What began with Iga Swiatek‘s honest take on tennis scheduling this season has turned into chaos. Carlos Alcaraz said it as well, a few days ago. He reflected on how playing non-stop can lead to exhaustion. It becomes clear from the latest incident involving American star and World No.4 Taylor Fritz. At the Shanghai Masters, the 2025 Wimbledon semi-finalist, perhaps, finally felt the brunt of the racket sport after stepping on court without proper rest. Unsurprisingly, the lack of unwinding proved quite costly.

In the R32, Taylor Fritz met Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who is known for his speed serves. The latter finally found his rhythm against the American, who had previously beaten him at the grass major in July. This time, however, Perricard had the last word. He dismantled Fritz amid challenging conditions at the Shanghai Masters. In straight sets, he beat him with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-5 to attain his maiden top 10 victory while also making it to the R16 of an ATP 1000 tournament for the first time.

As for Fritz, he was visibly tired. The hot weather at the venue did a nasty number on him. In the span of one week, he was seen competing at the Japan Open, where Alcaraz beat him in the final. He had hardly had a break before arriving in Shanghai. In the first match too, he was visibly struggling despite the victory – he could win against Hungary’s Fábián Marozsán only in the decider. Playing Perricard, Fritz was unable to make an impact.

Apart from losing in straight sets, he couldn’t convert a lot of break points too. While the Frenchman fired 12 aces, the American could hit only 9. The second serve played a key role in this matchup as Perricard won 76 percent of his second serve points. Fritz, on the other hand, fell flat, winning only 58 percent points.

While Fritz was seen struggling with his body, Perricard managed to rise up to the occasion. After making it to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, he confessed, “The first Top 10 in a career is always a symbolic moment. I had a good match overall.” Citing unfavorable weather conditions for him and also Fritz, he revealed, “It wasn’t easy; the conditions were very complicated to manage. He had difficulties in the important moments, me too, but I’m really pleased with my level of play and with having shown some great things.”

Before Perricard, players like 24-time slam king Novak Djokovic had already shared strong sentiments on the Shanghai weather this season. Following his first round win over Marin Cilic on Friday, the Serbian confessed, “It’s crazy humid, to be honest. I don’t recall the weather being so humid in China,” while stating that in the past, at this event, he never experienced “humidity like this.”

Then on Saturday, Argentina’s Francesco Comesana was unable to take the heat, playing against Lorenzo Musetti in R64. He suffered from heatstroke while also feeling lightheaded. The conditions took a toll on Comesana as he couldn’t focus on the match. Eventually, he lost in straight sets against the Italian. The medical chaos unfolding in China isn’t just limited to the ATP. The WTA players also met similar fates at the China Open and, quite recently, the Wuhan Open. Instead of marquee battles, hollow results caused by medical timeouts and walkovers have marred the Asian swing.

Coming back to Sunday’s result, Perricard couldn’t help but get honest about what the R32 victory meant to him.

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard on his top 10 win against Taylor Fritz

Before this encounter, World No.37 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was struggling against top 10 rivals. In fact, his record was 0-6 in such matches. However, Sunday’s battle against Taylor Fritz infused a newfound confidence.

Recalling his previous matchup against higher ranked opponents, he admitted, “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.”

He emphasized, “It was a tough match, physically and mentally, but I did well and I’m very happy about it,” as reported by the ATP Tour’s website on October 5. Now here comes a captivating fact involving Fritz and his unwanted French connection in 2025.

Since early June, all of Fritz’s losses against players outside of the top 30 this season have come against Frenchmen. Before Perricard this week, Corentin Moutet (World No.38) beat him in R32 during the HSBC Championships in June. Then Terence Atmane (World No.61) had the best of the American at the Cincinnati Open. He was able to defeat Fritz in the R16 in three sets. Fritz and France have a weirdly cosmic connection indeed. WHat are your thoughts? Drop us a comment.