Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (pictured) upset Russian Daniil Medvedev in a 4-hour, 15-minute thriller at the 2023 French Open on Tuesday in Paris. Photo by Caroline Blumberg/EPA-EFE
May 30 (UPI) — Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild scored one of the biggest upsets in recent French Open memory, knocking out No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the first round of the Grand Slam event with a thrilling five-set win Tuesday in Paris.
Seyboth Wild, the No. 172 player in the world, and his Russian foe each converted seven break points in the 4-hour, 15-minute match at Roland Garros.
The 23-year-old Brazilian entered the match with no Grand Slam main draw singles victories. He totaled two aces, six double faults and 69 winners in Tuesday’s 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.
“I watched Daniil play for my entire junior career, up until today,” Seyboth Wild said on the Tennis Channel broadcast. “I’ve always dreamed of playing on this court against this kind of player and beating him is a dream come true.”
Twists and turns
Qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild makes an emphatic entrance to his first #RolandGarros main draw appearance, knocking out No.2 seed Medvedev 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. pic.twitter.com/awnQzXHbFs— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2023
Medvedev logged 14 aces, 15 double faults and fired 45 winners. He also totaled 60 forced errors compared to Seyboth Wild’s 51.
Seyboth Wild will meet No. 88 Quentin Halys of France or No. 423 Guido Pella of Argentina in the second round.
No. 4 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 17 Tommy Paul of the United States, No. 27 Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 33 Yoshihtio Nishioka of Japan were among the top men’s players to advance Tuesday morning in first-round play.
No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 7 Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 9 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 11 Karen Khachanov of Russia, No. 14 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and No. 12 Frances Tiafoe of the United States were among the top men’s players to advance Sunday and Monday.
No. 130 Fabio Fagnini logged the first major upset in the men’s circuit. The Italian eliminated No. 10 Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada in straight sets Monday on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
Earlier Tuesday, American Coco Gauff survived a scare in her first-round win over No. 71 Rebeka Masarova of Spain. The No. 6 player in the WTA rankings beat Masarova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to move on to a second-round meeting with No. 61 Julia Grabher of Austria.
Gauff, a Miami Heat fan, said she thought of NBA star Jimmy Butler after she lost the first set to Masarova. She compared the adversity to what the Heat faced in their Eastern Conference finals win over the Boston Celtics.
“Honestly, today I told myself if Jimmy Butler didn’t freak out when they were up 3-0 and all of a sudden it’s 3-3, then I shouldn’t freak out after losing the first set,” Gauff said in her on-court interview.
Gauff fired just one ace, 15 winners and converted just 31% of her break points, but totaled just 19 forced errors and 23 unforced errors in the one-hour, 46-minute match on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Masarova converted 2 of 3 break points and fired 22 winners, but totaled 43 unforced errors and 30 forced errors.
No. 7 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan were among the other top-ranked women to advance Tuesday in Paris.
No. 66 Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine upset No. 13 Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 5 Caroline Garcia of France, No. 9 Daria Kasatkina of Russia and No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil were among the top women’s players to advance Sunday and Monday.
No. 43 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic upset No. 8 Maria Sakkari in straight sets Sunday in Paris. No. 44 Elisabetta Cocciaretto upset No. 10 Petra Kvitova, No. 100 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat No. 11 Veronika Kudermetova and No. 134 Elina Avanesyan edged No. 12 Belinda Bencic on Monday in other first-round stunners.
Alcaraz, Djokovic, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Khachanov and Hurkacz will be among the top men’s players in action Wednesday in the second round. Sabalenka, Pegula, Garcia, Kasatkina and Samsonova will be among the top women in Wednesday matches.
Second-round coverage will air from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT Wednesday on NBC’s Tennis Channel. The women’s and men’s singles finals will be June 10 and 11, respectively.
Schedule
Wednesday
Second round from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
Thursday
Second round from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
Friday
Third round from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
Saturday
Third round from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tennis Channel, noon to 3 p.m. on NBC/Peacock and 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Peacock
Sunday
Fourth round from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tennis Channel, noon to 3 p.m. on NBC/Peacock and 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Peacock
Monday
Fourth round from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
June 6
Quarterfinals from 5 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
June 7
Quarterfinals from 5 a.m. to noon and 2 to 5 p.m. on Tennis Channel
June 8
Women’s semifinals from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tennis Channel and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
June 9
Men’s semifinals from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tennis Channel and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
June 10
Women’s final from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
June 11
Men’s final from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on NBC/Peacock
Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States during their first-round match at the 2023 French Open in Paris on May 29, 2023. Djokovic won 6-3, 6-2, 7-6. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo
