Daniil Medvedev Crashes Out of 2026 French Open in First Round as Wife Tells Him to ‘Behave’ During Five-Set Loss to Adam Walton

Daniil Medvedev’s difficult relationship with Roland Garros has deepened further after the sixth seed was eliminated in the first round of the 2026 French Open, beaten 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 by Adam Walton, a 97th-ranked Australian wildcard, on Court Simone-Mathieu on Tuesday.

The defeat extends a troubling record for the former world No 1 at the Paris clay-court Grand Slam. Medvedev has now lost in the first round on seven of his ten appearances at Roland Garros — a statistic that stands in stark contrast to his dominance on hard courts, where he claimed the 2021 US Open title and reached the summit of the world rankings.

The conditions on the day were oppressive, with high temperatures in Paris adding to the physical demands of a five-set contest. Medvedev’s frustration with the heat became audible early in the match, prompting an intervention from his wife, Daria Medvedeva, who was watching from the players’ box. “It’s hot for everybody. Everybody is suffering. You need to behave!” she was heard telling the 30-year-old. Medvedev responded: “When I start finding the court I’ll start to behave.”

Beyond the personal exchange, the match statistics told their own story. Medvedev committed 60 unforced errors across the five sets and was broken six times on his own serve. Despite generating 21 break point opportunities on Walton’s delivery games, he converted only five — a conversion rate of under 24% that ultimately proved decisive in a match that see-sawed dramatically before the Australian closed it out.

Former world No 2 and two-time French Open finalist Alex Corretja, analysing the match in the TNT Sports studio, offered perspective on Medvedev’s visible on-court struggles. “Well, it’s funny… Daniil needs that,” Corretja said. “He needs these kinds of conversations. Sometimes, he doesn’t even think what he’s saying. Sometimes, you say things, remember [Carlos Alcaraz] saying in Miami, ‘I want to go home, I’m tired’, and everybody went nuts, saying, ‘what’s going on, you can’t say that’. Sometimes, you can say things to relieve a little bit of the stress you’re feeling.”

Tim Henman, the former world No 4 and British Davis Cup captain, also reacted to the result on TNT Sports and Eurosport, framing the victory as a career-defining moment for Walton. “That’s the result of his life, I think. On a massive stage at Roland Garros, taking out a Grand Slam champion, former world No 1. Admittedly, clay isn’t Medvedev’s best surface. He had so many chances, there were some epic rallies. To finish it off in five on a day like today, full credit to the Aussie.”

Henman also acknowledged that Medvedev had arrived at Roland Garros in reasonable form, having reached the semi-finals at the Italian Open in Rome in the lead-up to the tournament. A dip in ranking towards the end of 2025 prompted a change in coaching personnel, and his results had reportedly shown signs of improvement in recent months. “He’s been top 10 for a long time, his ranking did drop at the end of last year, but he has a new coaching team,” Henman said. “His form has been improving, an upward trajectory, but this record at Roland Garros is not one he’s going to be proud of.”

For Walton, the victory represents the most significant win of his career to date. Entering as a wildcard and ranked outside the top 90, he becomes one of the more notable first-round upsets at Roland Garros in recent years. Medvedev, meanwhile, will now turn his attention to the grass-court season, a surface on which he reached the Wimbledon final in 2023.