With Rafael Nadal absent, the men’s draw at Roland Garros was touted as the most navigable for almost two decades.
With the fall of Daniil Medvedev, who was beaten 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (6-8), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Thiago Seyboth Wild, a Brazilian qualifier ranked 170 places below the Russian world No 2, opportunity knocks louder than ever.
A French Open shorn of the injured Nadal, a 14-time champion in the 16th arrondissement, was always likely to throw up its share of surprises, although whether the defeat of Medvedev may be regarded as such is debatable. The Russian is famously averse to clay and, although he arrived in Paris fresh from claiming the first trophy of his career on the surface in Rome, that victory now begins to look like the exception that proves the rule.
This was Medvedev’s fifth first-round defeat in seven visits to Roland Garros and, while he has beaten clay-court exponents of the calibre of Holger Rune and Stefanos Tsitsipas in recent weeks, his feelings about the tour’s annual turn on the red dirt remain very much unchanged.
“Every time it finishes, I’m happy,” said Medvedev, the US Open champion of two years ago, whose defeat leaves the bottom half of the draw bereft of a previous grand slam winner.
“So I’m happy. I’m happy again. Doesn’t matter, one time quarters [in 2021], one time fourth round, a lot of times first round, I’m just happy.
“Again, same today, because wind, dry court, I had a mouthful of clay since probably the third game of the match, and I don’t like it.
“I don’t know if people like to eat clay, to have clay in their bags, in their shoes, the socks – white socks, you can throw them [in the] garbage after the clay season. Maybe some people like it. I don’t. I am happy to have it finished.”
Happier still will be Seyboth Wild, who had only once previously contested a main draw match at a major, much less defeated the second seed on one of the world’s most storied courts. The Brazilian’s first grand slam victory – and first tour-level victory anywhere since February 2022 – was underpinned by relentless aggression from the baseline, a bold determination to attack the net at every opportunity, and unwavering self-belief when Medvedev fought back from a set down to assume control of the match.
That said, Seyboth Wild’s performance was in many ways no more a surprise than Medvedev’s. Though the 23-year-old has struggled to translate his 2018 victory in the US Open junior event to senior level, he has been in strong form on the Challenger Tour of late, claiming titles in Vina del Mar and Buenos Aires and arriving in Paris on a run of 22 wins from his past 26 matches, all on clay.
Seyboth Wild looked to have blown the chance to claim the biggest triumph of his career win he twice missed points for a two-set lead before fluffing a simple overhead. Having carved out a two sets to one lead, Medvedev looked comfortably on course for the second round. But Seyboth Wild never stopped believing, never stopped delivering sledgehammer blows with his huge forehand, and his resolve was rewarded in the decider, where Medvedev twice recovered from a break down but had no answer when the qualifier forged ahead for a third time.
“I don’t think I played that bad, but he played well,” said Medvedev, who understandably put his 15 double faults down to the windswept conditions.
“The thing is that it’s always the same. If he continues to play that way, my opinion, end of the year, he’s top 30. But last time I said something like this about someone, he didn’t manage to do it.
“But great for him to play like this today. I honestly hope he’s going to play like this later on, because if not, I’m going to be disappointed.
“Mentally I was fighting. I was fighting. The last game, brought it back to 30-30, the guy makes two winners. Okay, whatever.”
Seyboth Wild was asked afterwards about domestic abuse allegations lodged by his ex-girlfriend, Thayane Lima, who filed a complaint to police in Rio de Janeiro in 2021 that subsequently became the subject of a police investigation and a lawsuit. The Brazilian has denied the allegations.
“I don’t think it’s a subject we should talk about right here,” said Seyboth Wild. “I don’t think it’s a question you should be making to anybody. I don’t think it comes to you to decide whether it’s a place to be spoken of or not.”