Daniil Medvedev’s French Open exit to Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild is an “incredible upset”, says Tim Henman.
“Medvedev has just come off winning a Masters 1000 on clay and you’re thinking whether he can be one of the favourites and he’s gone,” Henman said on Eurosport.
“The qualifier [Seyboth Wild] is through. An incredible upset.
“Against someone who moves as well as Medvedev on a clay court in five sets, and having not won a match at a major, to see him [Seyboth Wild] go out and play with that aggression – it’s the way that [Brazilian three-time French Open champion Gustavo] Kuerten played at the back of the court; just unloading.
“It’s interesting to hear him talk about his second-set cramp, but there was no panic. I thought he showed a lot of composure to bide his time, getting the third wind in the third and fourth sets, coming down to the shoot-out in the fifth, where he was brilliant in that final game.
“He backed himself to keep going for the big shots and the forehand on match point was just incredible.
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“An amazing victory and hopefully we’re going to see a lot more of him. He moves his feet, and to take that one chance on match point at the biggest moment, it’s so good. You talk about his ranking – world no. 172 – it shows the strength in depth.”
Henman’s fellow Eurosport expert Mats Wilander was courtside for the five-set epic, and commented on how Medvedev failed to adapt to the conditions.
He said: “The crowd were so for Thiago and also the sound of the ball hitting his racquet, especially on his forehand, was incredible. Medvedev is massaging the ball, and Thiago just goes for it. His forehand is huge.
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“There are memories of Kuerten when I see him play. That’s what people went into. Daniil was doing his best to make the crowd not on his side, but it was an absolutely brilliant atmosphere. The inner sense in the interview was incredible; it’s a Cinderella story for sure.
“Medvedev on [Philippe] Chatrier with the sun and the wind is not anything close to what happened in Rome, where it was heavy and wet, and the drop shots were working.
“They didn’t work at all today. This court in the wind and when it’s dry, you really have to understand what to do, into and against the wind, and that’s what makes Thiago’s win even more amazing, figuring that part out, because Medvedev did not play great with the wind, whereas Seyboth was unbelievable.”
Laura Robson, in Paris alongside Wilander, added: “Mats and I were looking up at his coach who had the biggest smile on his face for that entire interview, and you realise how much it means to player and team, and how much effort they all put in for him to have a win like that. Just unbelievable.
“We were sitting here courtside and it went 30-0 in the final game, then there were two drop shots and we were starting to think [that he was getting nervous] in his shot selection. At 30-30, to go for the two forehands that he did under pressure, Medvedev was refusing to miss in that moment.
“Something came over him and the stars aligned.”
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