enjoyed an impressive run at her home tournament a year ago when she derailed the No.2 seed, Emma Navarro, en route to her first WTA 500 quarterfinal.
“Last year, despite whatever challenges or obstacles I had, I still trusted myself and told myself I can get past the finish line,” Anisimova said. “I think that was kind of the biggest change. And the more I put myself in those situations, the more that I trust myself.
“I have had a lot of those experiences last year that going into this year, I just feel very strong and, yeah, I really believe in myself.”
After his singles comeback ended at the first hurdle against Aleksandar Kovacevic on Tuesday, Nick Kyrgios was determined to use the loss as a stepping stone for the remainder of 2026.
On Wednesday night, he will turn his focus to his second-round doubles clash alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis against sixth-seeded Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul.
“We were really surprised with our level, to be honest. It didn't look like we had been away from the game for – it's been a year, pretty much, for Thanasi,” Kyrgios said after their first-round win. “We have gone through and we're playing two guys who are probably some of the best doubles players still out there.”
Defending men’s champion Jiri Lehecka could not have been dealt a much more difficult first task than beating his gifted Czech countryman and world No.32 Tomas Machac in the first round.
Having eked out a three-set win in the pair’s first encounter, the third seed returns to face Sebastian Korda, the son of former Czech professionals Petr Korda and Regina Rajchrtova.
Lehecka has beaten the American in both previous matches, including the Adelaide semifinals two years ago en route to his first career title.
Korda’s compatriot, women’s fourth seed Jessica Pegula opens the day’s play at Pat Rafter Arena when she faces Anna Kalinskaya.
The 2024 US Open finalist owns a 3-1 record against the world No.33 including both meetings on hard courts.
Kalinskaya opened her Brisbane campaign with a convincing victory over rising Czech teenager Tereza Valentova.
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