Daniil Medvedev is out of a Grand Slam in the first round.
Again.
Medvedev’s rough stretch of major results continued with a French Open first-round loss to Adam Walton on Tuesday. Walton was a point away from going down by a double-break in the fifth set, but the world No. 97 recovered to stun the 2021 U.S. Open champion 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. This is the Russian’s sixth straight slam appearance in which he has failed to reach the quarterfinals. During this stretch, Medvedev has fallen in the first round four times and has advanced past the second round just once.
“I do feel like I was — and I do think I am still — usually good in Grand Slams,” the 29-year-old said during his post-match press conference. “Meaning, yes, I can lose even now (in the) first round, but I don’t think I lost the ability to perform in Grand Slams. “I do think it can come back (at) any moment — meaning at Wimbledon, for example. But, again, if we talk in general about all four Grand Slams compared to all four Grand Slams five years ago, the game is different in these Grand Slams — and I don’t think it suits me well.
“It’s very tough for me to get the rhythm going. (The) first round is the toughest one.”
Speaking of firsts, it was Walton’s maiden victory over a top-10 opponent. The Australian had beaten Medvedev once before (2025 Cincinnati Masters), but that was when Medvedev was No. 15 in the world. Until Tuesday, that had been Walton’s lone win over a top-20 player.
“I had the belief that I could definitely go out there and beat him,” the 27-year-old noted. “Obviously having done it in Cincinnati was a huge confidence booster. Yeah, to get a first top-10 win at a slam is pretty epic.”
Walton is joined in the round of 64 by Jan-Lennard Struff, who upset 2025 quarterfinalist Alexander Bublik 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-5. In addition to Bublik and Medvedev, other seeds who bowed out on Tuesday were Tallon Griekspoor, Cameron Norrie, and Corentin Moutet.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.