Daniil Medvedev, the second seed, was shocked by Thiago Seyboth Wild, a qualifier, in the opening round of the French Open.

In a 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (6-8) 2-6 6-3 6-4 defeat, the Russian overcame windy conditions, “a mouthful of clay,” and the Brazilian’s superb forehand.

Medvedev was in strong shape when he arrived to Roland Garros and was vying for the top spot in the world.

But Seyboth Wild, who was ranked 172nd, capitalized on Medvedev’s inaccuracy to secure a ticket in the maiden Grand Slam second round.

The 23-year-old, who hadn’t participated in a Tour-level match this year, said, “Beating Daniil on such a court is a dream come true. I’ve seen him play since I was a junior.

I made an attempt to use my forehand against his, and it was fairly successful. At the beginning of the second set, I began to cramp, but I kept my composure and played my best tennis.

“I honestly don’t know how to put into words how I felt after I won the match. Simply put, I was ecstatic. Without a doubt, that day was the happiest of my life.

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Seyboth Wild won the first set in a match that lasted four hours and fifteen minutes after dropping his opening service game.

But it appeared as though his chance could be lost when he missed an overhead to give Medvedev the second set after he had led 6-4 in the tie-break. This was further reinforced when the Russian won the third set after stopping to receive treatment for a nosebleed shortly before serving it out.

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But Medvedev, who had just won his maiden clay-court championship in Rome before he arrived at Roland Garros, was often defeated by his opponent’s forehand at crucial times and committed 15 expensive double faults.

In the fourth set, Seyboth rallied, breaking Medvedev’s service three times to take the lead 3-0 and force a decisive fifth set.

He created match point with yet another brilliant forehand before, of course, burying a massive forehand down the line to secure the biggest win of his career.

‘Happy’ to see the end of clay season, Medvedev
A sequence of four consecutive first-round losses from Paris in his first four appearances did little to alter Medvedev’s opinion, who has frequently claimed he used to “hate” clay.

But after reaching the fourth round last year and the quarterfinals in 2021, as well as winning the title in Rome this month, he said that while he still didn’t “love” it, he did now more of a “like” it.

His displeasure with the umpire, the crowd, and himself over his failure to deal with the strength of a player whose game had clicked at the perfect time was clear on a blustery Philippe Chatrier court, where little of that was on display.

Even less was spoken after the match when he said he was “happy” his clay season was over.

He said, “Today I had a mouthful of clay since probably the third game of the match, and I don’t like it.” The court was dry and windy.

I’m not sure if people enjoy eating clay or having clay in their shoes, backpacks, or white socks, which can be thrown out after clay season.

“Perhaps some people enjoy it. I don’t.”

Seyboth Wild took advantage of Medvedev’s serving struggles, winning just 46% of points on his second serve, to break twice in the decisive. While the red dirt was flying over the court, the Brazilian maintained his calm to pull off the biggest upset of the tournament. The Russian did recover those breaks, but not the third.

In order to advance to the next round, Seyboth Wild, who often competes on the lower-level Challenger circuit and has won two titles on clay this year, will need to defeat either the Argentinean Guido Pella or the Frenchman Quentin Halys.

Zverev triumphs after suffering a serious injury in Paris
A year after being forced to leave his Roland Garros semi-final in a wheelchair due to a catastrophic ankle injury, Germany’s Alexander Zverev won back the title.

Last year, the 26-year-old resigned in the second set of his semifinal match against Rafael Nadal and missed six months of action due to damaged ligaments. However, on his comeback to Paris, he defeated South African Lloyd Harris 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-0) 6-1.

In his interview on the court, he added, “It’s very, very nice to be back.”

“Obviously, I was quite sad in how the tournament ended for me [the previous year].

“As a result, I cherish the experience of playing in front of a packed stadium even more. Simply said, it was a lot of fun outside.

Alex Molcan of Slovakia will be Zverev’s next opponent as he seeks his first major singles championship. Zverev is seeded 22nd.

Casper Ruud, who finished second last year, has also advanced to the second round after defeating Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4 6-3 6-2 with a dominant show of baseline power. For a spot in the third round, he must defeat Italian Giulio Zeppieri, another qualifier.

American Christopher Eubanks put Danish sixth seed Holger Rune to the test, but Rune prevailed 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-2) 6-2. Gael Monfils, a former top-10 player from France, or Sebastian Baez, the 42nd-ranked player in the world, will be his challenging opponent in his upcoming match.