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Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil sent ripples through the tennis world by stunning second seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-6 6-7 2-6 6-3 6-4 in an epic first-round match of the French Open on Tuesday.
Seyboth Wild, ranked 172nd in the world, entered into the tournament as a qualifier and displayed a brand of tennis against the Russian that belied his ranking. The 23-year-old Brazilian triumphed after more than four hours of intense and entertaining tennis. Kuerten will play his second-round match against Guido Pella of Argentina on Thursday.
Here are two things that stood out in the Brazilian's 1R upset of Medvedev:
#1. Thiago Seyboth Wild dictated terms with his forehand:
Seyboth Wild is one of the sweetest strikers of the tennis ball on tour. He moved 2023 Italian Open winner Medvedev around with his wonderful forehand and was the more aggressive of the two players right from the beginning.
Seyboth Wild's inside-in forehand shots fetched him a lot of points, with the Brazilian hitting a lot of forehand winners in the match. The first two sets primarily witnessed a battle between the Brazilian's offence and Medvedev's exceptional defence.
They shared the spoils in those two sets, each of which went into a tie-break and lasted for more than an hour. The Brazilian led 6-4 in the second set tie-break as well after having won the first set, but Daniil came from behind to win it and draw level.
#2. Medvedev's movement became slower towards the end of the match:
Medvedev won the third set comfortably, thanks primarily to the Brazilian's tendency to hit his backhand long. However, by the start of the fourth set, the Russian's movement on court became slower and he could no longer defend as well as he had done in the first three.
Seyboth Wild, meanwhile, used his drop shots to good effect. He primarily played them from the ad court after having pushed the Russian into the latter's backhand corner with his inside-out forehand. He also rushed the net more frequently in the last two sets and hit a few brilliant volley and smash winners.
The Brazilian got the decisive breaks in each of the last two sets to register the most memorable win of his career yet. Moreover, his elegant and effortless style must have won him quite a few fans worldwide. The Brazilian will now start as the favorite in his second-round match against Guido Pella.
