Every story must have an end, even a beautiful one. For Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, this finish is in the round of 16 at Wimbledon. Still not bad for a lucky loser (he lost in the final qualifying round against Maxime Janvier) who was stepping on the London turf for the first time. It is enough to put the extraordinary power of his service at the heart of the first week’s conversations. Enough, too, to show everyone that it was something other than “attend bot”.
But against Lorenzo Musetti (25th), a proud representative of this Italy that has more weight in high-level tennis, this was not enough. Or rather, if the qualities were still there, we saw even more that needed work.
Because, once the first set was lost, Musetti worked hard to return as many of the missiles sent by Mpetshi Perricard as possible. In total, in this game, the Italians returned 33% of the French’s first serves, which is no small feat. Above all, he scored the point on 47% of his opponent’s second ball, although he regularly scored over 200 km/h. Drunk on his return, Mpetshi Perricard will be physically worn out in a game that did not have as many freebies as usual.
Less explosive, less precise on the feet (but he played three more games in qualifying, remember), he made more mistakes than usual. Double faults at a moment in the game when there was no real need to take the risk, the forehands unscrewed hastily, and Musetti got his hands on the game. From the 72% he serves first down in the second set, Mpetshi Perricard saw his success rate drop to 58% in the fourth. He did not have this launch pad, he exposed himself to Musetti’s too precise running and regularity (8 unforced errors for the Italian compared to 42 for the French).
The first quarter for Musetti
If this match is disappointing, there is no doubt that the Frenchman and his family will be able to build on this great course at Wimbledon. Musetti continues to fly the Italian flag at the highest level. He will play his first Senior Championship quarter-final and will face either Taylor Fritz (13th) or Alexander Zverev (4th).