Second seed Daniil Medvedev saw his French Open hopes end with a shock first-round defeat to Brazilian world No 172 Thiago Seyboth Wild on Tuesday.
The qualifier ended Medvedev’s hopes of winning a second Grand Slam final with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (6-8) 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory after four hours and 15 minutes.
On the court where Brazilian great Gustavo Kuerten lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires three times, 23-year-old Seyboth Wild delighted the Philippe Chatrier crowd with his attacking tennis.
“I watched Daniil play since I was junior and beating him on such a court is a dream come true,’ Seyboth Wild said.
“I tried to use my forehand against his and it worked pretty well. I started cramping at the start of the second set but I used my mental strength to play my best tennis.”
After winning the opening set, he looked to have blown his chance when he failed to convert a 6-4 lead in the second-set tie-break and missed the easiest of overheads to hand Medvedev the set.
The Russian comfortably won the third as well but former US Open Junior champion Seyboth Wild fought back brilliantly in the fourth and broke the Medvedev serve three times in the decider to win a thriller.