Daniil Medvedev, what have you been up to?

Rolland Garros 2026 records its first excellent elimination, that of the number 6 seed Daniil Medvedev. In fact, the Russian, eighth at the last update of the ATP rankings, was defeated in the first round by wild card Adam Walton, number 97 in the world rankings and in his third participation in the Paris Slam, where he had also reached the second round in 2025, beating, however, a certainly lesser-ranked opponent, Maximilian Marterer.

Under the sun of the French capital, Medvedev played in spurts, losing in five sets: 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 the partials of a match that lasted well over three hours and that the Russian never really managed to take hold of, always finding himself chasing without ever being able to finally complete the overtake.

It must be said that Medvedev at Roland Garros has never shined (his best result being the quarterfinal reached in 2021) and that even last year his adventure ended after only one match, although his opponent on that occasion was a loose cannon on the circuit like Cameron Norrie. Today’s result, however, leaves many fans and insiders baffled, as the Russian was in fairly good shape, fresh from his semifinal match in Rome against Jannik Sinner.

Today’s is Medvedev’s sixth elimination in the first round at Roland Garros: between 2017 and 2020 he lost to, in order, Benjamin Bonzi, Lucas Pouille, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Marton Fucsovics, in 2023 he succumbed to Thiago Seyboth Wild and two years later to Norrie. For Walton, however, his best result in a Slam has already been equaled: his next opponent will be American Zachary Svajda, number 85 on the circuit, who beat Alexei Popyrin 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5 in the first round.