Second seed Daniil Medvedev shockingly lost to world number 172 Thiago Seyboth Wild 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 in the first round of Roland Garros on May 30.
Medvedev entered Roland Garros in good form after winning the Rome Masters just over a week ago, while Thiago Seyboth Wild was making his first appearance in the main draw of a clay-court Grand Slam. The 170-place gap between the two players in the ATP rankings was rendered meaningless on a day when Seyboth Wild produced the biggest shock of the tournament. The victory was all the more incredible when the Brazilian suffered a cramp in the second set.
Despite losing the first service game, Seyboth Wild was not intimidated by his great opponent. The Brazilian quickly won the return game and leveled the score at 2-2. From then until the end of the set, Seyboth Wild held his service games firmly, while Medvedev struggled to save five other break-points. The Russian needed good serves to escape, as he was outclassed by Seyboth Wild in the final rallies.
The two players went into a tie-break, where Seyboth Wild played better. The world No. 172 took advantage of the third set point to win 7-6 in a set that included 19 winners.
The story repeated itself in the second set, when both needed a tie-break to decide the winner. Seyboth Wild had two set points, but missed both with a forehand wide. Leading 6-4, the Brazilian lost 6-8 in the nerve-wracking match thanks to a missed smash.
Seyboth Wild looked like he would lose heart after losing the third set 2-6, but he came back strongly in the fourth set. The 23-year-old won two service games, continuously leading and won 6-3 to take the match into a deciding fifth set.
Seyboth Wild won the first two serve games in the fifth set, but then lost the advantage and let his opponent tie the score at 3-3. But when he lost the third serve game in the deciding set, Medvedev could not come back. Seyboth Wild held the final two serve games, winning the fifth set 6-4 and eliminating the second seed.
Seyboth Wild is the lowest-ranked player to defeat a second seed in the first round of Roland Garros in 25 years. The last time a second seed was eliminated at a Grand Slam was at the 2002 Australian Open, when Gustavo Kuerten lost to Julien Boutter.
Seyboth Wild has won two Challenger Tour events since the start of 2023. The win over Medvedev was also Seyboth Wild's first match on the ATP Tour this season. The Brazilian scored 69 winners to defeat the player with the most wins since the start of the season (39 matches). In the next round, Seyboth Wild will meet Guido Pella - who defeated Quentin Halys in five sets.
According to Vy Anh/VnE
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