Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of the French Open after losing a fifth-set lead on day three at Roland-Garros, a result that came amid a sweltering afternoon and one of the most volatile matches of the tournament so far. The 30-year-old had moved in front by a break in the deciding set, only to see wildcard Adam Walton rip the match away in a contest full of swings.
Walton called the victory huge for him, and it carried extra weight because he had already beaten Medvedev in Cincinnati before arriving in Paris. He said that after that win he knew he could do it again, even when his opponent was striking the ball well. Walton also pointed to the conditions, saying he grew up in the heat and that the speed through the air suits him.
The result mattered because it stripped one of the draw’s marquee names from the men’s side and added another layer to the questions around Medvedev’s clay-court future. He was in position to close it out, then let the match slip, a pattern that will sharpen the pressure on how he approaches the surface going forward.
There was history elsewhere on the day. Moïse Kouamé, a 17-year-old Frenchman, became the youngest male player to win a Grand Slam singles match since 2009, giving the home crowd a rare lift on a boiling afternoon. Aryna Sabalenka moved on in straight sets, while Coco Gauff was next on Chatrier against Taylor Townsend as the women’s draw continued to take shape. Stefanos Tsitsipas led Alexandre Muller 6-3, 3-0 when Muller retired, María Sakkari beat Noskova and was set to meet Liu or Uchijima next, and Laura Siegemund was next to play Naomi Osaka on Lenglen.
The day also reinforced how quickly the French Open draw can tilt from expected to unsettled. Osaka, who lost a tight match to Iga Swiatek in 2024 that she believed she should have won, was back in the spotlight as the schedule kept rolling, while British hopes were also under scrutiny with Raducanu due to meet Solana Sierra in another test of the bracket. In Paris, heat, momentum and nerves all seemed to be deciding matches at once, and Walton was the latest to turn that pressure into a signature win.
