Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard blasts 51 aces in Wimbledon five-set win over Sebastian Korda
The lucky loser finished with 90 total winners and saved all 11 break points he faced Tuesday for his first major main-draw victory.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard can add maiden major main-draw win—in five sets no less—to his list of 2024 accomplishments.
Sebastian Korda is out in the first round of Wimbledon as a result.
Having moved into the 128-man field as a lucky loser, the 6-foot-8 Mpetshi Perricard made the most of his second chance Tuesday with a powerful display. The Frenchman unleashed 51 aces to edge the 20th seed, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (4), 6-3, saving all 11 break points he faced.
The match quite possibly could have headed in an enitrely different direction. Korda dropped the opening tiebreak despite building a 5-2 lead. Further disappointment followed in the third-set 'breaker, when Mpetshi Perricard erased a set point with an ace out wide en route to regaining the scoreboard lead.
To his credit, Korda recovered well from more squandered chances in the fourth set. He was unable to capitalize on 0-40 in consecutive return games, and after surviving that same situation himself to reach 6-5, the American watched his opponent fire two more aces against set points.
Rain suspended play early in the tiebreak. When the encounter resumed, the first six points went to the server in seeing Korda inch ahead 5-4. His deep return then caught the world No. 58 by surprise to induce a forehand error. This time with set points in hand, Korda forced a decider after Mpetshi Perricard missed the target on his forehand up the line.
In the second game of the decider, a forehand passing shot winner followed by a perfect forehand drop shot from Mpetshi Perricard put Korda under pressure. A mistimed forehand off his racquet handed the 20-year-old the first—and only—break of the day.
Mpetshi Perricard finished 93 total winners (including one final ace on match point), more than double his unforced error count in powering his way into the second round. For Korda, it marks the second year running he’s been knocked out in the opening round.
In May, Mpetshi Perricard captured his first ATP trophy on home soil in Lyon to crack the Top 100. That breakthrough effort followed three earlier season ATP Challenger title runs on hard courts.