You couldn’t miss him at the All England Club last year. Twelve months ago, 6ft 8” French star Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard enjoyed a breakthrough run at Wimbledon. His tournament appeared to be over before it started when he lost in the final round of qualifying, but he got into the main draw as a lucky loser and made the most of it.
Firing down a staggering 51 aces in his opening match to upset 20th seed Sebastian Korda, Mpetshi Perricard made it all the way to the second week. By the end of the season, he was voted Most Improved by his fellow players, thanks in part to his title wins in Lyon and Basel, where he whacked a gigantic 151mph serve. Still only 21 years old, Mpetshi Perricard will now return to SW19 as a top-40 player, where he has plenty of good memories of his heroics in 2024.
“I was lucky to play! [Alejandro] Davidovich Fokina pulled out so that’s why [I got in],” the world No. 36 told Express Sport, craming his 6ft 8” frame onto a small sofa at the Queen’s Club.
“It was one of the best tournaments last year for me. I did some good stuff, first time I played in Wimbledon. I was grateful to be there and won a few matches, it helped me a lot for the next couple months.
“I remember the first one against Korda because it’s where everything started. It was a nice one, a long one because there was some rain delay. I think we started at 11am and we finished at 5pm, so it was a big, big first round. It was good to beat a top player like him, especially on grass. He played unbelievable, I played well, it was a good memory.”
As a French player, Mpetshi Perricard already has a home Grand Slam tournament at Roland Garros. But the fans at Wimbledon immediately took to him last year. It now feels like his second home, and he has big ambitions at the All England Club.
He said: “It was my first time, so now I need to bring something new to be better. I think I’m going to play this tournament for 15 years, I hope so, and I think it’s always good to start.
“I was really surprised last year, a lot of people were cheering for me and it was unbelievable. And I mean, I love that, I love that. This kind of connection that you have with the crowd. So home, not really. Well, I can say my second home, maybe.
“Last year it was my first time so to feel all that in one week, it was something very big and deep for me, and yeah, I hope that one day I’m going to do a great tournament. Do you know what I mean?”
While some up-and-coming players struggle on the grass – the tour only stops on the surface for a few weeks of the season so there’s minimal time to get used to it – Mpetshi Perricard went out of his way to adapt his game to the surface and be more aggressive, with his “huge” stature coming in handy.
“You have a different angle. I have more strength because of my height. You need to have the right coordinations or the right motions. It’s not just because you are tall that you know how to serve, and it’s still a difficult shot to make, but the height is a big asset for me,” he said of his 6ft 8” body.
“It’s good because I take a lot of space at the net. I’m huge so to do a passing shot [against me], it can be complicated. But at the same time, to move or to be low, it’s kind of hurting my legs a lot. In the first practice, it was tough physically. It is what it is. But at the same time, you know, I have a big serve, so I cannot really complain about it.”
After his dream Wimbledon debut, Mpetshi Perricard went on to lift his biggest career title at the ATP 500 in Basel in October. He then beat Jack Draper, Tomas Machac and Alejandro Tabilo to be voted the ATP’s Most Improved Player of 2024. But he says SW19 was the turning point.
He added: “It was a mental change. I had some doubts about being good during Grand Slams and it was the first time I won a lot of matches in a Grand Slam. It was a part of the trophy I received at the end of the year.
“Obviously I knew that I had to perform or to be consistent in a Grand Slam, it was Wimbledon. This year, I didn’t win a lot of matches in a Grand Slam so behind this good season last year, of course Wimbledon is at the top of the list.”
Mpetshi Perricard has not gone beyond the second round of a Major this year. While he’s not expecting to be as successful as Carlos Alcaraz, who has won Wimbledon two years in a row, the 21-year-old has warned his rivals that he can be a threat on the grass.
“I know that I did it last year so I know that I can win a lot of matches. I’m not going to be extra confident. I’m not Carlos, win two times or you know, some big players,” he said. “But I know that I can be dangerous on this surface. I know that I can do second week, so I mean, let’s see what the future brings.”