Clay Crash: Medvedev Falls to Walton in 7th Roland Garros First-Round Loss
By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Photo credit: Robert Prange/Getty
Formula 1 fan Daniil Medvedev ran into a roadblock in another Roland Garros crash.
Aussie Adam Walton reeled off four games in a row rallying from 2-4 down in the decider to surprise the sixth-seeded Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 for his first career Top 10 triumph.
The French Open first round is again the final stop for Medvedev, who failed to survive his Roland Garros opener for the seventh time in 10 tournament appearances. After his first-round departure, Medvedev conceded he’s not an early riser.
“Every tournament has a different court, different balls, different… What else? I mean, I can be different every day,” Medvedev said. “I don’t like to stand up early, and I’m usually less performative when I stand up at 6:15 in the morning. I like to sleep in.
“So this is just part of small, in general, let’s say, in tennis you need to adapt to the things, and sometimes I’m not good enough to adapt to it, and sometimes I am. That’s basically all I can tell you.”
It was Medvedev’s fourth major first-round exit in his last five Grand Slam appearances, including a 7-5 in the fifth set loss to Cameron Norrie in Paris last summer followed by successive Slam losses to Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi at Wimbledon and the US Open.
So why is Medvedev, who won his second title of the year in Dubai and backed it up with a run to the Indian Wells final, so vulnerable in major openers now?
“I do think I am still usually good in Grand Slams, meaning yes, I can lose, even now first round,” Medvedev said. “But I don’t think, if I might say, I lost the ability to perform in Grand Slams. So I do think it can come back any moment, meaning at Wimbledon, for example.
“But again, if we talk in general about all four Grand Slams, I think if we compared all four Grand Slams to five years ago, the game is different in these Grand Slams, and I don’t think it suits me well. So it’s very tough for me to get the rhythm going. First round is the toughest one, and once I get through it, maybe I can do better.”
Wild card Walton, who arrived in Paris with one clay-court win on the season, beat Medvedev for the second time in a row following his 6-7(0), 6-4, 6-1 triumph on the hard courts of the Cincinnati Open last August.
This defeat will surely sting the former world No. 1, who pushed current No. 1 Jannik Sinner to three punishing sets in the Rome semifinals earlier this month and had expressed higher hopes for the clay-court Grand Slam that has become his personal sink hole.
On a blistering hot day, quick conditions proved problematic for the former US Open champion.
The flat-hitting Medvedev sometimes struggled to control his drives that sailed long. Medvedev, who suffered a double-bagel clay-court loss to Matteo Berrettini in Monte-Carlo last month, broke at love for a 2-1 fifth-set lead today.
The 2021 Roland Garros quarterfinalist extended his lead to 4-2, but Walton kept coming back striking some heavy running forehands to break back at 30 and level at 4-all.
The ninth game proved critical for both men as Walton staved off three break points, including hammering a bounce-smash down the line that smacked right off the sideline.
That stirring stand put the world No. 97 ahead 5-4 and broke Medvedev’s spirit a bit.
The dreaded Deja vu struck again as Medvedev meekly surrendered four points in a row ending a dramatic three hour, 22-minute battle on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 27-year-old Walton improved to 5-9 in Tour-level matches this season and will face 85th-ranked American Zach Svajda for a spot in the third round.
Svajda spoiled the prospect of an all-Aussie second-round clash by stopping Alexei Popyrin 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 7-5. Svajda smacked 17 aces and saved two of four break points scoring his first career Roland Garros win.
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