Adam Walton’s phone has hardly stopped pinging in the past 24 hours after the 27-year-old Australian produced a huge shock at the French Open with a stunning victory over Daniil Medvedev in the first round. It was just his fourth win at grand slam level, his first victory over a top 10 player and by far his best win in terms of ranking.
“It’s been pretty crazy,” Walton told Guardian Australia, sitting in a small area of the media centre at Roland Garros, a day on from his brilliant five-set victory over the former world No 1. “There was a lot of media around the match and a lot of messages. It’s great to see them all, everyone reaching out. I haven’t had a chance to respond to all of them as I’m obviously still in the tournament, just trying to stay as locked in as possible.”
Many of the messages of congratulations, no doubt, will have come from Home Hill, the small town where Walton was born and grew up. With a population of about 3,000, it’s 100km south of Townsville and around 1250km from Brisbane. Though he moved to the state capital as a 14-year-old, Walton spent his formative years in Home Hill, learning to play tennis at the age of five with his brother Jack in one of the most unique settings imaginable.
“The tennis courts are inside a racetrack,” Walton said, adding that the location caused some occasional logistical issues. “In the mornings before our lessons, we would have to wait for the horses to be on the other side of the racetrack before you could open the gate, drive through, and close the gate, so they wouldn’t get spooked. It’s something unique to Home Hill tennis. It’s great.”
A sports-mad kid – he played cricket, swimming and rugby – Walton said he was never good enough at any of them to consider playing them professionally. Loving tennis, he fed off the performances of other Queenslanders, including Nick Kyrgios, who was already highly ranked as he came up the junior ranks.
“Nick’s only a few years older but we’d watch him on the television,” he said. “He was always exciting to watch [especially] way back in my earlier days, when he was at his peak, he was obviously doing great things in the sport. There’s been a few Aussies, like Lleyton [Hewitt] and Ash Barty, most recently, who have done really well from Queensland that I’ve looked up to.”
Walton moved to boarding school in Brisbane on a scholarship at 14 and later went to the University of Tennessee. There, he improved year on year, finishing with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a superb college record, winning the NCAA doubles title in 2021.
“I’m a late bloomer,” he said. “I was never a good junior, never played any of the junior slams or did any European junior trips or any of that. Had I not gone to college, I don’t think I would have been able to continue with my tennis.”
Walton broke into the top 100 in 2024 but has been hovering at or around the same mark ever since. In his press conference after beating Medvedev, he said his ambition in the short term is to be in the main draw of each of the grand slams. Of the just over US$2m Walton has earned in his career, almost half of it has come from the four majors.
“I could be wrong, I haven’t looked at the numbers, but I’m going to say most players around my ranking and sort of stature would have similar numbers,” he said. “That’s a good chunk, 50% coming from just four tournaments within the year. Grand slams pay significantly more than the rest of the other tournaments.
“We all want to do well at the slams because that’s where all the money and points are. For me, being able to be in the main draw in the last couple of years in the grand slams has been great financially.”
Reaching the second round at the French Open guarantees Walton €130,000 (A$212,000) and means he can invest more in himself, plan his travel for the next year and pay for his coach. It will also help with the cost of his upcoming wedding to fiancee Rachel in November.
In Paris on Thursday, Walton takes on American Zachary Svajda, a man he has practised with at Roland Garros this week and whom he knows well, losing two of their three matches on the ITF circuit. “It’s going to be new for both of us,” he said. “It’s a wonderful chance for both of us. It’s going to be an exciting match. We both know what’s up, what’s at stake.”
