If anyone thought a couple of recent runs to week two at Roland-Garros and a clay-court title a little more than a week ago made Daniil Medvedev a little fonder of the red stuff, forget it.
A first-round loss as the No.2 seed in Paris — against Thiago Seybolt Wild, a qualifier ranked 172nd who never had won a grand slam match anywhere — sure reminded Medvedev of his distaste for the slow surface used in Paris.
“I had a mouthful of clay since probably the third game of the match, and I don’t like it,” Medvedev fumed afterwards.
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“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 (into the) garbage after clay season.
“Maybe some people like it. I don’t.”
Seybolt Wild needed to win three matches in qualifying rounds last week just to make it into the men’s bracket — something he’d failed to do on eight previous attempts at slams — but looked very much like he belonged on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Medvedev upset by tennis battler
He hit big forehands and kept his nerve down the stretch to oust Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
It’s the first time the second-seeded man lost in the first round in Paris since 2000, when Pete Sampras — no fan of clay himself — was eliminated by Mark Philippoussis.
“It definitely was the happiest day of my life,” said Seybolt Wild, a 23-year-old from Brazil.
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“I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I knew how to play. I have watched him play 1000 times already. I just had to believe in myself.”
So what was his game plan going in?
“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.”
Did it ever.
Employing a high-risk, high-reward style, Seybolt Wild compiled a 69-45 edge in total winners, including 47-15 on the forehand side.
He hadn’t even played a tour-level main-draw match at all in 2023, instead competing on the lower-level ATP Challenger Tour. At his most recent event, in Turin, Italy, Seybolt Wild made it to the quarter-finals and left with a paycheck for $5950.
“His life is going to be better if he plays like this every match,” Medvedev said.
“He’s going to get more money, more sponsors, win big titles. But he has to play like this. Not once on the Philippe Chatrier, but a lot of times in different tournaments all over the world throughout the year.”
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Medvedev’s exit was the most significant result as the first round closed.
The top women’s seeds in action all advanced, including defending champion Iga Swiatek, 2022 runner-up Coco Gauff, reigning Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina and two-time major finalist Ons Jabeur.
So did No.4 Casper Ruud (the runner-up to Rafael Nadal a year ago), No.6 Holger Rune, No.9 Taylor Fritz and No.16 Tommy Paul among the men.
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