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Daniil Medvedev was quick to credit his opponent, Thiago Seyboth Wild, after losing in the first round at Roland Garros.

“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 bad, but he played well,” Medvedev said. “The thing is that it's always the same. If he continues to play that way, my opinion, end of the year, he's Top 30. But 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.

“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?’”

Medvedev appeared to take control when he won the third set 6-2 to earn a two-sets-to-one advantage. But Seyboth Wild controlled many of the baseline exchanges, hitting 69 winners to triumph after five sets across four hours and 15 minutes.

“I think I was fighting well. Physically I was not feeling that bad. I mean, I'm a little bit tired now, but also when you lose your body goes down faster. If I would win I would not feel that tired,” Medvedev said. “Mentally I was fighting. I was fighting. The last game, brought it back to 30-All, guy makes two winners, okay, whatever. Hopefully [I] can make it next time.

Holger Rune showed his clay-court pedigree on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where he battled to defeat American Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-2 in his opening match.

The 20-year-old Dane was pushed hard throughout the opening three sets against Eubanks, before he raced clear in the fourth to earn victory after two hours and 50 minutes.

The American came out swinging and stepped forward at every opportunity to force Rune back. The sixth seed did not succumb to the pressure, though, maintaining a high level to clinch his 28th win of the season.

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Rune became the first Danish man to reach the quarter-finals in Paris in 2022 when he advanced to the last eight on tournament debut. The sixth seed arrives at this year’s clay-court major in red-hot form, having reached ATP Masters 1000 finals in Monte-Carlo and Rome and triumphed in Munich.

More than five hours. Five match points saved. Years of hard work. On Tuesday afternoon at Roland Garros, 28-year-old Andrea Vavassori earned his moment in the sun.

The Italian qualifier rallied from two sets down to stun 31st seed Miomir Kecmanovic 5-7, 2-6, 7-6(8), 7-6(3), 7-6(11-9) for a place in the second round in Paris. It is his first main draw win at a major.

Entering the match, Vavassori had won just two tour-level singles tie-breaks in his career. But he claimed three in a row to advance on the terre battue.

In the second round, the No. 148 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings will face an opponent ranked lower than him in No. 231 Genaro Alberto Olivieri, who had never played a tour-level match before Tuesday, when he ousted #NextGenATP Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

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Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild earned the biggest win of his career Tuesday when he stunned World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in a five-set thriller at Roland Garros.

Seyboth Wild was making his debut in Paris but showed little sign of nerves on Court Philippe Chatrier, swinging freely throughout the four-hour, 15-minute clash to upset the second seed 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"I have watched Daniil play for my entire junior career, up until today. Playing on this court against this kind of player and beating him is a dream come true," Seyboth Wild said. "Walking on court I just wanted to get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand against his and it worked pretty well."

The World No. 172 clubbed 69 winners and recovered from squandering two set points in the second-set tie-break, raising his level again in the latter stages of the first-round clash to seal his maiden main-draw major win.

Seyboth Wild, who has won two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year, was competing in his first tour-level match this season. He will look to back up his dream win against Medvedev when he plays Frenchman Quentin Halys or Guido Pella in the second round.

Last year’s Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud is up and running at the clay-court major in 2023, dispatching Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round for the sixth consecutive season.

The fourth seed, who lost against Rafael Nadal in the title match 12 months ago, quickly found his range on his return to Paris. The Norwegian hit freely on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, outmanoeuvring World No. 155 Ymer with his mixture of spins to advance after two hours and seven minutes.

"It was tough. The first match back here since one of the best tournament's of my life, you have to try to defend what you did last year, so I was a bit nervous at times," Ruud said in his on-court interview. "But I managed to calm down and as the match went on I felt a little better. I had to stay focused all the way and I am very happy happy to be through in straight sets."

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Ruud struck 28 winners compared to 17 from Ymer, while he broke the Swede’s serve eight times to earn his 14th win at Roland Garros.

Dominic Thiem is eager to continue his return to form despite a tough five-set loss to Pedro Cachin on Monday in the first round at Roland Garros.

More than a year ago Thiem began his comeback from a wrist injury against Cachin. The Austrian believes he is in a much better place now.

“There's no comparison. Back then I was not ready to play. I shouldn't have even played. Today I was definitely ready to play, to fight. That's what I did obviously,” Thiem said. “I didn't start well at all. How should I say, I was very tight. What I was expecting, I had very, very good practice sets. but most of the times in the first real match it's not that easy, and that's what happened.

“I was fighting back great, starting to play a bit better. And then, yeah, I missed to do the last step, to reward myself, to give myself a chance to play a second round maybe a little bit looser. I was not able to do it.”

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Jannik Sinner was ruthlessly efficient in his first-round win at Roland Garros on Monday evening.

The Italian cruised past home favourite Alexandre Muller 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the second round at the clay-court major for the fourth straight year. Sinner has never fallen short of the fourth round in three previous appearances in Paris.

The eighth seed hit 30 winners and saved the two break points he faced to defeat Muller on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Next up will be German Daniel Altmaier, who eliminated Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

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Sinner will be plenty familiar with Altmaier, who at last year's US Open pushed him to five sets in a three-hour, 35-minute tussle. The Italian will try to keep his opponent's aggressive one-handed backhand at bay.

The first round reaches its climax on Tuesday at Roland Garros, where second seed Daniil Medvedev, the in-form Holger Rune and 2022 semi-finalist Alexander Zverev all begin their campaigns in the singles draw at the clay-court major.

ATPTour.com breaks down some of the standout matches on the Day 3 schedule in Paris.

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[6] Holger Rune (DEN) vs. Christopher Eubanks (USA)

Holger Rune announced himself on the Grand Slam stage last year at Roland Garros, where the then-19-year-old took out Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the quarter-finals on event debut. Rune returns as the sixth seed, a four-time ATP Tour champion, and one of the in-form players on the ATP Tour.

A 13-3 record across the European clay season suggests the Dane is primed for another deep Roland Garros run, but he faces an unfamiliar challenge first up in Christopher Eubanks. It will be Rune’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting with the American, who will step on Court Simonne-Mathieu at a career-high No. 74 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Daniil Medvedev has made no secret about his surface preference. The 27-year-old likes hard courts the most and it is not particularly close.

But entering Roland Garros, he is enjoying more success than ever on clay. Seeded second in Paris, Medvedev is fresh off winning a clay-court ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome, where he had never previously won a match.

"Friendship. I don't think I love it," Medvedev said after defeating Holger Rune in the final, cracking a laugh. "I love hard courts, my only love in tennis. But I definitely like clay courts much more now."

According to Insights provided by Tennis Data Innovations, Medvedev's performance on clay this year has been close to his level on his beloved hard courts.

Medvedev Insights: Hard vs Clay

Carlos Alcaraz wasted little time getting his Roland Garros title quest underway on Monday when he raced past #NextGenATP Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the second round.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz is the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time and the youngest in Paris since a then-19-year-old Bjorn Borg in 1976. The Spaniard showed little sign of nerves in his opening match, though, timing his clean groundstrokes perfectly to overpower the 21-year-old qualifier Cobolli in the baseline exchanges.

"It is great to play here. It is my first time on Suzanne-Lenglen and I enjoyed playing here," Alcaraz said. "There was such great energy from the crowd and I came out with a great level."

The shot, the reaction, EVERYTHING ?@carlosalcaraz | @rolandgarros | #RolandGarros

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Alcaraz showed off his variety on Court Suzanne-Lenglen by repeatedly pulling Cobolli around with the drop shot, while he survived an attacking bombardment from the 21-year-old in the third set. The World No. 1 recovered from failing to serve out the match at 5-4, soaking up pressure to immediately break Cobolli's serve before advancing on his fifth match point.

It may have lasted less than two sets, but Alexander Zverev’s Roland Garros semi-final against Rafael Nadal still went down as one of the most gripping matches of 2022.

The Court Philippe Chatrier crowd had witnessed three hours and 13 minutes of absorbing action when Zverev badly rolled his right ankle and was forced to retire in agony when trailing 6-7(8), 6-6. It was an unfortunate end to the German's bold attempt to become just the fourth player to defeat ATP Tour great Nadal at Roland Garros.

“I went into that match, and I had the belief that I can compete, and played with it,” Zverev told ATPTour.com last month. “That match was starting to get better and better, and my tennis started to get better and better, so it was a bit of an unfortunate time for me to get injured because I really felt like I was on top of my game.”

Zverev had come out firing in his bid to notch a first Grand Slam victory against Nadal. He led 4-2 in the first set before being pegged back by the Spaniard, who was chasing a record-extending 14th title at the clay-court Grand Slam. Even after letting slip four set points from 6/2 in the tie-break en route to losing the first set, the then-World No. 3 Zverev continued to dictate rallies with his heavy groundstrokes in humid conditions under the Court Philippe Chatrier roof.

“I was playing extremely well,” recalled Zverev. "I felt the ball from both sides, I was playing aggressive. It's tough to pick one [specific] thing [I did well], but I think we were both at the top of our game.

Felix Auger-Aliassime revealed he was struggling physically before his straight-sets loss to Fabio Fognini on Monday in the first round at Roland Garros.

“I got a bit sick last night, didn't really sleep,” Auger-Aliassime said. “Yeah, sick all night. That's just a reality.”

The Canadian warmed up for the match and tried to put himself in the best position to perform, but was unable to find his best against the Italian veteran, a former Top 10 player.

“After one set [I was] just cramping and just [could not] move anymore. So, yeah, I don't know,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I wasn't sure whether I should keep going or give myself a shot or if I should stop. It was a difficult time, but it's okay. I just need to get healthy again.”

Auger-Aliassime also admitted that his shoulder was feeling “very average”. The No. 10 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is eager to take care of the physical side of things.

Stan Wawrinka’s champion’s spirit came to the fore on Monday at Roland Garros.

The 2015 champion narrowly avoided a second consecutive first-round exit at the clay-court major when he battled past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-7(2), 1-6, 6-4. The Swiss needed four hours and 35 minutes to take an 8-0 ATP Head2Head series lead against the lefty.

It was the 38-year-old’s 30th five-set victory (30-25). According to Infosys ATP Stats, the only active players with more five-set wins are Novak Djokovic (37-10) and Marin Cilic (34-20).

When Ramos-Vinolas missed a final backhand long, the Court 14 crowd rose in unison to roar in celebration. Wawrinka pointed his left index finger towards his temple to signify that he had found a way through another difficult battle.

The Swiss only converted four of the 17 break points he earned, but his 76 winners were enough to advance to the second round. He will next play Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, who ousted 20th seed Daniel Evans in straight sets on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic made an imperious start to his bid for a record 23rd major crown on Monday at Roland Garros, where the Serbian dispatched Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(1) on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Kovacevic made a confident start to his Grand Slam main draw debut, but he was unable to hold his illustrious opponent back after Djokovic claimed the first break of the match in the sixth game. Despite a third-set turnaround in which the American rallied from 3-5 to force a tie-break, Djokovic held firm to complete a first-round win in which he converted five of his 12 break points and struck 41 winners to Kovacevic’s 25.

The World No. 114 Kovacevic, who idolised Djokovic as a child and posed for a picture with the Serbian as a seven-year-old at the 2005 US Open, showed flashes of his best level throughout the two-hour, 26-minute encounter. Yet he was unable to match the consistency of Djokovic from the baseline and had no answer to the third seed’s razor-sharp returning.

Despite an uncharacteristic lapse from Djokovic in the third set, the World No. 3 otherwise maintained a high level throughout his victory. He struck his groundstrokes cleanly off both wings and won 82 per cent (37/45) of points behind his first serve in the match.

A two-time Roland Garros champion, Djokovic can move ahead of Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam titles race with his second major triumph of the season in Paris (he also triumphed at January’s Australian Open). His next challenge in the French capital is a second-round clash with World No. 83 Marton Fucsovics.

Cameron Norrie earned a dramatic first-round win on Monday at Roland Garros, where he clawed past Frenchman Benoit Paire in a five-set thriller.

The British lefty fought hard throughout the three-hour, 36-minute clash, triumphing 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

The 14th seed showed great agility to handle Paire’s court craft and he rallied from 2-4 in the fifth set, demonstrating his high fitness levels to defeat former World No. 18 Paire, who was backed by vocal home support on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

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Norrie is into the second round at the clay-court Slam for the third consecutive year, having advanced to the third round in 2021 and 2022. The 27-year-old is currently 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and will be aiming for a deep run in Paris to climb higher.

Arthur Fils and Nicolas Jarry have both climbed to career highs in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after triumphing at ATP 250 events in Lyon and Geneva, respectively. ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week as of Monday, 29 May 2023.

View Pepperstone ATP Rankings

[ATP APP]

No. 63 Arthur Fils, +49 (Career High)
The 18-year-old Frenchman has cracked the Top 100 for the first time after he became the youngest tour-level champion of the season when he won his maiden title at the Open Parce Aurvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon. The #NextGenATP star defeated Francisco Cerundolo in the final to become the third first-time winner of the year and the lowest-ranked champion in 2023. Fils and countryman Luca Van Assche, 19, are the only teenagers inside the Top 100.

No. 35 Nicolas Jarry, +19 (Carrer High)
The Chilean continued his impressive season at the Gonet Geneva Open, where he lifted his second title of the season. The 27-year-old defeated former champions Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud en route to the final, before he beat Grigor Dimitrov in the final. He is up 19 spots to a career-high No. 35.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and two-time champion Novak Djokovic kick off their Roland Garros campaign on a jam-packed Monday in Paris, where Jannik Sinner, Frances Tiafoe, and Cameron Norrie are also among the seeded players in action.

ATPTour.com previews three key matches on Day 2 of the clay-court major.

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[1] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) vs. [Q] Flavio Cobolli (ITA)

The top seed Alcaraz, who boasts a 30-3 season record, begins his quest for a second major title against a confident Cobolli, who advanced through qualifying en route to his maiden Grand Slam main draw appearance. Alcaraz on Monday will play his first match at a major since winning the 2022 US Open (withdrew from the Australian Open with a right leg injury).

A quarter-finalist last year in Paris, Alcaraz has shown his best level on the clay this season, collecting three of his four 2023 titles on the surface. When asked in his pre-tournament press conference how his game differs from a year ago, Alcaraz stated his improvements have been on the mental side of the game.

This year’s Roland Garros is proving a renaissance for Lucas Pouille.

No. 675 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the Frenchman entered the tournament far from the level with which he once cracked the world’s Top 10. But inspired by his home crowd, the 29-year-old has shown he has plenty of top-level tennis left in him.

Pouille defeated Austrian lucky loser Jurij Rodionov 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to reach the second round. The Frenchman is the lowest-ranked player to win a first-round match at Roland Garros since World No. 762 Pablo Cuevas in 2013.

Pouille qualified for the main draw on Thursday when he rallied past Rodionov. The Austrian was given a second chance to oust the home favourite when he moved into the draw as a lucky loser, but was unable to overcome the five-time ATP Tour titlist.

After the 2019 Australian Open semi-finalist sealed his victory in one hour and 56 minutes, he sang La Marseillaise in unison with the crowd. The moment will be one of the most memorable of the tournament.

On 8 June 2003, Juan Carlos Ferrero beat Martin Verkerk to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires at Roland Garros, in what was one of the highlights of his career. Twenty years later, the former World No. 1 is back at the season’s second major on the bench of one of the favourites for the title in Paris.

On Monday, Carlos Alcaraz will play his first-round match against Flavio Cobolli of Italy with the peace of mind knowing that his coach has already been there and done that in Paris.

“During the pandemic he watched a bit of the final,” said Ferrero of Alcaraz and his Roland Garros championship match. “Kids today are much more about highlights than entire matches. We joke a lot, and he tells me that I didn’t used to hit the ball very hard. At the end of the day, I try to get him to see the body language, the mannerisms and the way to handle moments in that kind of match.”

Alcaraz arrives at Roland Garros as the first seed, and with something of a target on his back as the man to beat on clay. Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud, for example, were quick to name the Spaniard as the man most likely to get his hands on the trophy come the competition’s closing Sunday.

“Carlos has played better than anyone during the clay season, but you have to do that every day at every tournament, as I tell him,” revealed Ferrero. “We saw that in Rome; you have an average day, your opponent plays well and you lose. Everything points to Carlos as the favourite, we’ve heard it many times and we know that.”

Could Roland Garros be where Andrey Rublev makes his breakthrough at a major?

The seventh seed made a good start on Sunday when he defeated Laslo Djere 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round. The 25-year-old hit 37 winners to move on after two hours and 32 minutes.

Rublev appeared in difficulty when Djere moved ahead by a service break in the third set, level at one set apiece. But the 13-time ATP Tour titlist buckled down from there to avoid a second first-round exit at the clay-court major in three years.

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His confidence is as high as ever. Earlier this clay swing, Rublev captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo and reached the final at the ATP 250 event in Banja Luka.