{"id":90894,"date":"2025-09-22T04:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=90894"},"modified":"2025-09-21T21:58:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T01:58:50","slug":"giovanni-mpetshi-perricard-and-his-return-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/22\/giovanni-mpetshi-perricard-and-his-return-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and His Return Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s breakout in 2024 came out of nowhere. At the beginning of the year, he was ranked 204 and, aside from a Challenger title in Le\u00f3n, Mexico, and his ATP debut at the French Open<\/a> thanks to a wild card, very few people had heard of him. Things changed after he started winning multiple Challenger titles. He first did it in Nottingham, UK, but it was once again in Mexico where he really made a statement. He won back-to-back Challengers in Cuernavaca and Acapulco, dropping just one set each week.<\/p>\n

He then broke into the top 100 by claiming another title \u2014 an ATP 250 \u2014 in Lyon, his hometown. A month later, he shocked the tennis world on grass by reaching the fourth round<\/a> at Wimbledon<\/a> as a lucky loser. The season still had more in store for him: it got even better as he won another title, an ATP 500 in Geneva<\/a>, which allowed him to finish 2024 inside the top 30 \u2014 more than 170 spots higher than where he had started.<\/p>\n

A Rocky Start to 2025<\/h2>\n

But not all that glitters is gold, and 2025 has turned out to be quite challenging for Giovanni. His opponents have figured out how to neutralize his huge serve and expose his weaknesses. He managed to reach two ATP semifinals \u2014 in Brisbane and Winston-Salem \u2014 and win the Bordeaux Challenger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Aside from that, however, he has struggled to find consistency, to the point that he has never won back-to-back matches in any of the other tournaments he has played. And it\u2019s no coincidence: he lacks a crucial aspect of elite tennis in the 21st century \u2014 the return.<\/p>\n

A Giant With a Fatal Flaw<\/h3>\n

Mpetshi Perricard is 6\u20196\u201d and bases most of his game on his serve<\/a>, so it wouldn\u2019t be fair to expect Djokovic-like returning skills from him. But his numbers are so poor that it\u2019s not surprising to see him currently outside the top 65 in the ATP Race.<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n