Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s giant-killing ways have carried him into his fourth ATP quarterfinal after dismantling the Brisbane International’s fourth seed Frances Tiafoe at Pat Rafter Arena on Thursday.
On the heels of his three-set triumph over Nick Kyrgios on Tuesday, the 21-year-old put on another serving masterclass to beat the American for the second time in as many meetings, 6-4 7-6(4).
The 31st-ranked Frenchman started the match with four straight aces, the first of which was clocked at 232km/h, and ended with 20.
“I was very warm after this one,” he said. “I did not see the speed after the serve but yeah it was very fast.”
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It followed the 36 aces he sent past Kyrgios in the opening round. He distinctly remembered the age at which he first started serving those 200km/h-plus cannons.
“Maybe 10, no,” he laughed. “I think I was 15 or 16 years old. I was very proud of myself … I think I need some power, a little bit more. I need 230 on every serve.”
The 94-minute victory set a quarterfinal clash with 19-year-old Czech Jakub Mensik, an earlier 6-3 6-2 winner over Serbian lucky loser Dusan Lajovic.
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It marked his sixth triumph from seven showdowns against top-20 opponents, with his lone defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing.
“It was a good match, not very easy to play against Frances,” he said. “I won the first set, it was very tight in the second. I managed to put some pressure on the second serve and it worked and I’m very happy with my performance today …
“I did a lot of forehand because Frances loves to make me run a little bit. Yeah I don’t like to run so of course I needed to be aggressive, and it worked from the beginning so I’m very happy about it.”