Djokovic makes winning start to French Open bid, Medvedev ousted

British underdog Cameron Norrie delivered the biggest upset of the 2025 French Open so far in a nail-biting five-set win over former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

Ranked 81st in the world, Norrie knocked out 11th seed Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 after three hours and 53 minutes on court.

"It was a crazy match," said Norrie. "I was really happy with how I handled the match and how I had to fight literally every point to have a chance with him. It was just pure emotion at the end and pure instinct. It was a good throw."

The 29-year-old Briton, who won the 2021 Indian Wells title and reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2022, called it "one of [his] best wins."

"For me, outside of [Carlos] Alcaraz, [Jannik] Sinner and Novak [Djokovic], [this] would be probably the fourth-toughest draw for me in terms of matchups and players. Extremely good win, especially my record with [Medvedev] No. 11, in a Slam, beating him in five sets is impressive for me."

Novak Djokovic returns a shot during the men's singles first round match between Mackenzie Mcdonald of the United States and Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, Paris, France, May 27, 2025. (Xinhua/Li Jing)

While Norrie stole the spotlight, other top seeds advanced with convincing wins. Novak Djokovic, fresh off securing his 100th career title, eased past American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. Third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany also cruised through with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 win over American Learner Tien.

Not all seeded players progressed. Bulgaria's 16th seed Grigor Dimitrov was forced to retire from his match against American qualifier Ethan Quinn. Dimitrov had taken a two-set lead (6-2, 6-3) before losing the third 2-6 and withdrawing due to injury.

In the women's draw, second seed Coco Gauff breezed past Australia's Olivia Gadecki 6-2, 6-2. The American will next face 18-year-old Czech qualifier Tereza Valentova.

Russia's sixth-seeded Mirra Andreeva also advanced with a composed 6-4, 6-3 win over Spain's Cristina Bucsa.

In women's doubles, China's Yuan Yue and New Zealand's Lulu Sun earned a hard-fought first-round victory, defeating Anna Blinkova and Mayar Sherif 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 after more than two hours.