Roland-Garros: Qualifier Seyboth Wild stuns Medvedev in huge shake-up for men’s draw

Thiago Seyboth Wild knocks out second seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to send shockwaves through the rest of the men’s draw

Medvedev, Seyboth Wild, Roland-Garros, 2023

Medvedev and Seyboth Wild compete at Roland-Garros 2023 – © AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Jamie Malachy

May 30, 2023

French Open •First round • completed

See draw

T. Seyboth WildvsD. Medvedev

On the same day that Krejcikova‘s exit in the women’s draw caused shockwaves, Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild caused a similarl shock in the men’s draw, knocking out the second seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 with a simply stunning performance to move into the second round of Roland-Garros.

Ranked 172nd in the world, the little-know Brazilian frequently sent the crowd of Court Philippe-Chatrier into raptures with a sublime display of clay-court tennis at its finest.

He will play the winner of the match between Frenchman Quentin Halys and Argentinian Guido Pella next.

Roller-coaster first round at Roland-Garros

In a topsy-turvy encounter that lasted a total of 4 hours and 15 minutes in the heat of a late May Parisian afternoon, it was the Brazilian qualifier’s quality that shone through over the second seed and Italian Open champion.

Seyboth Wild took the first set on a closely-contested tiebreak, with Medvedev hitting back in the same fashion to take the second.

The Russian, who seemed to have finally found his form on the European clay that used to trouble him so much, then showed his experience to clinch the third set and nudge ahead.

But the Brazilian qualifier, who had won three matches already at Roland-Garros to reach the tournament, did not buckle. Instead, he upped the tempo and continued to pound groundstrokes from line to line, outhitting his opponent in the end by 69 winners to 45.

Having taken the match to a deserved decider, Seyboth Wild then moved ahead by a break twice, before Medvedev was able to wrestle back parity.

A third break in the fifth for the Brazilian proved a step too far for Medvedev, however, who was unable to inflict enough pressure on his inexperienced opponent as he served out the set and the match is some style.

Excluding walkovers, the last time the world No. 2 lost their opening match at Roland-Garros was all the way back in 2000, when Aussie Mark Philippoussis defeated Pete Sampras.

“I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career”, said Seyboth Wild in his on-court interview. “I’ve always dreamed of playing on this court and playing these kinds of players. In my best dreams, I’ve beaten them. So it’s a dream come true”.

This is a victory for the history books, no doubt. But more pertinently, it is a huge shock to this year’s Roland-Garros and significantly alters the landscape of the lower half of the men’s draw.

Paris (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

Gael Monfils vs. Sebastian Baez
Timofey Skatov vs. Grigor Dimitrov
Michael Mmoh vs. Taylor Fritz: tuesday

Thiago Monteiro vs. Yannick Hanfmann
Richard Gasquet vs. Arthur Rinderknech: tuesday
Quentin Halys vs. Guido Pella: tuesday
Holger Rune vs. Christopher Eubanks: tuesday
Francisco Cerundolo vs. Jaume Munar: tuesday
Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Gregoire Barrere: tuesday
Giulio Zeppieri (Q) beat Alexander Bublik: 6-0, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Alexander Zverev (22) beat Lloyd Harris: 7-6 (6), 7-6, 6-1

Alex Molcan beat Hugo Gaston (WC): 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-4
Max Purcell beat Jordan Thompson: 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
Andrea Vavassori (Q) beat Miomir Kecmanovic (31): 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (9)
Genaro Alberto Olivieri (Q) beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (WC): 7-6 (3), 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Yoshihito Nishioka (27) beat J.J. Wolf: 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
Casper Ruud (4) beat Elias Ymer (Q): 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
Nicolas Jarry beat Hugo Dellien: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
Tommy Paul (16) beat Dominic Stricker (LL): 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Jannik Sinner (8) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
Luca Van Assche beat Marco Cecchinato: 6-1, 6-1, 6-3
Zhizhen Zhang beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-1, 4-1 ret.
Frances Tiafoe (12) beat Filip Krajinovic: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
Daniel Altmaier beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Flavio Cobolli (Q): 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
Jiri Lehecka beat Jan-Lennard Struff (21): 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29) beat Arthur Fils (WC): 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
Marcos Giron beat Hamad Medjedovic (Q): 6-0, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0
Pedro Cachin beat Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (1), 4-6, 6-2
Borna Coric (15) beat Federico Coria: 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3
Thiago Agustin Tirante beat Botic van de Zandschulp (25): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Novak Djokovic (3) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic: 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1)
Taro Daniel beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
Stan Wawrinka beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas: 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 1-6, 6-4
Fabio Fognini beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (10): 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Roberto Bautista Agut (19) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1
Aslan Karatsev (Q) beat Alexei Popyrin: 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2
Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Jack Draper: 6-4, 1-0 ret.
Alex De Minaur (18) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Juan Pablo Varillas beat Juncheng Shang (Q): 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
Diego Schwartzman beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles (32): 1-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4
Cameron Norrie (14) beat Benoit Paire (WC): 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3
Lucas Pouille (Q) beat Jurij Rodionov (LL): 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
Ugo Humbert beat Adrian Mannarino: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
Alexander Shevchenko beat Oscar Otte: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
Lorenzo Sonego beat Ben Shelton (30): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
Andrey Rublev (7) beat Laslo Djere: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Corentin Moutet beat Arthur Cazaux (WC): 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Mikael Ymer: 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
Roberto Carballes Baena beat Emilio Nava (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2
Matteo Arnaldi beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
Sebastian Korda (24) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
Nuno Borges beat John Isner: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (9)
Jason Kubler beat Facundo Diaz Acosta (LL): 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Jiri Vesely: 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
Marton Fucsovics beat Hugo Grenier (WC): 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC) beat Daniel Evans (20): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Radu Albot (Q) beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Karen Khachanov (11) beat Constant Lestienne: 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
Hubert Hurkacz (13) beat David Goffin: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
Tallon Griekspoor beat Pedro Martinez (Q): 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3
Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Maxime Cressy: 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2