Men’s Singles
Mpetshi Perricard, what a first!
That’s what you call seizing your chance. After coming up against Maxime Janvier in the third round of qualifying, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard took full advantage of his status as a “lucky loser” on Tuesday at Wimbledon. The young and great French server let loose on Tuesday and Sebastian Korda, seeded 20th in the tournament, paid the price, being knocked out after five sets (7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3) and 3 hours and 21 minutes of a battle that was also punctuated by two rain interruptions. This magnificent performance is the first Grand Slam match won for the player who will face Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round.
This match resembled an “old school” match on grass since it was mainly a duel between servers. In the first four sets, neither player managed to break the other’s commitment. But Mpetshi Perricard was, so to speak, always in the lead since he served first, before leading a set to zero and then two sets to one. In the two tie-breaks that he won, the Frenchman was nevertheless first a mini-break behind, proof of his mental strength.
And he has clearly learned the lesson of his first match played and lost after five sets at Roland-Garros against David Goffin a little over a month ago. It was he who managed the only break in this knife-edge clash at the very beginning of the final set. Finishing with 51 aces, 84% of points won behind his first and 37 victorious net attacks (out of 57, i.e. 65% success), he saw his audacity pay off and took advantage of an opponent who was visibly a little uncomfortable in terms of his abs. A real ray of blue sky in the London gloom.
Convincing son before challenging Hurkacz
Arthur Fils did not win his first Grand Slam match. But he did indeed open his account at Wimbledon. Appearing to be back in form in preparation on grass, particularly in Halle where he had heckled Alexander Zverev, the Frenchman played a very interesting match against the powerful Swiss Dominic Stricker, who admittedly fell to 149th place in the world but who has already reached the second week at the US Open. Fils won in four sets (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4) and 2h06 of play on court 7.
Despite a slight drop in intensity in the third set, Sébastien Grosjean’s protégé saw his aggression pay off. With 40 winning shots including 15 aces and 72% first serves (80% points won behind), he played the kind of tennis that makes him a threat on grass for many of his colleagues. That’s good, a hell of a duel awaits him in the second round against Hubert Hurkacz, former semi-finalist at Wimbledon. He won’t have much to lose and assets to show off.
A big challenge was presented to him and he almost met it. Constant Lestienne made Lorenzo Musetti doubt on court number 7 at Wimbledon. On Tuesday, the Frenchman, ranked 92nd in the world, led by a set and a break before giving in in four sets (4-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2) and 3h07 of play against the tournament’s 25th seed. After a timid start to the game, the Italian seemed to handle the rain interruptions better.
With his atypical game, all about touch, Lestienne thus took Musetti, recent finalist at Queen’s, into a sort of false rhythm. He even had two points of two sets to nothing when he was serving at 6-4, 5-4. But the Italian rebelled. And once the tie-break of the second set was won, he took control and never let go. The match was suspended again at 5-1 for Musetti in the fourth act, but the die was cast.
Simple dames
Garcia makes a successful debut
She arrived on the London grass in the unknown. Like Iga Swiatek, Caroline Garcia had not played a single match since Roland-Garros, but the Frenchwoman had been eliminated in the 2nd round, which left her more than a month without playing in competition. And the bet was a winner, at least in this 1st round against Anna Blinkova, world number 60, won in two sets (6-4, 7-5) in 1h28 on court 14.
Like the match point that saw her tear herself apart defensively before unleashing a superb forehand passing shot winner, Caroline Garcia did not give up against an opponent who had beaten her in their last two duels. A year ago, the Russian notably took down the Frenchwoman in the 2nd round of Roland-Garros, and she was again the first to break. But the Lyonnaise did not panic: smiling on many occasions, she seemed to enjoy fighting and was rewarded for it. While her rival was serving at 5-4 to come back to one set all, Garcia broke back to finish with a cannonball. In the 2nd round, she will have a good shot to play against the American Bernara Pera.
