ATP Lyon final
Etcheverry – Mpetshi Perricard: 25.05.2024 14:30 CEST
H2H: first meeting
Tomas Martin Etcheverry has won four of his last five matches. So far this season, Etcheverry has played a lot of matches on clay and has also won lots of them. Last year at the French Open, Etcheverry reached the quarterfinals where he lost against Zverev in four tight sets. He showed us how good of a player he is, and if he can stay healthy, we believe that Etcheverry will eventually become a top 10 player. This will be his biggest match of his young career where he could win his maiden ATP title. He has played two times in the final already in his career. Last year, Etcheverry won both finals, once against Jarry, and then just a few weeks later, against Tiafoe. Here in Lyon, Etcheverry only struggled in the first round, where he won against Sanchez Izquierdo after being set down in the match. En route to the final, Etcheverry won against Seyboth Wild, Koepfer and Darderi, who are all solid clay court players. Today, Darderi did not have an answer for his game. Etcheverry defeated him 6-2 6-4. Tomas saved all 3/3 breakpoints and played overall a great match, hitting 21 winners with just 5 unforced errors.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has won four of his last five matches. Perricard is a young French talent who just got into the top 100 with his big wins in Lyon. Last week in Bordeaux, Mpetshi reached the challenger quarterfinals where he lost against Barrere in straight sets. Here in Lyon, Mpetshi won his first round match convincingly 6-3 6-4 against Sonego. Yoshihito Nishioka unfortunately withdrew from the tournament, so Mpetshi reached the quarterfinals without having to play in the second round. After that, Mpetshi Perricard defeated Gaston in the quarterfinal as we predicted. Today, Mpetshi Perricard upset a top 20 player, Alexander Bublik. He played aggressively from the very start, hitting 28 winners with just 11 unforced errors. Mpetshi Perricard will look to become another Frenchman, lifting the title in Lyon. Last year, Arthur Fils won the title, winning against Cerundolo in the final. This was his first main-draw wildcard and he absolutely deserved it. Mpetshi Perricard is only 20 years old and this is his third appearance in the main draw of an ATP tournament. Before that, Mpetshi played all of his matches at the challenger tour level. Earlier in April, Mpetshi won back-to-back challenger titles in Mexico. He has already won three challenger titles this season so far, so expect him to be ready for another title shot. All of his challenger titles were on the fast hard courts. That being said, Mpetshi looks like a player that can play well on all surfaces.
Best Bet to Make
According to the bookies, Etcheverry is a favorite in this match. Given his experience, we believe that Etcheverry will play better under pressure than Mpetshi. Looking at his last matches in Lyon, Etcheverry looked great. We believe that he is overall a better clay court player than Mpetshi. We expect him to finish this match pretty easily.
That being said, Etcheverry covering the games handicap is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Tomas Martin Etcheverry -2.5 games handicap @1.91 @bet365
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
