Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard joins Brisbane SFs | ATP Tour

Match report

Red-hot Mpetshi Perricard storms into Brisbane SFs

Dimitrov, Lechecka advance

January 3, 2025

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is currently unstoppable. The strong-serving Frenchman once again asserted his power Big man tennis at the Brisbane International presented by Evie on Friday when he overtook Jakub Mensik to reach the semi-finals.

The 21-year-old fired 19 aces and faced no break points en route to a 7-5, 7-6(5) win in an hour and 34 minutes against #NextGenATP Czech Mensik, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I wasn’t that calm inside. “It was difficult to keep my nerve but I did well and I’m happy to have finished the game in straight sets and I’m proud of myself,” said Mpetshi Perricard.

Smile when you’re in the semifinals 😄@MpetshiG defeated Mensik in straight sets and secured his place in the @BrisbaneTennis SF🙌#BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/gzXUPeRsVp

— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 3, 2025

In addition to his strong ball striking on the baseline, Mpetshi Perricard also closed the net effectively and played aggressive returns at crucial moments to break through the defense of an increasingly frustrated Mensik, who competed in the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF last month.

Mpetshi Perricard is aiming for his third ATP Tour title and will face big-serving American Reilly Opelka in his third tour-level semifinal on Saturday.

“I worked a lot on volleyball in preparation for the season and I can imagine that it will work,” said Mpetshi Perricard. “It will be a tough semi-final.”

Mpetshi Perricard has hit 75 aces in his three games this season and also defeated Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe in Brisbane. The No. 31 player in the PIF ATP rankings led the tour last year with an average of 19 aces per game.

Additionally, Jiri Lehecka continued his impressive record on Australian soil with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Nicolas Jarry. Lehecka defeated Jarry in Adelaide last season en route to his first ATP Tour title and now leads the Chilean 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

In his eighth semi-final at tour level, the Czech will face second seed Grigor Dimitrov in the semi-final after the Bulgarian progressed following Jordan Thompson’s injury withdrawal.

Dimitrov led the eighth-seeded Australian 6-1, 2-1 when play was interrupted. Dimitrov has fond memories of Brisbane after lifting the trophy at the ATP 250 event in 2017 and 2024. This weekend he aims to win his tenth tour-level title.