Medvedev loses on clay to player ranked 172nd

Thiago Seyboth Wild wins match lasting 4 hours, 15 minutes.

Daniil Medvedev was seeded No. 2 at the French Open. Coming off a clay-court title a little more than a week ago, too. Plus, he already owns one Grand Slam trophy and was a finalist three other times.

And his opponent Tuesday in the first round at Roland Garros? Well, Thiago Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old from Brazil, is ranked just 172nd and was playing only his second match in the main draw of any major tournament. He 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.

Sometimes the numbers just don’t matter. Nor does past experience. The winner of a tennis match tends to be whoever was better that day, no matter how surprising that might be.

Seyboth Wild looked very much like he belonged on Court Philippe Chatrier, hitting big forehands and keeping his nerve down the stretch to oust Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

“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,” Seyboth Wild said.

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,” Seyboth Wild explained. “It worked pretty well.”

Did it ever. Employing a high-risk, high-reward style, Seyboth Wild compiled a 69-45 edge in total winners, including 47-15 on the forehand side.

Medvedev has been ranked No. 1 and won the U.S. Open two years ago, defeating Novak Djokovic to end a bid for the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis in more than a quarter-century.

Good as he’s always been on hard courts, Medvedev never was known for his prowess on red clay — he began his French Open career with a 0-4 record. But he’s been showing signs of improvement, reaching the quarterfinals in Paris in 2021 and the fourth round last year, and claiming a title on the surface in Rome this month.

He just could never quite get the upper hand against Seyboth Wild during a match that lasted 4 hours, 15 minutes.

Medvedev, who was treated by a trainer for a nosebleed in the third set, didn’t help himself by double-faulting a career-high 15 times.

On the women’s side, Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier — because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major.

AURELIEN MORISSARD/ASSOCIATED PRESS Russia’s Daniil Medvedev (left) congratulates Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild after losing Tuesday’s first-round match at the French Open at Roland Garros stadium in Paris.

JEAN-FRANCOIS BADIAS/AP Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against Spain’s Rebeka Masarova in Tuesday’s first round of the French Open in Paris. Gauff won 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.