Through the first five days of the tournament, the top French Open headlines have been made by the unlikeliest of sources.
Two days after Thiago Seyboth Wild sent world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev packing from Paris, Daniel Altmaier upset eighth seed Jannik Sinner during second-round action on Thursday evening. Altmaier, ranked 79th, prevailed 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 after five hours and 26 minutes of pulsating action on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
In a bottom half of the bracket that was already wide open the moment the draw ceremony was held and became even more up for grabs after Medvedev bowed out, Sinner had one foot into the third round when he led Altmaier two sets to one to one and served for the match in the fourth. The 21-year-old Italian even had two match points in that 5-4 game, and on one of them seemingly had the victory all wrapped up. However, Sinner failed to put away an overhead and Altmaier retrieved it with a forehand winner off the net cord.
The German ended up breaking for 5-5 to stay alive.
Altmaier ended up taking the fourth set in a tiebreaker and maintained momentum with a break midway through the fifth. The 24-year-old failed to serve out the match at 5-4, but he got another chance at 6-5 and managed to battle through a dramatic service game–during which Sinner saved four match points and earned three break chances.
Just how big of an upset was it?
Not only was Sinner among the favorites to reach the final if not even win the title, Altmaier wasn’t exactly a trendy pick to be a giant killer. He has never been ranked higher than 53rd and prior to this tournament had gotten out of the first round of a Grand Slam only once (fourth round of the 2020 French Open). He was understandably emotional while receiving an ovation prior to his on-court interview.
“Playing every point you can with the best effort, that’s what keeps you in reality,” Altmaier explained. “I was just thinking that, and the competition says it all. We’ve had [a historic match] with so many match points…. I don’t know if you can call this a ‘historical’ match, but I think it was one to remember.”
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