Mats Wilander believes Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has the potential to be ranked much higher after his Roland Garros exit.
Mpetshi Perricard won the first set against Novak Djokovic, but was ultimately beaten 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4.
This means that Mpetshi Perricard will be unable to improve on his current ranking of world number 83.
Mpetshi Perricard has a career-high ranking of world number 29, but Wilander believes he could be ranked even higher.
Mats Wilander suggests Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard has potential to be a top 10 player
The big serving Mpetshi Perricard broke into the top 30 in 2025 after winning two ATP titles, but his form since then has not quite lived up to this.
Despite this, Wilander believes that Mpetshi Perricard has shown that he can climb back up the rankings and claimed that he has weapons to get into the top 10.
“It seems he will have a great result in a Grand Slam at some point,” Wilander said live on TNT Sports. “On what surface will that be? Will he be consistent enough to become top 10 in the world?
“He has the weapons that somebody can get to the top 10. In that first set he played some great points.”
Mpetshi Perricard will lose 40 ranking points after his first round loss in Paris, and he is currently outside the top 100 in the race to the ATP Finals.
Do you feel more or less confident that Novak Djokovic can win Roland Garros after that performance?
Mats Wilander says what he thinks Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s best surface is
Although Mpetshi Perricard’s results have not quite matched up to his potential, Wilander believes that he could start to see some improvements in the coming weeks.
When asked what he thinks Mpetshi Perricard’s best surface is, Wilander answered by suggesting grass due to the power of his serve.
However, Wilander told Mpetshi Perricard that he needs to work on improving his return, which he claimed is ‘not good enough’ at the moment, as well as his backhand.
“I would think it’s most probably on grass, because it’s really hard to break serve,” answered Wilander.
“He has to work on breaking serve himself, because he breaks serve the least out of any player in the top 100. I think 8% of the time he breaks serves, that is just not good enough.
“You are going to be playing a lot of tie-breakers and close sets, and you need a bit of luck, so he is going to have to work on his returns and work on that backhand. The backhand is holding him back right now more than any other shot.”
Give us your one wild prediction for Roland Garros!
Mpetshi Perricard achieved his best Grand Slam result to date at Wimbledon in 2024, when he reached the fourth round.
The 22-year-old will hope for similar results on grass this year, as Mpetshi Perricard, who is coached by Greg Rusedski, looks to make his way back up the rankings.
Mpetshi Perricard is scheduled to begin his grass court season in qualifying at the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart.
