Melbourne: Daniil Medvedev insisted a mid-match nosebleed was not a serious problem as he overcame an underarm serve and stiff resistance from Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez Thursday to book his Australian Open third-round ticket. The Russian fourth seed was pressed hard in a competitive first set before grinding down the 22-year-old 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 with the roof closed on Margaret Court Arena.

He plays Australia's Alexei Popyrin next in Melbourne. "It was not easy, especially the first set, but I managed to stay there the whole match and came through because he has less experience," said Medvedev, who won four titles last year and was runner-up at the US Open. He was up 5-0 in the second set when he required a medical timeout with blood dripping from his nose, something that also interrupted his Australian Open last year.