Teen qualifier Fonseca beats 9th seed Rublev

Fearless teenage qualifier Joao Fonseca beat ninth seed Andrey Rublev on his Grand Slam debut on Tuesday in the biggest shock of the Australian Open so far.

- Agencies

MELBOURNE: Last year's runner-up Daniil Medvedev destroyed his racquet and avoided a huge shock at the Australian Open on Tuesday to join a rampant Taylor Fritz and veteran Gael Monfils in the second round. In the women's draw, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina were both emphatic winners on day three, with Emma Navarro and Emma Raducanu also victorious.

The feisty Medvedev, a three-time losing finalist at Melbourne Park including a year ago to Jannik Sinner, was heavy favourite against Thailand's 418th-ranked Kasidit Samrej.

But in his first match of the season, the Russian fifth seed nearly imploded in a fit of anger before finding some measure of calm. "Second and third set I couldn't touch the ball. I didn't know what to do," Medvedev said after finally winning 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

The 28-year-old mangled his racquet as he spectacularly lost his rag in the third set, slamming it into the net camera repeatedly until they both became a broken mess. There was no such trouble for fourth seed Fritz as he blitzed fellow American Jenson Brooksby 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 to launch his bid for a maiden Grand Slam crown. "It's never easy playing that first match in a Slam, there are some nerves, so I did a really good job shaking them off early and playing really solid," said Fritz, who took just one hour and 46 minutes to dismantle his compatriot.