When looking at the draw for the 2022 French Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev probably couldn’t believe their luck. With the top half stacked with talent such as defending champion Novak Djokovic, ‘King of Clay’ Rafael Nadal, German talent Alexander Zverev and new kid on the block Carlos Alcaraz, Tsitsipas and Medvedev would have breathed a sigh of relief that they wouldn’t have to meet any of those four before the final.
Indeed, they probably would have expected to take on each other in the semi-finals, but both players were unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament on a day of shocks in Paris. Tsitsipas’ exit was certainly unexpected, falling at the hands of Danish teenager Holger Rune. The Greek just didn’t get going throughout the encounter, losing in four sets and bowing out of the tournament he so nearly won last year.
For Medvedev, it was an inspired Marin Čilić who did for him in the night session. The Croatian has been in sensational form at Roland-Garros this year, dropping just one set en route to his fourth-round match-up with Medvedev, and once again Čilić produced his best to defeat the 26-year-old comfortably in straight sets.
These defeats will have come as a shock to the system for Tsitsipas and Medvedev. They both would have been hugely confident of reaching the final, and establishing themselves fully as the heir apparent to Nadal, Djokovic and Roger Federer. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, and both will have to wait another year to prove themselves on the clay courts of Stade Roland-Garros.
The defeat to Rune comes as a huge blow to Tsitsipas’ hopes of landing a maiden Grand Slam title this season. His run to the final last year, and the fact that he came so close to defeating Novak Djokovic in the final, would have had him identifying the 2022 French Open as his best chance to win that all-important first major. Having missed out in Paris, it’s hard to see him being well fancied in the Wimbledon betting odds.
But throughout the tournament, Tsitsipas didn’t look anywhere near his best. In the first round, he found himself two sets down to talented Italian Lorenzo Musetti before clawing his way back to win, and he was involved in another gruelling contest in round two, as Zdeněk Kolář pushed him to four lengthy sets. An easy third-round win over Mikael Ymer suggested Tsitsipas was recovering his form, but he simply wasn’t good enough against Rune.
Medvedev, by contrast, had looked pretty sharp in his three matches prior to that shock defeat by Čilić, winning all three matches in straight sets without once needing a tiebreak and establishing himself as a favourite in the tennis tips as a result. But he seemed a different player under the lights on Court Philippe-Chatrier, struggling to make any kind of impact against an inspired opponent.
After winning the US Open last year, his first Grand Slam title, it was expected that Medvedev would kick on this season and start delivering the biggest titles more regularly, but this defeat will dent his confidence. Add the fact that he won’t be able to take part at Wimbledon as it stands, and he’ll be thoroughly disappointed not to have gone further in the French Open.
As talented as both Tsitsipas and Medvedev are, they will need to start delivering Grand Slam titles on a more regular basis, and avoiding the kind of slip-ups we saw in Paris, if they are to ascend to the elite bracket.
