Damir Dzumhur Knocks Out French Favourite But Is Unaware of His Own Victory

Damir Dzumhur achieved his best Grand Slam performance in seven years, surprisingly, without initially recognizing his victory. The 33-year-old Bosnian player competed against French crowd favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at Roland Garros on Wednesday afternoon.

Dzumhur`s career peak was world No. 23 seven years ago, and he previously reached the third round of the French Open in 2015 and 2018. After facing difficulties in recent seasons, Dzumhur seems to be experiencing a resurgence this year.

On Court Suzanne Lenglen this afternoon, the 5ft 9in Dzumhur faced the formidable 6ft 8in Mpetshi Perricard in a classic `David vs Goliath` scenario. In this compelling contrast of styles, the underdog player overcame the partisan home crowd to secure a victory with scores of 7-6 6-3 4-6 6-4.

Dzumhur had previously broken Mpetshi Perricard`s powerful serve in the seventh game of the fourth set. Facing match point, the 21-year-old Frenchman hit a forehand shot long, thereby giving the win to his opponent.

Instead of celebrating immediately, Dzumhur seemed bewildered. The player, who has won three ATP titles, then hit the ball towards Mpetshi Perricard`s side of the court, appearing to think it was his opponent`s service turn.

It was only then that Dzumhur realized he had won the match, and he awkwardly went to the net for the handshake. He then gave a small, apologetic wave to the crowd, perhaps wary of their potential frustration. Eventually, a smile spread across his face as the significance of his victory became clear.

Remarkably, Dzumhur had also recovered from a difficult fall earlier in the contest to secure the win.

During his post-match interview on court, he confessed: “I felt stressed in the third set after getting a break, truly. And then in the fourth set, it was largely the same scenario. I genuinely didn’t realize I was serving for the match, so maybe that was for the best.”

Dzumhur will face reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in round three.

Prior Health Scare

In 2022, Dzumhur experienced a serious health issue after a qualifying match at Roland Garros against Fernando Verdasco. After feeling stomach pain, he received treatment for pancreatitis and later told Clay Magazine that he had been “really close to dying”.

He elaborated: “Soon after the match I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. It was increasing more and more. And at some point I understood that something was wrong, because it wasn’t a normal pain, it was very strong and rare.”

“After a consultation with the doctor on site, I was feeling even worse and worse and they sent me to a hospital in Paris.”

“I was lucky that they sent me there fast. I had inflammation of pancreas, which was a very hard one.”

“The doctor that saw me told me that I was lucky to be young and in a good shape, because somebody older or weaker could’ve easily died with that kind of inflammation.”