Second-Seeded Medvedev Stunned In First Round Of 2023 Roland Garros

| by Zachary Wimer

Daniil Medvedev lost already in the first round of the 2023 Roland Garros to an inspired Thiago Seyboth Final.

Only a few months ago, no one would consider the Russian as one of the favourites on the clay-court Grand Slam. After playing at the Roland Garros for the first time in 2017, Medvedev didn't win a match on the Parisian clay until 2021 and holds the worst win-loss record in France out of all of the Grand Slam tournaments.

However, over the past couple of months, things changed a bit. He played well in Monte Carlo and Madrid, and the biggest shock came in Rome where Medvedev reached his first ATP 1000 final on clay and even took it a step further, beating Holger Rune in the final and winning the title.

Therefore, the world no. 2 was in the discussion among possible favourites for the Roland Garros and he was also one of the four players that could reach the world no. 1 spot after the tournament. Now, that number is only three after the 27-year-old surprisingly lost in the first round.

He took on Thiago Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old player from Brazil, ranked 172nd on the ATP Tour. The Brazilian fought through the qualifying and in the first-round match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, he could rely on the support from the crowd as they god behind the underdog.

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Seyboth Wild started his upset quest already in the first set. Despite being down by a break, he broke back and took the set into a tie-break. In a tie-break, he was the better player and used his third set point to win it 7-5.

But the Russian fought back when he took also the second set into a tie-break. He was down 4-6 once again, but this time, he was able to win four consecutive points to win the second set 8-6.

Medvedev continued his charge also in the third set. Both players broke early on as the score was tied at 2-2, but the second seed then won four consecutive games to win the third set 6-2 and calm his fans.

But things got more difficult for him as the match progressed. Seyboth Wild was able to play another incredible set, winning the fourth set 6-3 and making sure that fans in Paris will see all five sets played on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

The decider was filled with breaks. Both players broke back and forth multiple times, but eventually, Seyboth Wild was better when it mattered and secured the win, beating Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

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