Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard made history at Wimbledon by delivering the fastest serve recorded in the tournament’s history. The French player will have to wait overnight to continue his match against Taylor Fritz, which was halted due to curfew.
The match was paused around 10:20 p.m. local time as it approached the 11 p.m. curfew. At that point, Fritz was trailing 1/5 in the fourth-set tie-break but managed to win seven of the next eight points, pushing the match into a deciding set. Mpetshi Perricard had taken the first two sets with scores of 7-6(6) and 7-6(8), while Fritz claimed the third and fourth sets with scores of 6-4 and 7-6(6).
Mpetshi Perricard’s record-breaking serve occurred during the opening game when he delivered a 153 mph (246 km/h) shot, surpassing Taylor Dent’s previous record of 148 mph set in 2010. Despite this powerful start, Fritz returned the serve and won that point.
Throughout the match, Mpetshi Perricard averaged speeds of 137 mph on his first serves and 122 mph on his second serves, accumulating a total of 33 aces compared to Fritz’s 24. This encounter marks their first meeting in ATP Head2Head competition.
In another suspended match, Alexander Zverev faced Arthur Rinderknech. Zverev leveled their contest at one set each just before curfew after saving three set points in a second-set tie-break.
Both matches are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.