"I was very surprised" - Daniil Medvedev makes totally unexpected observation after destroying camera in angry Australian Open outburst

Daniil Medvedev expressed his surprise over the strength of the net camera he destroyed during his narrow first-round win at the 2025 Australian Open. Medvedev had taken his frustrations out on the camera with his racket just before going two-sets-to-one down against World No. 418 Kasidit Samrej.

The former No. 1 was the overwhelming favorite on paper against Samrej, and things looked to be going the Russian's way after he dominated the young Thai to win the first set 6-2. However, Samrej stormed back into the contest against all expectations, and won the next two sets 6-4, 6-3. Just before sealing the third set, Medvedev lost his cool and broke the net camera by repeatedly smashing his racket against it.

At his post-match press conference, Daniil Medvedev laid bare how surprised he was in the aftermath of breaking the camera. The Russian's reaction apparently stemmed from the build quality of the camera.

The 2021 US Open champion stated that he had to change his racket after the controversial incident, but wondered how the camera, despite being broken, appeared intact.

"Honestly I hope not too big (the fine for breaking the camera) because probably, like, the fine is usually for breaking the racket, and the camera is going to cost some, but I don't think GoPro is that expensive. But what I have to say is that the camera was very, very strong, because my racket didn't handle the damage but the camera did," Daniil Medvedev said.

"It broke down but there was not one thing going out from the camera. It was very strong. I was very surprised, because when I did it, you want to smash the racket in pieces, and when I saw the racket, I was like, 'Okay, time to take a new one I guess'," he added.

Medvedev eventually capitalized on Samrej cramping from the fourth set onwards to complete his comeback and win the match.

No stranger to courting on-court controversy, the Russian spiced up proceedings at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals with a bizarre act during his Round Robin match against eventual runner-up Taylor Fritz.

Daniil Medvedev briefly held his racket in reverse while facing Taylor Fritz's serve at Nitto ATP Finals 2024

Daniil Medvedev during his Nitto ATP Finals 2024 clash against Taylor Fritz (Source: Getty)

Taylor Fritz comprehensively defeated Daniil Medvedev in the opening round of Round Robin matches at the 2024 Nitto ATP Finals. While Fritz's performance against Medvedev was exemplary on the night, one particular incident involving the Russian made news for all the wrong reasons.

Frustrated at how the match was going, Medvedev repeatedly tossed his racket up into the air and almost deliberately missed catching it when it kept coming down. At the time, Fritz was preparing to serve. Eventually, the former No. 1 did catch the racket and then geared up to face Fritz's serve, but rather ridiculously, he temporarily held the racket with its grip pointing towards the American.

The 2021 US Open champion later switched to holding the racket normally, but the moment went viral, and marked yet another instance of Medvedev being eccentric on the court.

The Russian's next opponent at the 2025 Australian Open is Learner Tien, the promising 19-year-old from the USA.