Nobody anticipates the 172nd-ranked athlete to surpass the second-best in the world. And this is especially true at Roland Garros, one of the four largest tennis tournaments in the world. However, Thiago Wild shocked everyone on Tuesday by defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the first round of the Grand Slam by a score of 3 sets to 2, using the partials 7/6 (5), 6/7 (6), 2/ 6, 6/3, and 6/4. The Brazilian will compete against Argentine Guido Pella in the following round after the Argentine overcame Quentin Halys of France on Tuesday.
At the Grand Slam, Thiago Monteiro additionally represented Brazil. In the opening round of the Paris Open, the world’s number 98 fell to Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann with a score of 6/3, 7/5, 6(6)/7(8), 6(2)/7(7), and 6/4. The last remaining Brazilian in the singles match is Wild. Nevertheless, Rafael Matos and Francisco Cabral of Portugal triumphed in their doubles match against the current Australian Open champions on Tuesday.
Wild makes history at Roland Garros
Following Roland Garros, Medvedev aimed to dominate the rankings. Three tennis players arrived on the Parisian clay with hopes of challenging Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the top spot. Only Alcaraz and the Serbian Novak Djokovic remain in the running to dominate the ranking at this time.
In the Open Era of tennis, Wild is the second Brazilian to obtain a top-two finish at a Grand Slam. The first was Gustavo Kuerten, who defeated Swiss Roger Federer at Roland Garros 2004 and Russian Marat Safin at the US Open in 2002.
Following Roland Garros, Daniil Medvedev aimed to dominate the rankings. Three tennis players arrived on the Parisian clay with hopes of challenging Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz for the top spot. Only Alcaraz and the Serbian Novak Djokovic remain in the running to dominate the ranking at this time.
After qualifying, the Brazilian entered the French Open. Thiago Wild competes in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the second time in his career after defeating the German Dominik Koepfer in the final round of qualifying to secure himself on the clay of Paris. In 2020’s US Open, it first appeared. A confident Medvedev, who had just won his first major championship on clay at the Masters 1000 in Rome the previous week, was Wild’s opponent in the opening round of Roland Garros 2023.
Comeback after 2-1 down
The first set was extremely disputed. Game by game, the two battled hard. The Brazilian started losing 2-0, but managed to recover. The game went to a tie-break, and Thiago Wild didn’t feel pressured to play against the number two in the world – he closed at 7-5.
The second set was even tighter than the first. There were no breaks. Once again it was all down to the tie-break.
With a 6 to 4 lead and a serve to confirm, the Brazilian had an opportunity to end the second set. Wild refrained from exploitation. The second set was won by Medvedev after a turn. 1 divided by all equals one.
The Brazilian began the fourth set with a strong determination to win. He outscored the Russian 3-0 to start. The number two player in the world bounced back, but not without a disadvantage. Thiago persevered till the very end to win the fourth set 6–3. The fifth and final set of the match was played.
The Brazilian player didn’t appear to sense any pressure throughout the last phase of the game. It gave 2-0 and infuriated Medvedev. After receiving boos, the Russian would occasionally implore the audience to remain silent. Thiago and Medvedev alternated serving breaks until the world No. 172 seized a 5-4 lead and an opportunity to win the match. The Brazilians owned the day. With his serve, Thiago dominated the match and won 6/4.
Rafael Matos wins the doubles debut
The Brazilian defeated the Australians Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata in the first round of Roland Garros alongside the Portuguese Francisco Cabral, winning by a score of 2 sets to 0 with partial victories of 7/6 (7/4) and 7/6 (7/5). The reigning Australian Open winners are the losing pair.
