"I like the pressure" says Medvedev on being the highest ranked player in the draw

While winning a grand slam has more to do with the actual play on the court than ranking, Medvedev is fully aware that the mantle of favourite has fallen on him after Djokovic was deported from the country. The Russian is not shying away from the spotlight admitting after his win over Laaksonen:

“I like pressure. It’s a really important tournament for me always in Australia. I like to play here, I like hard courts. So I always want to do better than I did last year, but it’s not going to be easy.”

His opponent did not get intimated by Medvedev and actually had a 3rd set surge which Medvedev explained like this:

“He started playing better. He was touching a lot of the lines. He was controlling the game, was hitting full power every shot he had.”

Ultimately Medvedev weathered the storm in the tiebreak winning it 7-3. All in all a solid start for Medvedev who played in the final last year.