Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard suffered a fourth defeat in a row, when he entered the ATP 250 tournament in Metz, by being eliminated by the 222nd player in the world.
Bad times for Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. Since his great semi-final at the ATP 250 in Brussels, the 22-year-old French player has had one series of disappointments. Beaten during his entry into the running at the ATP 500 in Basel by Joao Fonseca (who succeeded him on the list of winners of the Swiss tournament a few days later), then at the Rolex Paris Masters by Grigor Dimitrov, the Lyonnais hoped to end his season on a good note.
But he was eliminated in the first round of the ATP 250 in Metz, by the 222nd world player Vitaliy Sachko, a lucky loser. The Ukrainian won with a score of 7-6, 6-3 in 1h32. It must be said that the Frenchman did not have a great day serving, because even if he served 10 aces, he also committed 6 double-faults.
Mpetshi Perricard misses two first set balls
The two players did not obtain a single break point in the first set, which therefore ended with a decisive game. An exercise to which the Frenchman is accustomed, who also obtained two set points, but missed them.
Sachko missed three, but the fourth, at 11-10, was the right one. In the second set, Mpetshi Perricard had two break points (his only ones of the match) at 1-1, but did not convert them, and it was he who lost his serve in the next game (3-1).
Sachko then missed a 5-1 point then a match point at 5-2, and finally won at 5-3 on a shutout. Unless Paul-Henri Mathieu calls him up for the final phase of the Davis Cup (which is very possible given the physical condition of Ugo Humbert and Benjamin Bonzi), Mpetshi Perricard’s season is therefore over. An average season, since he started it in 31st place but will end it around 58th place.
Tabur takes a turn
Two other French people were in the running in the afternoon in Metz. And it went well for Clément Tabur. The 243rd in the world, from the qualifications, defeated the 62nd Aleksandar Kovacevic with a score of 6-3, 6-2 in 1h06 without losing his serve and breaking at 3-2 in the first set and at 2-2 and 4-2 in the second. On the other hand, the Moselle tournament is over for Ugo Blanchet, 143rd and invited by the organizers, eliminated by Learner Tien (38th) with a score of 6-3, 6-3 in 1h05. The American did not have a break point to defend and took the Frenchman’s service at 4-3 in the first set, and at 0-0 and 5-3 in the second.
