The Frenchman won his first 250 tournament in Lyon at the end of May and caused a sensation at Wimbledon.
The young generation is promising. After several years without a new French wave after Tsonga, Simon, Gasquet, Monfils… Several players are managing to stand out from the crowd. Ugo HumbertArthur Fils, Luca Van Assche and Arthur Cazaux are all progressing. Another, a 2.03m colossus is also starting to stand out and shake up the French tennis world, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The Frenchman caused a sensation at the ATP 250 tournament in Lyon by winning his very first “major” title. At only 20 years old, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is already in the world top 100 and is making a good start to Wimbledon by eliminating the American Sebastian Korda in the first round.
His playing style
The Frenchman has a very heavy serve and powerful shots. His serve also provokes some praise, notably from John Isner. “He has a great gesture. Personally I wouldn’t touch anything in his technique, it seems perfect to me. And he has shown that he can already find all the zones. He also hits very hard on the second serve with little waste. No, in terms of movement, nothing to complain about. During my career, apart from a slight modification of the position of my feet, I had not changed anything either.”
He also tries to finish rallies quickly and could upset many players on the circuit who like to rallies. “I am a player who is not afraid to commit all the time, regardless of the score. Who will play his game at all costs and who, even when it does not work, will persevere. Who will play with his weapons more and more and who will be very strong, at the net, on the start of points. I have variations to my game but if at 30A I have the choice between a winning forehand and a drop shot, I have to hit the forehand” explained the Frenchman in The Team
A footballer father
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was born in Lyon on July 8, 2003 and is the eldest son of Ghislain Mpetshi, a former football player, notably for FC Bourg-Péronnas (2002-2003).
Tennis from a young age
“He started playing tennis with me, at the age of 4, at AS Caluire. By imitation, like all children. I didn’t particularly want to put him in football but rather to follow his desires” explained his father in comments reported by Le Progrès. “He immediately had significant results. He was 7 or 8 years old when he won his first tournament in the South. He also developed a taste for traveling, first all over France, then in Europe at 8 or 9 years old. We very quickly had high hopes…”