Daniil Medvedev said that his previous failures at the Australian Open were his motivation to finally get his hands on the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup this time around.

Medvedev, who edged a five-set thriller against Kasidit Samrej in his first round match at Melbourne Park, has reached the tournament's final in three of the last four editions.

The world number five, however, lost all of those finals, with defeats coming against Novak Djokovic in 2021, Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Jannik Sinner last year.

In between those defeats, Medvedev won his maiden grand slam title at the US Open in straight sets against Djokovic, but said the Australian Open is the one he wants the most.

"Yes, 100%, big motivation. It's finally the tournament I like, the tournament I can play well in, because I have played some of my best matches here," Medvedev said.

"To be honest, the two finals I lost against Rafa and Jannik, I played unbelievable tennis.

"Maybe the tennis that I don't play every time. So it's a great motivation to try again, have the final, try to do better, be in two sets to love up.

"I will take it again and just try to finish it three, four, five sets, it doesn't matter. Big motivation to try to get the title, for sure.

Medvedev prevailed 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 against number 418 Samrej, who produced an excellent display on his ATP Tour-level debut.

The Russian is now the third player to reach the second round at Melbourne Park in all the last eight seasons, after Alexander Zverev and Karen Khachanov.

Medvedev is also the first player with four or more consecutive five-setters at the Australian Open since Alexei Popyrin (five in a row, between 2021 and 2023).

But his victory did not come without its frustration, with Medvedev erupting on court, smashing his racket and destroying an unfortunately placed net camera in the third set.

The world number five received a code violation for racket abuse and was facing elimination with Samrej one set away from winning, but he was able to rally back and win.

But when asked about his impending fine for his outburst, Medvedev was hopeful the financial punishment would not be too severe.

"Honestly, I hope not too big, because the fine is usually for breaking the racquet, and the camera is going to cost some, but I don't think Go Pro is that expensive," he said.

"What I have to say is the cameras were very, very strong, because the racquet didn't handle the damage, but the camera did.

"It broke down, but there was not one piece going out of the camera. Very strong. I was very surprised. Because when I did it, I didn't want to smash the racquet in pieces.

"When I saw the racquet, I was, like, okay, time to get a new one, I guess."