Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard's losing streak continues in Madrid, despite recent praise from Andy Roddick

Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard was touted as a player who could "change the game" by former World No.1 Andy Roddick, but the young ATP star has been on a downward spiral over the last few months.

The 21-year old suffered a first round loss to Mariano Navone at the ongoing Madrid Open. This amounts to Mpetshi Perricard's fifth consecutive loss this year, with his last win coming 47 days ago when Fabio Marozsan was forced to retire via injury during their second round match at Indian Wells.

Mpetshi Perricard won the 2024 Basel Open, largely thanks to his fearsome groundstrokes and booming serve. Known for employing huge serves himself, Roddick had predicted that the Frenchman had the potential to alter the game of tennis.

“There comes a time when people change the game,” said Roddick following Mpetshi Perricard's title run in Basel. “My mind goes to [Jimmy] Connors, coming out with the Wilson T2000, [Boris] Becker comes in and serves his way to Wimbledon, Rafa [Nadal] comes in and the RPMs change.
“[Giovanni Mpetshi] Perricard is the first guy who can statistically responsibly just hit two first serves. It’s a joke, it’s different."

However, the Lyon native has struggled during the 2025 ATP season, accumulating a 6-8 match win record. Currently ranked at World No.37, Mpetshi Perricard could see his ranking fall out of the top 100 if he were to remain in this slump.