London – Taylor Fritz treated the 153 MPH Serve his opponent – it was the fastest in Wimbledon History, but Fritz won the point and an overnight stay before the fifth set to close a 6-7 (6), 6-7 (8), 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-4 first round victory over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard when they resumed Tuesday.
Not only 2024 US Open Runner-Up Fritz had to turn things around after dropping the first two sets, but he was two points of the defeat on half a dozen occasions in the fourth set of Tiebreker on Monday evening.
“A really crazy competition”, The No. 5-class Fritz said Tuesday after completing the victory at number 1 court. “I thought it was about to spend the night in the fourth set of Tiebreker. But he came back to me in the first two tie treakers, so I thought I might have one in me. I am super happy to get through it.”
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After Fritz forced the fifth set on Monday at around 10.15 pm, the game was suspended because there is a curfew at the All England Club that stops the game at 11 p.m., and officials were worried about the end by that time. It was clear that Fritz preferred to continue, but it was not up to him.
“I mean, it is clearly not ideal. I had the feeling that if we didn’t have time to complete the fifth set, then I absolutely think that it is logical not to play the fifth set. But we had sets about as long as you can play sets, and they were still in the time frame that we had to play the fifth last night,” said the 27-year-old Californian. “I wanted to play it clearly, but anyway, I felt sure I was coming back today (s) also managed it.”
It turned out that on Tuesday he only needed 35 minutes to get the job done in a match with 66 total aces – 37 by Mpetshi Perricard, 29 by Fritz.
At the third point of the game on Monday, Mpetshi Perricard-a 6-foot-8-Fransman hit 21 who is 21 at 153 km / h, so that the old tournament exceeds the best of 148 km / h hit by Taylor Dent in 2010.
Fritz not only managed to get his racket on the ball and bring it back, but he finally took that point with a forehand volley winner.
“The funny thing is, I always say to my coaches (when) they sometimes say that I might try to serve (in the) body … (that) I think body services are terrible. I never win the point when I do it,” Fritz said. “And I sent the video (of the 153 MPH Serve) to my coach and said:” There you go. He served the fastest serve in the history of Wimbledon right in my chest, and I won the point, so there is your proof: Body Serves are bad. “”
Fritz lost open in the first round on the French last month, but it is much more comfortable on smooth, fast grass courts, which reward the power on his large serve and forehand. He reached the quarterfinals in Wimbledon in 2022 and last year and last week from his fourth Eastbourne Open title on the surface.
“This is a huge, huge week for me, with the recent results on grass. So I thought about that in this competition,” he said. “It put a lot of pressure on me, because I really didn’t want to go out in the first round.”
