PARIS-World number two Daniil Medvedev was knocked out of the French Open in the first round on Tuesday, losing in five sets to 172nd-ranked Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil. Seyboth, who came through the qualifiers and had never previously won a Grand Slam match, triumphed 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (6/8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. 
It was Medvedev’s fifth loss in the opening round at Roland Garros in seven appearances. “I have watched Daniil play in my junior years. It’s a dream come true to beat these kinds of players on this court,” said the 23-year-old Brazilian who unleashed 69 winners past the Russian. 
“I just wanted to get my angles right, get to the net as much as possible and use my forehand as much as possible against his -- I guess it worked pretty well.” He added: “I was cramping in the second set and couldn’t really serve the way I wanted to but I tried to play my best tennis. I’m really happy with the way I played.”
Iga Swiatek begins her bid to become the first woman in 16 years to successfully defend the French Open title as Novak Djokovic remained defiant after controversially weighing in on the Kosovo crisis. World number one Swiatek faces Moldovan-born Cristina Bucsa of Spain as she looks to emulate Justine Henin, the last back-to-back women’s winner at Roland Garros in 2007. 
The 21-year-old Pole arrives in Paris shrugging off a thigh injury suffered in Rome. “Luckily nothing serious happened. I’ll be good for my first round. That’s the most important thing for me,” she said. Djokovic insisted he does not fear being punished for his potentially explosive “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” message he scribbled on a courtside TV camera on Monday amid fresh violence in Kosovo.  The Belgrade-born superstar, chasing a record 23rd Grand Slam title in Paris, wrote the message in Serbian after his opening round victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic on the showpiece Philippe Chatrier Court. “Kosovo is our cradle, our stronghold, centre of the most important things for our country,” 36-year-old Djokovic told Serb media. 

His comments came after NATO-led peacekeepers dispersed Serb protesters who clashed with police in northern Kosovo to demand the removal of recently elected Albanian mayors. Around 30 soldiers were injured during the clashes, along with over 50 demonstrators. Meanwhile, 16-year-old qualifier Mirra Andreeva marked her Grand Slam debut with a 56-minute 6-2, 6-1 victory over Alison Riske-Amritraj of the US.