Elite sport is quite often a humbling experience. The latest example that can be cited is the shocking defeat that the world number 2 Daniil Medvedev suffered against Thiago Seyboth Wild. While it is true that the Russian tennis star does particularly like the clay season, to be counted among the world's best sporting stars, one has to conquer territories not necessarily where one enjoys playing but also those which put forth a different challenge. After the loss to the Brazilian qualifier though, Medvedev was quick to credit his opponent Thiago Seyboth Wild and said that he would be thinking about the defeat for a week.
Contrary to Medvedev who was one of the bigger names from the international tennis circuit, Seyboth Wild was making his debut at the Roland Garros but apeared confident and did not let the occasion get the better of him. He played some commanding tennis at the Court Philippe Chatrier to upset the second seed of the Grand slam tournament 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a contest that lasted four-hour and 15 minutes.
"Tough match. I don’t know. I’m not going to look at it back on TV but my feeling was that he played well. I don’t think I played that badly, but he played well. The thing is that it’s always the same. If he continues to play that way, in my opinion, end of the year, he’s Top 30. But the last time I said something like this about someone, he didn’t manage to do it. But great for him to play like this today," ATP.com quoted Medvedev as saying.
"For sure I’m really disappointed," the 27-year-old added. "I’m gonna be thinking about this match for a week, but for the moment I don’t see anything wrong I did," he said.
"I honestly hope he’s going to play like this later on, because if not, I’m going to be disappointed. I’m going to be like, ‘Why today? Why not in two days?'" he said.