Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard secured a pair of significant breakthroughs in one swoop on Sunday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
The Frenchman upset World No. 4 Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-5 to seal the biggest win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking. With his one-hour, 25-minute victory inside the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, one which avenged his painful loss to Fritz from two sets up at Wimbledon earlier this year, Mpetshi Perricard also booked his spot in the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time.
You gotta do what you gotta do 🫡@MpetshiG | @SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/WPxBlY3oAo
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 5, 2025
Although Perricard secured his win in straight sets, humid conditions in Shanghai made Sunday’s encounter a big physical test for both players. It was the Frenchman’s ability to capitalise at key moments, particularly as Fritz tired towards the end of the match, that proved crucial.
Mpetshi Perricard broke his opponent’s serve in a dramatic 11th game of the second set in which Fritz let slip a 30/0 lead and struggled to put away winners in the slow conditions. The World No. 37 then served out successfully to wrap a victory in which he fired 12 aces and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“Before this my record was not good, 0-6 [against Top 10 players],” said Mpetshi Perricard. “Some of the matches were tough losses for me. I was very close against [Lorenzo] Musetti, against [Fritz] at Wimbledon, and I had a lot of things to improve. I tried to do a few things better than at Wimbledon, and it worked today.
“It was a tough match, physically and mentally, but I did well and I’m very happy about it.”
Statement win😤@MpetshiG proves he is more than just a serve bot with a complete performance to take his first top 10 win in Shanghai 🔥#TennisInsights | @atptour | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/BcTS4YBIB0
— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 5, 2025
While third-round defeat in Shanghai is a setback in Fritz’s bid to secure qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals, the American remains well placed to reach the season finale. He is fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 450 points clear of Musetti in the final qualification spot.
Mpetshi Perricard’s next opponent will be another Turin hopeful, Holger Rune, who also enjoyed a Sunday success in Shanghai. The 10th-seeded Dane survived the tricky conditions to sink Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round for the second consecutive year.
With his victory, the 22-year-old Rune earned five tour-level wins against the same opponent for the first time in his career. He leads Humbert 5-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, with two of those triumphs coming in 2025 (Indian Wells, Shanghai).
“We are both Europeans, so we're not quite used to this kind of weather, but I just told myself it's the same for him and I'm just going to try to stay strong,” said Rune when asked about the Shanghai humidity. “Focus on my serve. Push when it matters, when it matters less, try to save some energy.
"I think I had a good balance today of playing aggressive and making him work at the same time, making him run because we both feel when we run in this kind of weather, it's more tough. So, very sweaty day, but very happy to get through. No more excuses."
In other early Sunday matches, Gabriel Diallo and Zizou Bergs also advanced. Diallo advanced after his opponent David Goffin retired when trailing 0-3 in the first set. The Canadian’s next opponent will be Bergs, who overcame 19th seed Francisco Cerundolo 7-6(1), 6-3.
