How Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has become one of the game’s biggest servers | ATP Tour

Player Features

How Mpetshi Perricard has become one of the game’s biggest servers

The 6’8″ Frenchman was a breakout star in 2024

December 31, 2024

It would have been difficult to guess at the beginning of 2024 that Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard would finish the year with the highest shot-quality score for serving. On New Year’s Day, the Frenchman was No. 205 in the PIF ATP Rankings and had just two tour-level match wins to his name.

The 21-year-old enjoyed a standout season, in which he claimed two tour-level titles (Lyon, Basel) and reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as a lucky loser. A big part of Mpetshi Perricard’s success was his booming serve. Still early in his career, the World No. 31 in the PIF ATP Rankings is just scratching the surface of how far his hefty delivery can take him, according to prominent coach, analyst and former World No. 4 Brad Gilbert.

“He has the ability to just take the racquet out of your hand. It can be one of those mental matches where you don’t get a look but you have to take care of your serve,” Gilbert told ATPTour.com about the Frenchman, who will begin his new season Tuesday at the Brisbane International presented by Evie against Nick Kyrgios.

“He’s a tricky guy to play and if he can improve, it’s all about his return. The serve is big and the second serve is ridiculous, but can he hold the ridiculous rate that he does against all players and then do it against a [Jannik] Sinner or [Carlos] Alcaraz? If he can go from like 10 per cent breaking to 15, 17 per cent, and maintain where he is at holding serve, then he is a Top 5 player for sure.”

Mpetshi Perricard’s serve Shot Quality, according to Tennis Data Innovations in partnership with TennisViz, registered at 9.5 while second-placed Alexander Zverev finished the year with an 8.87 serve shot quality.

It is easy to credit the Frenchman’s big, 6’8” frame for his serving prowess. But Gilbert believes it goes beyond height.

“I think people get a little carried away because you’re tall, that you’re going to have a good serve. He has a very repeatable, easy motion, doesn’t have a high ball toss, and it comes very quick out of his hand. It’s a very easy, repeatable motion. I think that gets lost,” Gilbert said.

“People are like, ‘Oh, [John] Isner is tall!’ He had a beautiful, beautiful serve. Very economical. What I also like about Perricard — he doesn’t leap off the ground that much. His serve doesn’t look that taxing. The same when you watch Dr. Ivo [Karlovic]. For a really big guy, he has just a very easy, fluid, relaxed motion. Repeatable. That’s what you see instantly on Perricard.”

Mpetshi Perricard’s deep run at Wimbledon was fuelled by a five-set, first-round win against 20th seed Sebastian Korda. Across three hours and 21 minutes, Mpetshi Perricard struck 51 aces and saved all 11 break points he faced.

The Frenchman’s first serve averages a speed of 135 mph. His second serve is a whopping 123 mph on average. He is not afraid to crack a big serve in pressure moments.

“People have said for a long time like, ‘Why doesn’t Dr. Ivo go for two first serves?’ And nobody has done that. Maybe this is the first guy,” Gilbert said. “This is kind of like the analytics of football, a lot of college football teams now on fourth-and-one or fourth-and-two on their side of the field, they will go for it.

“Can you hit these big second serves on break point down? In the tie-break, can you hit them and not double [fault]? All of this is to be determined because he’s going two first serves most of the time.”

You May Also Like: Mpetshi Perricard: The friendly giant with one of the biggest serves in history

In 2024, Mpetshi Perricard averaged 19 aces per match, according to Infosys ATP Stats. That is double the amount of aces struck by World No. 2 Zverev.

“Zverev serves big. But for a big server, he serves the furthest away from the lines. He serves two feet [from the line],” Gilbert said. “A lot of times why he has such a high percentage, it’s almost like he goes to a three-quarters working serve, which guys do, but they slow down the speed. He can get a 135 working serve for him, but not aiming for an aceing spot.

“A guy like Perricard, Dr. Ivo, or Isner, those guys are thinking ace. When I coached [Andy] Roddick, he’s thinking ace a lot. Zverev hits a high-percentage serve, but he’s not thinking ace. But you still have to deal with the 135. He’s an interesting big server. If you look at his ace totals, he doesn’t drop 35, 40 aces. But with that kind of speed, he could be.”

American Ben Shelton is another big server who Gilbert believes can strike even more aces in 2025. The 22-year-old lefty was 10th in TDI’s serve shot quality this year and averaged 9.5 aces per match.

“Shelton has the biggest room for improvement. He can serve bigger than any of those guys. He’s young,” Gilbert said. “He doesn’t bring the heat all that much like Perricard does, but I see him and I think, ‘That guy can be dropping 35, 40 aces’. And he can hold a high clip. I like his potential of being first or second on tour in holding-serve percentage and aces.”