The Russian Daniil Medvedev, 2nd in the world and considered one of the main outsiders at Roland-Garros, was eliminated Tuesday in the first round of the Major on clay by the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (172nd and from qualifying) 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
” I always dreamed of playing on this court against this kind of players. Beat it here, so it’s a dream come true“Launched Seyboth Wild to the public of the Philippe-Chatrier court. ” I wanted to find angles and engage him in a forehand battle. It didn’t work out badlyadded the Brazilian. ” Physically it was hard“, he confessed, indicating that he suffered from cramps. ” But mentally, I kept trying to play my best tennis and it worked.“, he added.
The Russian Daniil Medvedev had seemed to take a liking to clay, a surface he hated until then, by winning the Masters 1000 in Rome just before coming to Paris. He had thus become one of the main potential threats for favorites Carlos Alcaraz (N.1) and Novak Djokovic (3rd) in the absence of Rafael Nadal. In addition, he came to Roland-Garros with the record for titles (5), finals (6) and matches won (39) since the start of the season.
But it is therefore Seyboth Wild, who is playing the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time after losing in the first round of the US Open 2020, who will face the Frenchman Quentin Halys (88th) or the Argentinian Guido Pella (423rd) for a place in the third round.
After a long fight in the first set, the Brazilian took the lead
The Russian hung on and in the second set, Seyboth-Wild again got two set points at 6/4 in the tie-break. But this time, Medvedev lined up four points in a row by benefiting from a completely missed smash from his opponent to return to a set everywhere.
The Russian was unhurt in the third set, despite a medical time-out at 5-2 to stop a nosebleed.
After three hours of play, the two players were only at the very beginning of the fourth set.
On a disastrous service game (three double faults including one on the break point and a direct fault in six points) Medvedev allowed his opponent to come off 2-0 then 3-0. He then came back to 3-2, but immediately lost his service game, allowing Seyboth Wild to start the game in a fifth set.
The breaks and unbreaks multiplied in the deciding set, until Seyboth Wild broke away 5-3. He then served for the match at 5-4 and scored his best victory on his first match point.
(With AFP)