"If you wish bad upon someone, the bad is going to come back to you" – Alexander Zverev pins Daniil Medvedev's 1R French Open 2023 loss on 'karma'

Alexander Zverev has pinned Daniil Medvedev's first-round loss to Brazil's Thiago Seyboth Wild at the French Open 2023 on 'karma.' Medvedev was the second seed at Roland Garros in May 2023, but lost to unseeded Wild in his opener on Court Philippe-Chartier.

The match began on a competitive note as the opening set went in Seyboth Wild's favor after a tiebreak. Medvedev recovered quickly to secure the next two sets and seemingly take control of the duel. But Seyboth Wild turned it around by racing away with the fourth and fifth sets to secure the match 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and send the Russian packing.

Alexander Zverev was also in the mix at the claycourt Major and went as far as the semifinals. He registered victories over Grigor Dimitrov, Frances Tiafoe and Thomas Martin Etcheverry but lost to Casper Ruud in the final-four clash.

Netflix covered Zverev's reaction to the Medvedev loss in the fourth episode of the second season of the tennis documentary series Break Point.

"Medvedev is one of the best players in the world, so it helps not playing him at an early stage. But at the same, I do believe in karma. I do believe that if you wish bad upon someone, then the bad is going to come back to you," Zverev said.

At the time, Zverev and Medvedev were at odds over their Monte-Carlo Masters feud in April. Zverev lost the match to the Russian after a tough fight and later accused him of playing unfairly and resorting to toilet breaks to break his rhythm.

Daniil Medvedev leads head-to-head tally against Alexander Zverev 11-7

Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have locked horns on 18 occasions, with the former leading 11-7 in the head-to-head tally.

Their rivalry began in the year 2016, when they played against each other at the St Petersburg Open. Zverev drew the first blood by defeating Medvedev in straight sets, and remained unbeaten in their next three duels too.

Medvedev's first success against the German materialized at the Shanghai Masters in 2019. He defeated Zverev 6-4, 6-1 in the final to win the Masters 1000 title.

Between 2020 and 2022, the duo squared off five times, with the Russian prevailing on four of those occasions. In 2023, Daniil Medvedev extended his dominance over the Olympic gold medalist by downing him in five out of six encounters they played.