PARIS – In the tournament of his life, Thiago Seyboth Wild missed the opportunity of a lifetime. First, because he had dominated the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka for much of the match on Saturday and had a real chance to move into the round of 16 at Roland Garros. But, above all, because his time in Paris was marked by accusations of violence against his former partner, a subject that many international media will not let him pass: he managed to avoid talking about it this time, but in the next tournaments the question will come back, come back and come back. Because he doesn’t talk about it and because the accusations are getting worse and worse.

One sentence, quoted by the Brazilian newspaper “O Globo“, which has a high prestige and readership, is enough to give the dimension of the issue: “My family on my mother’s side is Nazi”.

During the match at the Simone Mathieu Stadium, perhaps the most beautiful stadium of the tournament, set in the middle of a greenhouse, Seyboth Wild took the breath away from the spectators: the dry power of his forehand is of boundless beauty, the offensive arrogance of his game is impressive.

This tennis player, several onlookers commented, cannot be ranked 172nd in the world. That “gillette” that he threw in a moment – the ball bounces and returns to his side of the net – brought back the memory of the great Spaniard Manolo Santana…. The list of praise for the Brazilian’s game is long, very long: there is talent, power, there is a lot of tennis. Although in the final set it was diluted: Nishioka won the match.

There is also an angry, very angry tennis player. The number of times Seyboth shouted at himself, the number of protests he initiated, the number of times he raised his arms, the number of times he scowled. That racquet thrown to the floor and smashed, deformed….

Thiago Seyboth Wild, during one of his many protests in the match he lost in the third round of Roland Garros 2023. / SEBASTIÁN FEST

What is wrong with Seyboth Wild, why is he so angry at 23 years of age and with a career that is clearly taking off?

Questions that nobody was able to ask the Brazilian, because after winning in the second round and after losing in the third round he did not give the press conference that is customary in tennis. Journalists took it for granted that one of the revelations of the tournament, the man who eliminated world number two Daniil Medvedev, would be promoted by the ATP, would have a moment to express himself to the media, even to apologise for his very bad manners in the only press conference he gave.

Nicola Arzani, ATP communications director, explained to CLAY the reasons for Seyboth Wild’s no-show at a press conference: “For the second consecutive round, Thiago did all the interviews he was requested for. The meeting with the international print media did not take place just because there were no requests”.

Seyboth Wild only spoke to television. He told the Brazilian sports channel “Sportv” that he literally died physically, that he paid the toll of the three matches in the qualifying round and the five sets in the first round. And before the interview he made it clear that he does not want to talk about the accusations against him for domestic violence.

That is probably why the meeting with the international print media did not take place. The ATP understood that it was better for him not to open his mouth and Seyboth Wild left Paris without talking about his tennis or the allegations that were reported in detail in “O Globo” this week. If his idea is to continue being a tennis player, sooner or later those press conferences and the questions he doesn’t want to answer will come.

And they will be worse questions, because what “O Globo” published was amplified this weekend by “TV Globo”, the big Brazilian TV station.

The revelations, based on WhatsApp messages Seyboth Wild exchanged with Thayane Lima, with whom he cohabited under civil union for a year and a half, are shocking.

“Your mother doesn’t like gays, blacks and Jews, is that it?” asks Lima. The tennis player, tersely, replies “yes”.
In that exchange, Seyboth Wild comes clean: “My family on my mother’s side is Nazi. Literally.

He adds: “My great-grandfather, my mother’s father’s father’s father… was Hitler’s predecessor…. He was the one who brought him over from Austria and taught Hitler the life”.

In the messages revealed by “O Globo”, Seyboth Wild includes photos of his great-grandfather standing next to the leader of the Nazi genocide and highlights how Hitler stands “in a firm position” before him.

After learning of the publication of “O Globo”, the tennis player’s family made it known that they “vehemently repudiate” his comments, which include insults of all kinds to his partner and allusions to “poor and black fucks”.

Lima told the Brazilian newspaper that when she met him, she took it upon herself to help the tennis player regain his confidence, to make him realise what he was capable of (“I encouraged him to train even on Sundays”).

And in those whatsapps that went back and forth between the two, the player confesses to his partner that he spent thousands and thousands of dollars on alcohol and parties. And he thanks her: “Do you know what you did to me? You showed me that I deserved better than that. You did something for me that money can’t pay for.”

Despite these thanks, Seyboth Wild was extremely violent with his partner, as she claims in the dialogue with the Brazilian media outlet, to the point of twisting her finger under the table during a dinner with her parents. The influencer now lives in the United States and has no intention of returning to Brazil.

In view of the way the information about him has been going, the player sent a statement to “O Globo”.

“Faced with some articles and posts published this week about me, I want to clarify that the processes underway in Brazil, as well as a criminal proceeding in which I appear as a victim, are under secrecy. This means that I cannot make statements, comments or expose conversations, which should also apply to the other party,” he says, referring to his ex-partner.

“But above all I want to remember and reinforce that there was no trial, so I cannot be considered guilty. I have not yet received the summons issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Rio de Janeiro because I no longer have a fixed residence in Brazil. I have spent the last few months training in Argentina or competing in other countries. The same goes for the other party, who was also not summoned because he does not live in Brazil. Anyway, my lawyers have already notified the courts of my parents’ address in Parana. At the moment I am totally focused on my career, back to my best level of play, and confident that my innocence will be proven in due time.”

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