Medvedev eliminated early after a true marathon at Roland-Garros

Medvedev faced Norrie on the Simonne-Mathieu court for his opening match at Roland-Garros. The Russian, who has had a difficult start to the season, has dropped to 11th place in the world rankings.

While leading 5-3 in the first set, Medvedev experienced a huge drop in form, conceding 9 games in a row to the Briton. Clearly frustrated, the Russian showed his annoyance to his team with gestures of anger. The ordeal didn’t stop there, as Norrie took the second set as well. Gradually, Medvedev fought his way back into the match, taking advantage of his opponent's lack of opportunism in crucial moments (0/3 break points). He narrowed the gap to one set behind and then equalized with a decisive 6-1. The 29-year-old player had lost only one point up to 5-0 in this fourth set.

Although the match seemed to turn in favor of the Russian, who was leading, Medvedev failed to maintain his break lead in the fifth set, seeing the Briton equalize at 5-5 while he was serving for the match. Norrie continued his momentum by breaking his opponent to win this battle in five sets after almost 4 hours of play. Both players engaged in a genuine tug-of-war from the baseline throughout the entire encounter.

Medvedev was still looking to get past the quarterfinal stage at Roland-Garros and succumbed once again in the first round since 2023. Norrie, on the other hand, delivered a standout performance to secure this victory with grit. Ranked 81st in the world, he was coming off a lost semifinal in Geneva against Djokovic in three sets (6-4, 6-7, 6-1). He will face the Argentine Gomez (ranked 144th) in the next round.