The second week of the Wimbledon Championships began today. Lorenzo Musetti, who was seeded 25th at the beginning of the tournament, has since risen six places to 19th in the live rankings after defeating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to get to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.
The Italian came up against a French opponent who had his breakout year this year, winning his first-ever ATP tour-level title. At the beginning of the Wimbledon Championships, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was ranked 58th on the ATP tour, the highest the Frenchman has ever climbed to in his career.
Lorenzo Musetti Reaches Wimbledon Quarterfinals
Lorenzo Musetti dropped the first set to Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 4-6, before rallying to defeat the lucky loser in the following three sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-2. Perricard had earlier won his first-ever ATP title at the Lyon Open in May.
Both players matched each other in the first set, with Musetti playing better on his first and second serves. Giovanni proved to be better at the net with more ferocious winners. This forced the single breakpoint that separated them in the first set.
Lorenzo Musetti then salvaged his Wimbledon dreams in the second set. Giovanni still had his ferocious winners landing deadly blows to Musetti, with the young Frenchman still being more clinical at the net. Musetti improved his serving to ensure he didn’t face a single breakpoint all set. With one break of Giovanni’s serve, Musetti served out the set.
Lorenzo Musetti then placed one foot in the Wimbledon quarterfinals when he stole an early break of Giovanni’s serve in the third set. Unforced errors were Giovanni’s undoing in the third set with the Frenchman hitting 19 of them, 16 points more than what Musetti lost from unforced errors. Musetti stayed at the top of his game on serve, scoring 75% of his first serves and all of his second serves.
In the second game of the fourth set, the Wimbledon quarterfinals came within touching distance for Musetti. The Italian broke Giovanni’s serve without dropping a point all game.
In the eighth game of the set, Lorenzo Musetti broke Giovanni’s serve again when the Frenchman, anxious to save a set point on his serve, fired a forehand long. Musetti dropped to the turf in celebration, his head in his hands.
“I think you saw on the court how I felt after the finish of the match,” Musetti said.
Lorenzo Musetti Planned For Perricard
Lorenzo Musetti acknowledged that Perricard was a difficult opponent who had the psychological capacity to pull himself out of difficult positions.
“My coach told me before the game, ‘to break him you have to be Love-40, not 30-40 because he’s going to probably do an ace or a first-serve winner.’ He was right. When I had the chance in the breakpoints that I had during the match, and the games where I broke him, I was always, like, two points in advance.”
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard had gotten into the Wimbledon draw as a lucky loser after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina withdrew from the tournament. The young Frenchman then had an exciting Wimbledon campaign where he defeated Sebastian Korda, Yoshihito Nishioka, and Emil Ruusuvuori before facing Lorenzo Musetti.
Lorenzo Musetti’s Wimbledon Championships will continue on Wednesday when he takes on Taylor Fritz who defeated Alexander Zverev in their fourth round encounter.
Wimbledon has been favorable for Lorenzo Musetti since his exciting performance in the 2024 grass-court season. Musetti defeated Constant Lestienne in the first round from behind, before having to overturn a 1-2 score line to defeat Luciano Darderi in the second round. Musetti then played another four-set match in the Wimbledon third round against Francisco Comesana to reach the fourth round.
At the beginning of the grass-court season, the Italian advanced to the semifinal of the Stuttgart Open, losing to two-time champion and fellow Italian, Matteo Berrettini. He then got to the final of the Queen’s Club Championships, losing to Tommy Paul.
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