cnn
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The French Open has already suffered a major upset when World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev was eliminated by Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first round on Tuesday.
The world No. 172 showed few signs of nerves as he beat Medvedev in a thrilling five-set encounter – 7-6(5) 6-7(6) 2-6 6-3 6-4 – in more than four hours on the court.
Medvedev is certainly not at his best on the surface, but he was coming into Roland Garros after winning his first clay court trophy at this year's Italian Open.
He was expected to defeat Seyboth Wild, who was making his first Grand Slam main draw appearance, but the Brazilian came out strong, dominating the match with his powerful forehand in windy conditions.
“I have watched Daniil play throughout my youth career, until today. To play on this court against this type of player and beat him is a dream come true,” said Seyboth Wild, 23, during his on-court interview.
“Walking around the court, I just wanted to get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand against his and it worked out pretty well.”
After winning the first set, Seyboth Wild wasted set points in the second, allowing Medvedev to grow in the game.
The Russian then won the third set easily, but continued to struggle with his consistency and was clearly frustrated.
It allowed the Brazilian to recover and take the match to a deciding set in which he held his nerve to record a memorable victory over Philippe Chatrier.
After winning match point with another crushing forehand, the beaming Brazilian turned to the crowd in disbelief, before raising his arms high.
“It was quite hard. 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'm very happy with the way I played.”
He will now face Quentin Halys or Guido Pella in the second round.
