Story of the match
Last year, Seyboth Wild—then ranked No.172—had his own high-profile opening victory at Roland-Garros, as he came through qualifying and upset then-world No.2 Daniil Medvedev in a five-set first-round match on Chatrier—making him the lowest-ranked man to upset a top 2 player at a Grand Slam in more than two decades.
But there was no headline-grabbing reprise for the 2018 Roland-Garros boys’ singles semi-finalist a year later.
Monfils broke serve to start the match, and only dropped five points on his delivery in the first set. However, the 58th-ranked Brazilian had no ideas of letting the same thing happen after dropping serve to start the second set—and four straight games helped him on the road to knotting the action at one set apiece after little more than a quick-paced hour on court.
He even led by a break in the third set as he battled to score his first match win at a Grand Slam since his eventual third-round effort last year.
But more Monfils magic soon came: down 2-0, the Frenchman ran off five straight games to turn the third set around, and despite failing to convert four break points in the first game of the fourth set, secured the match’s decisive break in a seventh game that Seyboth Wild had two chances to win.