It was a brutal day for the local contingent at the Australian Open on Tuesday, with Alexei Popyrin suffering injury and some ordinary tactics from his opponent, while Kim Birrell broke down in tears after a last-minute change of opponent threw her off. And questions are being asked about why Daniil Medvedev wasn’t disqualified for a petulant outburst that saw him smash a racquet and net camera.

The Russian star let his frustrations boil over as Thai outsider Kasidit Samrej threatened to cause a huge shock and beat the grand slam champ. Samrej won the second and third sets to leave the World No.5 rattled, and Medvedev took it out on the net.

After Samrej hit a winner past the advancing Medvedev, the Russian smashed his racquet into the net in anger. He hit the net multiple times and in doing so destroyed a camera that was positioned there. It caused a delay in the match as the camera had to be replaced, and the chair umpire hit Medvedev with a code violation and warning.

But questions are being asked about why it wasn’t an immediate disqualification considering Medvedev knowingly destroyed the piece of equipment in the process of also breaking his racquet. Smashing the net with your racquet is arguably enough for a disqualification, let along destroying a camera as well.

Hoards of fans took to social media to ask why Medvedev hadn’t been defaulted and kicked out of the Open, pointing to the message it sends to kids watching at home. The Russian will receive a fine for his outburst and be made to pay for the camera he broke.

“The fine is usually for breaking the racquet,” he said after his 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 win in three hours and eight minutes. “The camera is going to cost some, but I don’t think (a) Go Pro is that expensive. What I have to say is the camera was very, very strong, because (my) racquet didn’t handle the damage, but the camera did.”

Opponent cops backlash during win over Alexei Popyrin

It was a day of drama and controversy at Melbourne Park, with Alex de Minaur the only Aussie to advance. Popyrin lost in the first round despite being seeded for the first time at a major, with the young Aussie affected by a glute injury he picked up after winning the first set.

Popyrin also suffered through a cramping hamstring from midway through the second set, losing 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4 to World No.69 Corentin Moutet at John Cain Arena. Moutet drew the ire of the crowd and fans watching at home with some of his antics and was loudly booed on a number of occasions.

The Frenchman played a number of drop-shots because he knew Popyrin couldn’t move properly – and he was free to do so. But some of his reactions left a sour taste in many peoples’ mouths. Moutet was seen pointing to his head to show how smart he was, and many felt his actions against an injured opponent were “shameless” and “classless”.

Kim Birrell’s devastating breakdown after ‘disturbance’

Popyrin joined Birrell, Olivia Gadecki, Emerson Jones and Rinky Hijikata as Aussies to bow out on Tuesday, and Birrell was reduced to tears in her post-match press conference. Australia’s top-ranked female admitted she was rattled by a last-minute change of opponent after lucky loses Eva Lys replaced the injured Anna Kalinskaya just minutes before the match.

Birrell admitted the 6-2 6-2 loss was a “hard pill to swallow” after winning through qualifying and doing all of her homework on Kalinskaya rather than Lys. “Absolutely (it threw me),” Birrell said as she wiped away tears in her press conference.

“I had prepared to play Anna, who’s a really amazing player. I knew that I was in for a battle against her, and I had done my research and spoke a lot with my team but, unfortunately, that isn’t who I faced today.

“Then to find out that she withdrew and that I was playing someone completely different, it did rattle me. But in saying that, she was in the same position as me – she didn’t know who she was going to be playing, so we were both put in pretty tough situations. I take responsibility for not handling that, and credit to her.”

Australian Open commentator Pippa Horn said the change of opponent would have been a big “disturbance” for Birrell. “Her and her team would’ve very much planned to play Anna Kalinskaya and now she has a different opponent. How do you approach a situation like that?” Horn asked.