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Roland-Garros: who is Thiago Seyboth Wild, former junior world number one, who beat Daniil Medvedev?

A Brazilian out of nowhere who creates a surprise at Roland-Garros? The parallel with Gustavo Kuerten, the last player to win the Parisian Grand Slam while being unseeded (in 1997), seems too obvious. But difficult not to think about it this Tuesday after the success of Thiago Seyboth-Wild, 172nd in the world ranking, ahead of Daniil Medvedev, world number 2, in five sets (7-6, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3 , 6-4). A surreal victory for the 23-year-old player who was playing his first match in Paris as a professional. And on the Philippe-Chatrier court, please!

At a press conference, the reference to Gustavo Kuerten obviously came quickly. “Guga in Brazil is an idol, details Seyboth Wild. A person to follow. His legacy is something special. There are not many Brazilian players who win a Grand Slam tournament three times. I met him through the Brazilian Federation but nothing more. »

Nadal as an idol

The comparison stops there, then. A native of the state of Parana, not far from the Iguazu waterfalls, an area shared between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, Thiago Seyboth-Wild never exceeded 106th place in the world, in September 2020. In this first year of the coronavirus pandemic Covid-19, he achieved his best results, winning his first and only ATP title in Santiago (Chile) by beating in the final the Norwegian Casper Ruud, Porte d’Auteuil finalist last year. Then aged 19, he became the youngest Brazilian in history to be crowned on the circuit. Far ahead of “Guga” or Thiago Monteiro, the most consistent Auriverde in recent years.

Thiago Seyboth-Wild was then overdoing the dynamics of his career as a junior. World number one in 2018 on this teenage circuit, he won the US Open the same year, defeating the Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the final (current 18th in the world). No small feat for the man whose father Claudio Ricardo Wild played Challengers tournaments in his youth and who has been training him since he was 5 years old. Trilingual (Portuguese, Spanish, English), son of Gisele Christine Seyboth, doctor, Thiago Seyboth Wild grew up on clay and with Rafael Nadal as his idol.

The Spaniard’s biography (as well as the Harry Potter books) has long been his favorite book. “It was, yes. I don’t know when I read it, he says. Rafa has always been my idol. I always dreamed of playing here. I followed him all my life. His state of mind, his combativeness… We only see it at home. »

Accused of physical and psychological violence on his girlfriend

The first player on the professional circuit to have publicly declared to have Covid-19 in 2020, he saw his career fall slowly. Falling to 392nd place in the world in 2022, the Brazilian has struggled to regain regularity. Two years also marked by a darker episode. His former girlfriend, Thayane Lima, then accused him of physical and psychological violence, describing the gestures and words of Thiago Seyboth Wild on social networks and filing a complaint.

A case still in the hands of justice. He was indicted in June 2022 for these facts, which he has always denied. “I don’t think that’s a topic to talk about. I don’t think that’s a question to ask here. I won’t say more. You can write whatever you want,” he concluded at a press conference.

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