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Australia’s Adam Walton has taken out world no. 8 Daniil Medvedev in a roller coaster of a match.
Walton took the match 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 after coming back from 2-4 down in the fifth set.
For Medvedev it is yet another round one loss at Roland Garros, he has now lost seven times from 10 appearances in Paris.
Walton with this win claimed his first top-10 victory.
The Australian now holds a 2-1 head-to-head record over Medvedev. Walton defeated Medvedev in the 2025 Cicinnati Masters before Walton went down in a tight match in Almaty.
Just a few weeks ago we saw Medvedev push Jannik Sinner to three sets in the Rome Masters semifinal.
It was the Australian that got off to a fast start with Medvedev hitting long at 15-30 to give Walton the first break point opportunity. A short return from Walton saw Medvedev move to the net where he put away a volley.
The former world no. 1 would hold that game and then the third for a 2-1 lead.
After that it was all Walton in the opening set.
The match took a big turn in the second set with Medvedev racing through to take it 6-1.
During the set break Walton had some tape applied to his left hand.
Most people would have now expected Medvedev power his way through the match but it wasn’t to be. We saw another one-sided set with Walton taking in 6-1.
Walton had got the break in game two after a drop-shot from Medvedev was matched by another drop shot. Medvedev just pushed the short ball down the line and Walton stepped in to fire a passing shot for the break.
The world no. 74 consolidated the break to go ahead 3-0. Another break and hold and it was 5-0.
Medvedev would hold to love for 1-5 however another service hold for Walton and the set was in the bag for the Aussie.
After a service hold in the opening game of the fourth set, Medvedev would hit a winner to get a look at a break point, despite some great defence from the Russian, Walton saved the break point.
Walton got to a drop shot, but then hit long to give another break point opportunity. Medvedev did everything right until he had an easy overhead to hit, he hit it into the net.
The no. 6 seed would finally break after a marathon game. After letting a 40-0 lead slip, Medvedev would finally win the third game from Ad to take a 3-0 lead.
After another marathon game in which Medvedev broke it was 4-0. It was soon 5-0.
Walton managed to get an easy service hold before Medvedev served out the set to take the match into a fifth set.
The first two games went with serve before a loose game from Walton saw him broken to love. Medvedev held for 3-1.
Walton looked in trouble again at 0-30 in the fifth game, then 30-40. A return into the net from Medvedev on a second serve saw Walton back at deuce.
A great down-the-line passing shot from Medvedev gave him another break point. Walton would save it. The Australian would hold for Medvedev to serve at 3-2. A hold and it was 4-2 for the Russian.
Walton could be excused from just seeing the match slip away but he had other ideas.
A good drop shot came to open the seventh game, another one on the second point was chased down by the Russian, but he popped it up for Walton to volley away for a winner.
A huge forehand winner from Walton saw him put Medvedev on notice. He would hold to get to 4-3 with the Russian serving.
Two unforced errors from Medvedev saw Walton jump out to 0-30. A volley from Medvedev forced an error but then a missed drop shot gave Walton 15-40. One break point was saved before a great rally from the Australian saw him break back for 4-4.
Walton held to put the pressure on his opponent, although he did offer up a break point after hitting long on one of the deuce points.
Medvedev had another opportunity to break but Walton held his nerve and hit a smash just near the sideline to save that break point.
Walton was struggling to close out the game, and Medvedev had his third break point. The Russian let Walton off the hook when hitting well over the baseline.
A good wide serve forced an error from the Russian before a poorly placed drop shot from Medvedev saw the Australian easily get to the ball for a down-the-line winner.
The opening point saw Medvedev dump an attempted drop shot into the net. On the next point he smashed the ball into the net to be down 0-30. A costly miss.
A double-fault compounded the error, it was triple match point. It took just one when Medvedev hit a drive volley long.
“I really like it when it’s hot in Paris,” an elated Walton told the crowd.
“I had the belief that I could definitely go out there and beat him,” said Walton, who also defeated Medvedev last year. “Obviously having done it in Cincinnati was a huge confidence booster – to get a first top-10 win at a Slam is pretty epic.”
Next up for Walton is world no. 85 Zachary Svajda from the USA.