BECOMING the lowest ranked player to win the Swiss Indoors event since it joined the official ATP Tour, Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is now an ATP 500 champion. The towering young talent aced his way to victory against equally impressive server Ben Shelton, providing an ominous sign of things to come in a 6-4 7-6 triumph.

Cracking in for his second ATP Tour title of both the year and his career after winning in Lyon on clay earlier this season, Mpetshi Perricard will be a force to be reckoned with on indoor hardcourt with his lightning serves on both first and second serves near-unplayable at times.

Mpetshi Perricard served an unthinkable 235kph second serve bomb in the semi-final win over Holger Rune, while producing similar outputs against Canadian duo Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime – both of Top 10 quality at their best – in the rounds leading up to that.

Since Basel became an ATP Tour event, the 50th ranked Mpetshi Perricard – who had risen from 205th in the world at the start of the year – officially broke the record as the lowest ranked winner. In his one-hour and 27-minute win over Shelton, the Frenchman produced a sizzling 22 aces to Shelton’s 10 and only dropped six points off his first serve and seven off his second.

Never facing a break point himself, Mpetshi Perricard put a little pressure on Shelton with three break point opportunities, taking one of them in the first set. His ATP 500 title in Basel means the 21-year-old has shot up to 31st in the world and has a massive opportunity to be seeded at the Australian Open.

“It’s amazing to win a tournament like that, a 500, for the first time for me,” Mpetshi Perricard said post-match. “I just can be happy with myself, with what I did today and the past five days. It’s amazing to win here… [Before this] it was a tough month for me, but it’s always good when the victories are there.”

Incredibly Mpetshi Perricard put it all together indoor, as he had struggled in the tournaments leading up, losing eight of his past nine matches. Earlier in the year, his rankings took a boost with three Challenger level titles, before his win in his home nation at Lyon.

Speaking of his home nation, Mpetshi Perricard will now head to Paris where the last major tournament of the year – the Paris 1000 Masters – will take place. He has a tough draw starting with American 14th seed Frances Tiafoe in the first round.

Mpetshi Perricard has made the biggest jump on the ATP Tour this year with a whopping rise of 174 places, and with near no points to defend in 2025, the sky is the limit for the young gun.

“My goal was to win a 250 or a 500, but to win both is amazing,” said the Frenchman, when asked about his rapid rise. “Of course, I’m focused on what I can improve in my game, a lot of things in training. The work paid [off], and I’m really happy.”

Draper digs deep to end Khachanov’s streak

BRITISH world number 18 Jack Draper is an ATP 500 titleholder now after holding his nerve against an in-form Karen Khachanov at the Erste Bank Open final in Vienna, Austria. Draper won the first set 6-4 and lead 4-0 in the second, looking set to cruise to victory. However the Russian – who was coming off a title in Almaty and an eight-game winning streak fought back to reel off the next five games.

Once trailing at 4-5, Draper found his momentum again to hold serve, break the unseeded world number 24 and then serve out the match in style. After 95 minutes, Draper won 6-4 7-5 to snap Khachanov’s streak heading into the Paris Masters 1000 this week. The victory was the second of his career after winning on the grass at Stuttgart earlier in the year.

A known grasscourt player who overcame then world number two Carlos Alcaraz on the surface at Queen’s Club, Draper showed he can be versatile by taking out the hardcourt event. He only dropped one set en route to the Erste Bank Open title – against Tomas Machac – while claiming wins over Italian duo Lorenzo Musetti and Luciano Darderi, as well as former Top 5 player Kei Nishikori.

“I was playing so good, and then the momentum shifted,” Draper said post-match. “Honestly, I didn’t feel too nervous or tight, I just missed a few balls and made some wrong decisions, and Karen picked up his level. “That’s a testament to how good he is, he’s a fighter and he’s in great form.

“It got really tight there, but I stayed solid and in a good mental frame. Luckily I was able to come through, it was a relief. “To win my first ATP 500, it feels incredible. I am incredibly happy and so proud of myself and my team. It’s for moments like this, so I am going to enjoy it.”

The victory saw the Brit move up to a new career-high of 15th in the world, and edge just 10 points away from Pole Hubert Hurkacz. He is one of three Brits in the Top 100 with Cameron Norrie and the improved Jacob Fearnley the others.

Both players head to Paris with Draper set to take on Czech Jiri Lehecka in the first round, with fifth seed Taylor Fritz waiting in the Round of 32. Khachanov clashes with Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta and will take on either Tiafoe or Mpetshi Perricard in the second round.