Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild knocked out Daniil Medvedev from the French Open, defeating him in the first round of the Roland Garros. Seyboth Wild, a qualifier ranked 172nd earned the biggest win of his career by stunning the World no.2 Medvedev in a five-set thriller on Tuesday. Seyboth Wild who made his debut in Paris never showed any signs of fear or stress in a battle that lasted for 4 hours and 15 minutes, upsetting the Russian top seed 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The 23-year-old Brazilian had never won a Grand Slam match before this and was playing only his second main draw game of a major tournament. But he played fearless Tennis and delighted everyone with his brilliant performance on the court, filled with big forehands and dominance at nets to stun Medvedev. Seyboth Wild will now face Argentine Guido Pella in the second round on June 1.
Seyboth Wild looked perfect and troubled his Russian opponent with an excellent forehand game, winning 47-15 winners in his total 69-45 winners. The Brazilian was also good at the nets as he won 69% of the points (38/55). Seyboth Wild has now become the lowest-ranked player to defeat a second-ranked player at the opening round of Roland Garros since No.213 Mariano Zabaleta defeated No.2 Petr Korda of Czech in 1998.
No one expected Medvedev to be knocked out so early as he holds a 39-6 record on the season. The 2021 US Open champion, who was chasing his second major title, had won a tour-leading five trophies in 2023.
After registering a memorable win, the Brazilian said, I mean, I have watched Daniil play for like my entire junior career until today. I have always dreamed about playing on this court against these kinds of players. It’s a dream come true. Seyboth Wild also shared his game plan for the match and stated that he looked to get to the nets as much as possible. Walking on the court, I really just wanted to get the angles, try to get to the net as much as possible, try to use my forehand against his, Seyboth Wild admitted.
It was pretty tough. I started cramping in the second set. I did my best and tried to play my best tennis and it worked pretty well. I am really happy with the way I played, the Brazilian concluded.
