Daniil Medvedev was eliminated from the 2025 French Open in the first round. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
One of the top men’s tennis players in the world won’t make it past the first round at the 2025 French Open. Russian Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of the event after a surprising upset by Britain’s Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.
Things looked shaky for Medvedev — a former world’s No. 1 — early in the matchup. Norrie managed to take the first two sets (7-5, 6-3) setting himself up in excellent position to pull off the upset.
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But Medvedev, the 11th seed, wasn’t going to go out without a fight. He battled back into the match, winning sets three and four (6-4, 6-1) to set up a decisive fifth set. After taking down Norrie 6-1 in the fourth set, Medvedev appeared to have momentum on his side heading into the final set.
Early on, that looked to be the case. Medvedev jumped out to a 5-3 lead over Norrie in that final set. But Norrie didn’t break. He battled back to win the last four games, taking the set and the match over Medvedev.
It was a return to form for Norrie, who ranked as high as No. 8 on the world’s list back in 2022. Injuries cause that ranked to fall in 2024 and a second-round loss at the 2025 Australian Open caused Norrie to enter the 2025 French Open as No. 81 and unseeded in the tournament.
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For Medvedev, the match as a major disappointment. Despite notching 16 aces to Norrie’s one, Medvedev registered 69 unforced errors and 48 forced errors in the loss.
Medvedev has emerged as one of the better men’s players over the past couple years. He ranked as high as the world’s No. 1 in 2022. While Medvedev has continued to play well since then — he was a finalist at the 2023 US Open and the 2024 Australian Open — his ranking dropped to No. 11.
The 2025 French Open marks the second straight tournament in which Medvedev was defeated much earlier than expected. He was eliminated in the second round of the 2024 Australian Open by American Learner Tien. Medvedev remained at No. 11 entering the 2025 French Open, though his loss in the first round may cause that ranking to fall.
With the win, Norrie will take on Federico Agustin Gomez on Wednesday. Gomez advanced to the second round after defeating American Aleksandar Kovacevic in four sets Tuesday.
