Australian Wildcard Walton Upsets Medvedev in Five Sets at French Open

Australian Adam Walton defeated former world number one Daniil Medvedev in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday. Walton, ranked 97th and playing on a wild-card invitation, won 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. The match lasted three and a half hours.

Medvedev dropped the opening set after falling behind 4-2 and sending a forehand long. He responded by taking the second set 6-1 before Walton claimed the third set by the same score. Walton broke back at 4-4 in the deciding set, held serve, and closed out the match when Medvedev made four consecutive errors, including a double fault, on his own serve.

Temperatures in Paris reached at least 32 degrees Celsius for the third straight day, causing the clay to dry faster and play quicker than usual. Medvedev has now exited in the first round at six of his last nine appearances at Roland Garros.

“It’s huge. I knew I could do it and I believed, so I’m just happy with my performance. ”

Walton next faces American Zachary Svajda, who defeated Alexei Popyrin.

Tsitsipas led 6-2, 3-0 against Alexandre Muller when Muller retired with a right calf injury. Britain’s Cameron Norrie retired after 79 minutes with a rib injury. French teenager Moïse Kouamé, born in 2008, won his first Grand Slam match, defeating Marin Cilic 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-1.