Daniil Medvedev had an unusual message for his Australian Open rival after surviving a five-set marathon.

Daniil Medvedev told his Australian Open opponent that he could get money and girls (Image: Eurosport)

Daniil Medvedev sent a strange message to Kasidit Samrej after storming back to beat the Thai wildcard in the first round of the Australian Open.

The world No. 418 led by two-sets-to-one but Medvedev survived a thriller, winning 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2.

Afterwards, he told Samrej that he could get “money and girls” if he continued to play the same way.

Medvedev found himself at risk of a huge upset in his opening round at the Australian Open. Playing his first match in two months, the world No. 5 trailed Samrej by two-sets-to-one.

Samrej was making his Grand Slam debut after receiving a wildcard by winning the Asia-Pacific playoff. And he made a big impression Medvedev – a former world No. 1 and Major champion – who needed more than three hours to beat him.

“I know that I play better when I play more tellis so I was like, ‘why play one hour 30?'” Medvedev joked during his on-court interview.

“I need minimum three hours at least to feel my shots better, to have a good sensation. No, but really speaking, [in the] second and third set, I couldn’t touch the ball! Full power, everything in, I didn’t know what to do.”

While Medvedev struggled against Samrej, he told the 23-year-old that he needed to keep up the consistency, even listing off some incentives.

The Russian was asked about the trend of young players who are match-ready breaking through and claimed that the world No. 418 didn’t always play as well. “I mean, not every match because I watched this matches and I didn’t see his level so I was surprised!” he laughed.

Daniil Medvedev survived a tough test against wildcard Kasidit Samrej (Image: Getty)

“But if he plays like this every match, his life can be good. Money, girls, casino, whatever. If he plays like this every match. If he doesn’t, then he’s not going to have it. Maybe not in tennis but he’s going to make this otherwise. But I wish he can play like this every match.”

While Medvedev doesn’t want Samrej to play that well against him in the future, he explained why he wanted his opponent to maintain his high level. The three-time Aussie Open runner-up continued: “It happened to me a long time ago.

“I played Tokyo and I played one Chinese wildcard so I didn’t know what to expect and I played an unbelievable match to save match points and to win it. And he was serving 230 so was pretty big serve.

“And then the next week he’s playing some Challenger and losing 2 and 2! And I broke him once in three sets! And yeah, you need to be consistent to make it in tennis and I wish him this.”

Medvedev also addressed his recent break from tennis. The former No. 1 has not played a match since the ATP Finals in November and admitted he would never play a warm-up event ahead of the Australian Open.

“I said it in [my] press conference, I’m probably never going to play a lead-up tournament unless they move it because I have two kids now and I want to stay home for New Year and Christmas,” he explained.

“Even if I love Australia, every New Year in Australia is starting to get tough, so I like to come here a little bit later.”

But he believes his his break could be a good thing. “It only gives me good energy. At the end of last year, this match, I probably would’ve lost it because I wouldn’t be able to concentrate and fight to until the end. New Year, new energy. At least now, hopefully for the full season,” Medvedev added.