Roland-Garros: Qualifiers steal headlines as Kecmanovic and Medvedev both knocked out in epic matches

Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori reached the second round of Roland-Garros in incredible circumstances, rallying from two sets down to beat the 31st seed Miomir Kecmanovic, 5-7, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (9).

Vavassori, currently ranked 148th in the world, is playing in only his second ever main-draw Grand Slam at the age of 28. His win today marks the first time in his career that he has even reached the second round at a major.

Seismic Roland-Garros result

The result alone is a huge shock to the draw, but the manner in which the Italian staged this win was nothing short of astounding.

Having trailed by two sets to love to a seemingly cruising Kecmanovic, Vavassori began his remarkable comeback by clinching the third set on a tightly-contested tiebreak. The Italian then took the next two sets – also on tiebreaks – to win the match in 5 hours and 10 minutes, saving six match points in the process.

Vavassori commits to high-octane tennis in first Roland-Garros appearance

Vavassoir played high-risk, high-octane tennis throughout the match, hitting an astonishing 107 winners in total, compared to his Serbian opponent’s 57.

It was an approach that appeared to be a mistake after Kecmanovic clinched the first set and then breezed through the second, following an array of unforced errors from his opponent as Vavassori continued to go for his shots.

The Italian could have been forgiven for changing tactics, opting to draw Kecmanovic into longer rallies in an attempt to draw his opponent into mistakes, but Vavassori doubled down on his approach.

Eventually, it paid dividends, as he was able to harness his aggressive shot-making at the decisive moments in all three tiebreaks to clinch what is undoubtedly the win of his career.

Vavassori’s reward is a match against another fellow qualifier in Argentinian Genaro Alberto Olivieri in the second round.

For Kecmanovic, this defeat will be a difficult pill to swallow, as a promising path through the towards the second week of a Grand Slam has been snuffed out unexpectedly early.

Seyboth Wild sends shockwave through Roland-Garros

Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild caused another seismic shock in the men’s draw, knocking out the second seed Daniil Medvedev 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 with a simply stunning performance to move into the second round of Roland-Garros.

Ranked 172nd in the world, the little-know Brazilian frequently sent the crowd of Court Philippe-Chatrier into raptures with a sublime display of clay-court tennis at its finest.

Excluding walkovers, the last time the world No. 2 lost their opening match at Roland-Garros was all the way back in 2000, when Aussie Mark Philippoussis defeated Pete Sampras.

“I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career”, said Seyboth Wild in his on-court interview. “I’ve always dreamed of playing on this court and playing these kinds of players. In my best dreams, I’ve beaten them. So it’s a dream come true”.

This is a victory for the history books, no doubt. But more pertinently, it is a huge shock to this year’s Roland-Garros and significantly alters the landscape of the lower half of the men’s draw.

Regular service for rest of Roland-Garros men’s draw

There was no such trouble for the other seeds in the men’s draw, however.

Taylor Fritz and Grigor Dimitrov both made it through in straight sets over Mmoh and Skatov, respectively.

Rune and Ruusuvuori took a more scenic route, with Rune beating Eubanks in four sets, while the Ruusuvuori needed five – surviving a scare along the way – to get past home hope Barrere.

Paris (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Gael Monfils vs. Sebastian Baez
• Richard Gasquet vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• Quentin Halys vs. Guido Pella
• Timofey Skatov vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Michael Mmoh vs. Taylor Fritz
• Thiago Monteiro vs. Yannick Hanfmann
• Holger Rune vs. Christopher Eubanks: tuesday
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Jaume Munar: tuesday
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Gregoire Barrere: tuesday
• Thiago Seyboth Wild vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Alexander Bublik vs. Giulio Zeppieri: tuesday
• Alexander Zverev (22) beat Lloyd Harris: 7-6 (6), 7-6, 6-1
• Alex Molcan beat Hugo Gaston (WC): 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-4
• Max Purcell beat Jordan Thompson: 7-5, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
• Genaro Alberto Olivieri beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (WC): 7-6 (3), 4-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
• Yoshihito Nishioka (27) beat J.J. Wolf: 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3
• Casper Ruud (4) beat Elias Ymer (Q): 6-4, 6-3, 6-2
• Nicolas Jarry beat Hugo Dellien: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
• Tommy Paul (16) beat Dominic Stricker (LL): 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
• Jannik Sinner (8) beat Alexandre Muller: 6-1, 6-4, 6-1
• Luca Van Assche beat Marco Cecchinato: 6-1, 6-1, 6-3
• Zhizhen Zhang beat Dusan Lajovic: 6-1, 4-1 ret.
• Frances Tiafoe (12) beat Filip Krajinovic: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2
• Daniel Altmaier beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Flavio Cobolli (Q): 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
• Jiri Lehecka beat Jan-Lennard Struff (21): 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (29) beat Arthur Fils (WC): 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Marcos Giron beat Hamad Medjedovic (Q): 6-0, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0
• Pedro Cachin beat Dominic Thiem: 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (1), 4-6, 6-2
• Borna Coric (15) beat Federico Coria: 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3
• Thiago Agustin Tirante beat Botic van de Zandschulp (25): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Novak Djokovic (3) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic: 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1)
• Taro Daniel beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
• Stan Wawrinka beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas: 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 1-6, 6-4
• Fabio Fognini beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (10): 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
• Roberto Bautista Agut (19) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1
• Aslan Karatsev (Q) beat Alexei Popyrin: 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Jack Draper: 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Alex De Minaur (18) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Juan Pablo Varillas beat Juncheng Shang (Q): 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
• Diego Schwartzman beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles (32): 1-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4
• Cameron Norrie (14) beat Benoit Paire (WC): 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3
• Lucas Pouille (Q) beat Jurij Rodionov (LL): 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
• Ugo Humbert beat Adrian Mannarino: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Alexander Shevchenko beat Oscar Otte: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Ben Shelton (30): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Laslo Djere: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Corentin Moutet beat Arthur Cazaux (WC): 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Mikael Ymer: 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Emilio Nava (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
• Sebastian Korda (24) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
• Nuno Borges beat John Isner: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (9)
• Jason Kubler beat Facundo Diaz Acosta (LL): 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Jiri Vesely: 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
• Marton Fucsovics beat Hugo Grenier (WC): 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC) beat Daniel Evans (20): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Radu Albot (Q) beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
• Karen Khachanov (11) beat Constant Lestienne: 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (13) beat David Goffin: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Pedro Martinez (Q): 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Maxime Cressy: 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2

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