PARIS — Australian wildcard Adam Walton knocked out sixth seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round of the French Open 2026 on Tuesday, winning a five-set thriller 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 in three hours and 22 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. The result is the biggest upset of the early rounds at Roland Garros 2026, handing Medvedev his seventh first-round defeat in ten appearances at the tournament.
Walton, ranked 97th in the world and playing on a wildcard, secured his first career win against a top-10 player at a Grand Slam. Medvedev, the world No. 8 and a former world No. 1, extends his record to 0-4 in five-setters on the Paris clay, as reported.
Medvedev took the opening set 6-2 with controlled baseline aggression but Walton reset immediately and dominated the second 6-1. The momentum swung set by set through the third and fourth before a taut decider as temperatures in Paris climbed to at least 32 degrees Celsius for a third consecutive day. In the fifth, Medvedev broke for a 2-1 lead but could not hold it. Walton won four of the next five games, sealing the match when Medvedev produced four consecutive errors on serve, including a double fault, to hand the Australian the decisive break.
“I’m pretty tired right now,” Walton told the crowd after the match. “It was such an up-and-down match. I got off to a hot start, and I felt like the ebbs and flows were quite large today. I’m just really proud of my efforts in the fifth set, to come from a break down to get the win.”
The Australian also reflected on the fifth-set deficit. “I knew I just had to hang tough. I thought if I go down 1-4 with a double break, it’s going to be pretty tough. So getting that hold and keeping the score close, I knew if I just kept fighting maybe I would get a chance.”
The Paris heat was a decisive factor. With clay drying out faster than usual under the intense sun, net-rushing became a viable option more commonly associated with hard and grass courts. Medvedev, whose game relies on grinding baseline exchanges and heavy topspin, never found a consistent rhythm on the slower surface in the conditions.
The stats told the full story of Medvedev’s collapse. Despite outhitting Walton by 54 winners to 34, Medvedev racked up 54 unforced errors across the match. His first-serve percentage dropped at critical moments in the fourth and fifth sets, handing Walton break opportunities that the Australian converted with increasing efficiency, per the official Roland Garros match report.
For Walton, the victory adds to a growing head-to-head record against Medvedev, now 2-1 in the pair’s series. The 26-year-old Queensland native also upset a then-No. 15-ranked Medvedev at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. He had never reached the third round at any Grand Slam before Roland Garros 2026. “Having done it in Cincinnati was a huge confidence booster,” Walton said. “To get a first top-10 win at a Slam is pretty epic.”
Medvedev’s Roland Garros record is now one of the most lopsided in recent Grand Slam history for a player of his calibre. He has lost in the first round in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2025, and 2026 — seven exits in ten appearances. His best result at the tournament remains a quarterfinal in 2021. The contrast with his hard-court record, which includes a US Open title and multiple Grand Slam finals, is stark. His clay-court vulnerabilities were also on display during his Rome campaign earlier this season, where he pushed Jannik Sinner before ultimately falling short.
Medvedev addressed the defeat in his post-match press conference without deflecting. “I know why I don’t really play my best in Roland Garros, but if I say it, it’s excuses,” he told reporters. “So I keep it to myself.”
Walton now faces American Zachary Svajda in the second round, with a potential third-round meeting against either Francisco Cerundolo or Hugo Gaston beyond that. With the men’s draw already reshaped by Medvedev’s early exit and Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal before the tournament began, the top half has opened considerably. The shifting contender landscape heading into the second week was outlined in French Open 2026 draw analysis published before play began.
Medvedev is the biggest seed to fall in the opening round at Roland Garros 2026. His exit sends the Russian home with another first-round loss in Paris and leaves the field without one of its highest-seeded names just two days into the fortnight.
