Lacking a "wrist game," Daniil Medvedev tumbles early on Roland Garros' terre battue

MATCH POINT: 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild ousts No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round

Once upon a time, the best men’s players spent their springs living in fear of the clay-court specialist. When the tour pulled into Paris, it was the Brugueras and Beresteguis of the world, rather than the Samprases and Beckers, who were suddenly the players to watch.

That phenomenon largely disappeared with the rise of the Big 3 generation. Rafael Nadal started as a dirt-baller, but he quickly made himself into an all-around champion. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic loved other surfaces better, but each was a perennial contender in Paris. Ditto for Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray.

Most members of the current generation continue in that versatile vein. Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune: They’re comfortable on every surface. But the same can’t be said for Daniil Medvedev. While he made major strides this year on by winning his first-clay-court title in Rome, his shortcomings on dirt were exposed by Thiago Seyboth Wild at Roland Garros on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Seyboth Wild is ranked No. 172—170 spots below Medvedev—and he had never won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam event before. But from the start of his 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, it was clear that his heavy-topspin forehand was exactly the type of weapon that is (a) essential for modern clay-court tennis; and (b) the one thing that has always been missing from Medvedev’s game.

Seyboth Wild hit 69 winners, including on the final two points, while Medvedev mustered just 45. Consistency has traditionally been thought of as the key to the clay game, but the ability to hit the ball with enough spin and pace to power it past your opponent is equally important. That’s not Medvedev’s forte, and he knows it.

“In my opinion, players who have like, I don’t know how even to say it, but like a wrist game, like my opponent today, like Carlos [Alcaraz], I think Stefanos [Tsitsipas] a little bit, have big advantage with these balls, because they can create easy power, which I don’t have,” Medvedev said.

“That was a little bit the case today. He was controlling almost all the points, and I was suffering a lot, especially on the side against the wind.”

As you can see, Medvedev laid some of the blame on the new, heavier balls in use at Roland Garros, and on the windy conditions. He also said he’s happy to be done with the cursed terre battue that leaves him with little but a pile of stained clothes and grains of red dirt between his teeth.

“I had a mouthful of clay since probably third game of the match, and I don't like it,” Medvedev said. “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 to garbage after clay season. Maybe some people like it. I don’t. I’m happy to have it finished.”

Ultimately, though, Medvedev said his opponent was too good.

In my opinion I tried to make him win this match, and he managed to do it. He played great.

Seyboth Wild can’t be called a clay-court specialist, exactly. His biggest previous win came at the 2018 junior US Open, and he had never even won a qualifying match at Roland Garros before this year. But his idol is Rafael Nadal, and he has the Western grip, the two-handed backhand, and the inside-out forehand to prove it. He said he had also watched enough of Medvedev over the years to understand how he should play him.

“Get the angles, try to get to net as much as possible, use my forehand against his,” he said. “It worked pretty well.”

“I’ve watched him play a thousand times already,” Seyboth Wild added. “I just had to believe in myself and believe in the work I have been doing. So, yeah, I had belief since the first day.”

Old-time dirt-ball still works on dirt, and Medvedev, despite his improvements on the surface and his stellar season so far, still doesn’t play that type of game. For now his only wish, he says, is that Seyboth Wild isn’t a one-day flash in the pan.

“Great for him to play like this today,” Medvedev said. “I honestly hope he’s gonna play like this later on, because if not, I’m gonna be disappointed. I’m going to be like, ‘Why today?’”