Daniil Medvedev agrees with Carlos Alcaraz, sees Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard as a Grand Slam contender. The 2021 US Open champion spoke about the French player’s potential to win a major and described him as the best server on the ATP Tour.
Mpetshi Perricard’s impressive performance at the Basel Open stunned with notable victories over players like Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Holger Rune, and Ben Shelton in the final. The most surprising part of his journey to his second title was the incredible speed statistics of his first and especially second serves.
In the final against Shelton, the Frenchman averaged 221 km/h on his first serve and 213 km/h on his second, with 22 aces across the two sets (6-4, 7-6).
Mpetshi’s outstanding game drew the attention of his colleagues, including Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. The Spaniard recently stated upon his arrival at the Paris Masters that he was impressed by Mpetshi and sees him as a future Grand Slam contender. Now, Medvedev weighed in on the 21-year-old’s potential to beat top-10 players and even win a major.
“Yes, I think he could be a top-10 player. He’s not far. He’s 40, 30 now with his title. I don’t know where he is now,” Medvedev said. “Well, you can reach the top 10. It’s not far. We never know, but he could,” Daniil Medvedev declared. “As for a Grand Slam, it won’t be easy for him. Even in Basel he had four deciders, so it’s a five-setter in a Grand Slam. He could win. And from the baseline, he plays quite well. Even for 102 kilos he plays really well.”
“It might be more difficult for him than others. He plays well. Is he the best server on the tour? Yes, he might be. And maybe when he comes back, we can ask him about this. I saw stats that his second-serve ball is quite fast, so yeah, I think he could do it.”