LYON/STARNBERG, May 25, 2024
Lyon native Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has captured his maiden title on the ATP Tour by winning the Open Parc held in his home town. The 20-year-old Frenchman saved one match point in the tie-break of Saturday’s singles final to outlast No. 6 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(7).
In his just fourth tour-level event, wild card entry Mpetshi Perricard battled his way into the championship match with victories in the bottom half of the draw over Italian Lorenzo Sonego, Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, French qualifier Hugo Gaston and second-seeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
Mpetshi Perricard fired 11 aces and won 68 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after two hours and 28 minutes.
Listen to the noise 😍
Inside the stadium as Mpetshi Perricard sends the #OpenParc crowd crazy! https://t.co/SVM5jTJ5lu pic.twitter.com/ncoEsGlYFI
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 25, 2024
“It was crazy, a very good final,” said Mpetshi Perricard. “I was down in the second set, but I managed to do better. I’m very happy to win this tournament and I now have a lot of confidence for Roland Garros.”
The World No. 117, who has clinched three titles on the ATP Challenger Tour this season, was the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of the clay-court event in Lyon. Mpetshi Perricard earned €88,125 in prize money as well as 250 ATP Ranking points.
