Canadian tennis fans will not be very happy with Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard after the Frenchman took out Denis Shapovalov in the Basel quarter-finals on Friday, his second win over a Canadian in as many days.
Shapovalov was looking to avenge Félix Auger-Aliassime’s defeat to Mpetshi Perricard on Thursday in the second round but like his countryman, he struggled to solve the 6’8 Frenchman’s serve, never breaking in a 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(3) defeat.
The massive Mpetshi Perricard serve was too much for Shapovalov as he blasted 27 aces, won 81 per cent of his first serve points and saved all three break points he faced.
Not surprisingly, the opening set clipped along without too much drama as the two strong servers cruised on their own deliveries through the first 11 games.
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Seemingly out of nowhere, Shapovalov had a chance to break with Mpetshi Perricard serving to stay in it at 5-6. Twice the Canadian got a read on the big Frenchman’s serve and ripped strong returns to set up a break/set point, but both times Mpetshi Perricard delivered a big serve to erase the opportunities.
The Frenchman then seemed primed to steal the set when he got an early minibreak for 3-1 and had two chances to close it out at 6-5 and 7-6, the latter on his own serve. But Shapovalov found some magic when he needed it, saving both including with an incredible backhand return from way out wide to draw an error on the second. When the Canadian had his first set point at 8-7, the Frenchman fired his return long.
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Early in the second set, Shapovalov played his sloppiest game of the match and it cost him. A couple of double faults dug him into a hole and he found himself facing break points for the first time. He saved the first with a good serve but after a missed forehand gave the Frenchman a second look, the Canadian dumped a volley into the net to surrender the break for 3-1.
That was plenty for Mpetshi Perricard, who rode his serve the rest of the way to force a decider.
Midway through the third set, both men had chances to break in consecutive games. At 4-3, Shapovalov had a break point but the Frenchman did what he does best, blasting a big serve to get out of the jam. In the next game, the Canadian gave his opponent a look when he flubbed a volley but Mpetshi Perricard missed a backhand and the set remained on serve.
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Unsurprisingly, the set required a tiebreak. Once again the Frenchman raced out to an early lead, firing a lazer-like backhand passing shot to score a minibreak on the opening point as he raced out to a 3-0 lead. Shapovalov never managed to reel Mpetshi Perricard back in and the Frenchman hung on, sealing the win with an ace.
By reaching the quarter-finals in Basel, Shapovalov jumps back over Gabriel Diallo in the ATP rankings, making him the No. 2-ranked Canadian behind Auger-Aliassime and likely positioning the 25-year-old to play the role of Canadian No. 1 at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November.