World No.2 Tennis player Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday suffered a shocking defeat from Brazil's Qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild in Round 1 of the French Open 2023. The Brazilian World No.172 Seyboth Wild, who was playing only his second match in the main draw of any major event, took down Medvedev in a thrilling five-set clash at Roland Garros 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Seyboth Wild had never won a Grand Slam match before this one and was playing only his second main draw game of a major tournament. But on Tuesday, he played fearless Tennis, filled with big forehands and dominance at nets to upset Medvedev in a 4 hour and 15-minute clash.
After beating Medvedev, the Brazilian said, "I mean, I've watched Daniil play for like my entire junior career until today. I've always dreamed about playing on this court against these kinds of players. It's a dream come true." He 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,” Seybolt Wild explained. “It worked pretty well,” he added.
The 23-year-old looked flawless in his forehand game, winning 47-15 winners in his total 69-45 winners. He was also good at the nets as he won 69% of the points (38/55). Seyboth Wild now becomes the lowest-ranked player to defeat a second at the opening round of Roland Garros since No. 213 Mariano Zabaleta defeated No. 2 Petr Korda in 1998.
