{"id":75308,"date":"2024-10-28T10:39:49","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T14:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=75308"},"modified":"2024-10-28T10:39:49","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T14:39:49","slug":"jack-draper-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard-basel-vienna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/10\/28\/jack-draper-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard-basel-vienna\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Guns Jack Draper and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard Go For It In Vienna and Basel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Big Three ruled men\u2019s tennis for so long (over two decades) that by the end of their reign the sport had become a virtual gerontocracy, with Djokovic, Nadal and Federer effectively stymying the Grand Slam ambitions of at least two younger generations of male players. Now that the era of the Big Three is finally coming to an end, the opposite phenomenon can be observed. Men\u2019s tennis is fast becoming a paedocracy or, if that word causes anyone any concern for any reason, a youthocracy, and that was triumphantly proven in Vienna and Basel this weekend, especially by the winners of those tournaments, Jack Draper<\/a> and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Draper and Mpetshi Perricard Not Alone In Breaking Through<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Draper and Mpetshi Perricard were not alone in breaking through spectacularly over the last week or so of the European indoor circuit. Indeed, probably the most remarkable statistic to emerge from both Vienna and Basel was that of the eight semifinalists in the two tournaments, six were aged 22 or under, including the eventual winners. Only Karen Khachanov and Alex de Minaur, who faced each other in the second semifinal in Vienna, bucked the trend, being a comparatively ancient 28 and 25 respectively.<\/p>\n

Of the two tournaments, which always seem to be contested in the same week in late October and therefore are often \u201ctwinned\u201d or linked together in the minds of tennis fans, Vienna featured the slightly older and more experienced 22-or-unders. That is because Jack Draper and Lorenzo Musetti, who contested the first semi-final there, are already Grand Slam semifinalists. Musetti reached the last four at Wimbledon this year and Draper almost immediately matched him by making the semifinals at the US Open. Consequently, their rematch in Vienna was an opportunity to compare them directly.<\/p>\n

On the evidence of Vienna, Draper\u2019s sheer power, especially on serve, may ultimately make him better equipped to reach more Major semifinals and beyond than Musetti\u2019s sheer artistry, especially on his still-beautiful single-handed backhand<\/a>. Draper won in straight sets, 6-4 6-2, but what was perhaps most impressive was his ability to survive Musetti\u2019s attempted comeback in the second set. Having won the first set comfortably and then gone up a break early in the second, Draper appeared to be cruising to victory until Musetti began belatedly to produce some of his trademark magic. He broke back to tie the second set at 4-4 but immediately lost his serve again to love, which allowed Draper to serve out for the match.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>