Photo credit: Boss Open Facebook
Wimbledon—A Wimbledon curfew curtailed Taylor Fritz last night.
Today, Fritz needed one set to pull the plug on the sport’s most electric server.
Two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist Fritz completed a committed escape act with a 6-7(6), 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4 victory over 6’8” tower of power Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to reach the Wimbledon second round.
Remarkably, Fritz did not face a single break point over five sets and three hours, 25 minutes of play.
This was a wild win staged over two days that saw the French flamethrower rocket the fastest serve in Wimbledon history—a 153 mph missile that Fritz incredibly fought off to win the point. Fritz fought back from a two-set deficit and rallied from 1-5 in the fourth-set tiebreaker last night—only to see the match suspended after the fourth set due to Wimbledon’s curfew and the Frenchman’s unwillingness to complete it.
An annoyed Fritz blew off some steam ripping into what he called “the dumbest rule in sports” on Instagram last night.
“They would’ve let us play if my opponent agreed to, I said I wanted to, he didn’t,” Fritz posted on social media.
When play resumed on a scalding 90-degree day on No. 1 Court today, Fritz was serving first in the last set and rode his own searing serve—he ripped 29 aces against only two double faults—to score his ninth win in 10 grass-court matches this summer.
“Obviously it’s a really crazy match," Fritz said. "I thought it was about to be all over last night in that fourth-set tiebreaker.
“But he came back on me in the first two tiebreakers so I thought maybe I had one in me and I’m just super happy to get through it."
A frightening force when he steps to the service line, Mpetshi Perricard pounded down 86 winners, including 37 aces, but betrayed his cause with 13 double faults.
The Frenchman’s first serve is basically a blur and he doesn’t exactly spin in the second serve either. It’s blink and you miss it moment.
The Mpetshi Perricard smash is nearly as volatile as his wrecking ball serve. On one point, Fritz was scrambling near the back wall and had to use his Head racquet as a self-preservation tool to ward off a smash to the body. No matter how tough you are, a 145 mph blast to the private parts will likely leave you with a limp.
In today’s 10th game, Fritz’s control—combined with the fact his backswings are not as massive as Mpetshi Perricard—helped him carve the key break in the final game.
The 21-year-old Mpetshi Perricard, who became the fifth lucky loser in Open Era history to reach the Wimbledon round of 16 last year, opened the 10th game with his 13th double fault.
Fighting off a drive that clipped the line, Fritz brought the rally back to neutral and lashed a forehand drive down the line for love-30. Falling backward, Mpetshi Perricard sailed a wild forehand long giving the American triple match point.
Fritz coaxed one final forehand error to seal a wild win in three hours, 25 minutes.
“It’s obviously not ideal,” Fritz said of Monday night’s stoppage. “I felt like if we weren’t going to have time to finish the fifth set then absolutely I think it makes sense not to play the fifth set. But we’re having sets just about as long as you possibly play sets and they were still within the time frame.
I obviously wanted to play it but either way I felt confident coming back today to play the fifth set as well.”
The 2024 US Open finalist returns to No. 1 Court tomorrow as Fritz will face another big server, Canadian Gabriel Diallo, for a third round spot.