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Can Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard's serve streak withstand the power of Karen Khachanov's forehand?

Aces win races! France’s Mpetshi Perricard has now won six consecutive matches without dropping a serve. He recently defeated America’s Frances Tiafoe in the first round (R64) of the 2024 Paris Masters. Next up for this young Frenchman is Russia’s Karen Khachanov. Like Perricard, Khachanov has also been in red-hot form recently. Perricard entered this tournament after winning a title in Basel, while Khachanov won the title at the Almaty Open and then reached the final in Vienna before taking his flight to Paris. Now, it’s time for an exciting contest!

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs Karen Khachanov: Preview

Perricard has won quite a few titles this season. His first title came at the Challenger Nottingham, GB and the second one came at the Morelos Open. After that, he won two more titles at the GNP Seguros Tennis Open and Lyon Open. However, his 6-4,7-6(4) triumph over Ben Shelton in the final of the Swiss Indoors stands out among all of his recent victories. Although he had troubles initially in his previous match against Tiafoe, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard managed to pull things back on track in time and won the match 6(5)-7,7-6(4),6-3.

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If we talk about Karen Khachanov, he has won two titles this season. His first title triumph this season came at the Qatar Open where he defeated the Czech star, Jakub Mensik in the final. Then at the Almaty Open, he toppled Canada’s Gabriel Diallo to win the second title of this season. Khachanov is entering this match after his 6-4,3-6,7-6(6) win over Australia’s Christopher O’Connell in the R64. What’ll be the scoreline in the next match?

Perricard vs Khachanov: Head-to-Head

Well, it’s the clash of two ‘giants’! Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is 6ft 8 inches tall while, Karen Khanchanov is 6ft 6 inches. These two have never faced each other in their careers so far. However, at the 2024 Citi Open, we saw them team up to take part in the doubles event and they made it to the QF in that tournament. So, perhaps they know a bit about each other’s strengths and weaknesses now! Who’ll win this epic battle?

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What’s your perspective on:

Can Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard's serve streak withstand the power of Karen Khachanov's forehand?

Have an interesting take?

Prediction: Perricard to win in three sets

With the form they have been over the last few tournaments, it’s very hard to pick one from this match. However, we’re expecting the home support for Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is going to play a huge role in this match.

Apart from that, if we look at their rankings and win-loss index, Perricard is currently ranked 31 in the world and has a win-loss record of 17-12 on the main Tour. On the other hand, Khachanov (21) has a win-loss record of 34-22!

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Karen Khachanov’s playing style is mainly based on the first stroke off both serve and the return, He loves hitting hard and also has a really powerful forehand which can cause a few troubles for Perricard in this match. His incredible height helps him hit down on the ball whenever he has an opportunity to go for a flat-point ender. His favorite shot is his serve and he has hit 375 aces n this season so far. His biggest weak point is his backhand.

His opponent, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is more of an aggressive player who mainly relies on his powerful serves and strong baseline game to disrupt his opponent’s natural game. His monstrous serves and thundering groundstrokes are two of his lethal weapons. Previously, we saw him getting praised by another big server, Ben Shelton, and even in his previous match against Tiafoe he hit 28 aces and won 92% of his first serve! So, serve is surely going to play a huge role in this match. Apart from that, Perricard’s unorthodox single-handed backhand is also one of his biggest weapons. Considering all these weapons and the support of the home crowd, we’re going for the Frenchman in this match! But what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below:

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