(May 30, 2023) Just off after claiming his first clay court tournament trophy at the Italian Open earlier this month, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev was ousted in the opening round of Roland Garros on Tuesday. The Russian, not a fan of the clay, lost to a Brazilian qualifier, ranked 172nd, Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Center Court, Phillipe Chatrier. For the Brazilian making his Paris debut,it was his first main draw match won at a major tournament. It was also his first tour level match of the year.

Medvedev has admitted that he has never enjoyed playing on the surface said:“I had a mouthful of clay since probably the third game of the match, and I don’t like it. 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.”

“Tough match. I don’t know. I’m not going to look at it back on TV but my feeling was that he played well,” added Medvedev. “I don’t think I played that bad, but he played well.”

“The thing is that it’s always the same. If he continues to play that way, my opinion, end of the year, he’s Top 30. But last time I said something like this about someone, he didn’t manage to do it. But great for him to play like this today.

“I honestly hope he’s going to play like this later on, because if not, I’m going to be disappointed. I’m going to be like, ‘Why today? Why not in two days?’”

As for the winner, “It definitely was the happiest day of my life,” said the 23-year-old.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match, but I knew how to play. I have watched him play 1,000 times already. I just had to believe in myself.”

“I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career, up until today,he said. “Playing on this court against this kind of player and beating him is a dream come true.” “Walking on court I just wanted to get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand against his and it worked pretty well.”

“I think I was fighting well. Physically I was not feeling that bad. I mean, I’m a little bit tired now, but also when you lose your body goes down faster. If I would win I would not feel that tired,” Medvedev said to media. “Mentally I was fighting. I was fighting. The last game, brought it back to 30-All, guy makes two winners, okay, whatever. Hopefully [I] can make it next time.

“For sure I’m really disappointed. I’m going to be [for] one week thinking about this match, but for the moment I don’t see anything wrong I did. I mean, double faults, the wind was crazy today, so it was not easy… I don’t see anything I could really do better. That’s good. That’s when you can bounce back faster in the next tournaments.”

“It was pretty tough. I started cramping in the second set. I did my best and tried to play my best tennis and it worked,” Seyboth Wild said. “I am really happy with the way I played.”