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Who is Kasidit Samrej? Thai phenom who practiced with Djokovic before taking on Medvedev at Australian Open

Who is Kasidit Samrej? Thai phenom who practiced with Djokovic before taking on Medvedev at Australian Open

Kasidit Samrej hasn't played an ATP tour level match before and his career best singles ranking is 413.

Daniil Medvedev is currently two sets to one down in the first round of the Australian Open 2025. Having made the final in three of the last four editions of the first Grand Slam of the year, you’d expect Medvedev to breeze through against an unknown player like Kasidit Samrej.

Daniil Medvedev on the ropes against Kasidit Samrej

At first glance, you’d see that Samrej is from Thailand. Well, that should be enough to tell you Medvedev got an easy win. Why? Because no one from Thailand has made the main draw of the Australian Open since 2012. On top of that, Samrej is ranked 418 in the world. Medvedev, meanwhile, is the 5th seed.

So, how is Medvedev down 2-6, 6-4, 6-3? Who exactly is Kasidit Samrej? What’s so special about him that Novak Djokovic did his pre-season practice with the 23-year-old who hadn’t even played a match on the ATP tour yet?

Who is Kasidit Samrej?

Standing at 6’3, it wasn’t until 15 that Samrej got serious about tennis. A late bloomer, he entered Thailand’s junior national team when he was 18. At 23, he’s definitely a late entrant into the main stage of tennis, the Grand Slams. With a career high rank of 413, the reason why Samrej even got into the Australia Open 2025 because he’d won the Asia-Pacific Wild Card Playoff earlier in the month.

While he’s a late bloomer, there is hope, especially for Thai tennis. Thailand legend Paradorn Srichiphan, who was the first-ever player from Asia to enter the ATP Top 10, remains hopeful of what Samrej can do. “He’s another Thai tennis hope here. He’s still young, and again, he still has a long way to go on the road. So the hope is he just shows his great tennis, and hopefully, he can make Thai tennis proud,” Srichiphan told ATP yesterday.

Practice with Novak Djokovic before Australian Open 2025

To prepare to win his 11th Australia Open and 25th Grand Slam title, Djokovic needed a hitting partner to prepare. Srichiphan let Samrej know that Djokovic was looking for a hitting partner, and the youngster happily obliged. Then, in late December, they practiced together in Phuket, Thailand. “It was so cool, I practised with the GOAT. I felt nervous to practise with him, pressure on me. I was shaking, and not playing good on the first day. But I felt better when he spoke to me and gave me some advice. He’s a nice guy,” Samrej told ATP.

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