Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard revealed he has been dealing with ‘burnout’ amid a poor run of form on the ATP Tour.
Perricard, who achieved a career-high ranking of 29th in the world last season, has not won a singles match since the Queen’s Club Championships in June. The Frenchman has suffered seven straight losses since then, resulting in his ranking plummeting outside the top 100.
Following the first six defeats, Perricard dropped down to Challenger Tour level at an event in Roanne, but lost in straight sets there to an opponent ranked 702nd in the world.
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard speaks candidly about burnout
“Nothing is going right apart from my serve,” Perricard told French outlet L’Equipe in a candid interview. He added: “These past few months have certainly been difficult. There have been a lot of negative things, both in my game and outside it.
“I’m trying to put the pieces back together little by little, but it isn’t easy. It’s going to take a long time. It comes down to a little depression, burnout. My friends were there for me and helped me, because not all the ideas I was having were very good.
“They helped me enormously during a period when things were really not going well at all. It’s a difficult slope, a steep one, and for now it’s a long one, but I have to persevere. It’s not easy. I need to change my mindset. It’s hard, really hard. I think things will work out, but it will take time.”
Perricard, still just 23 years of age, burst onto the scene during the 2024 season by capturing his first two ATP titles in Lyon and Basel, as well as making the fourth round of Wimbledon. He has struggled to kick on at ATP Tour level since then, however, and is now ranked 145th in the world.
The silver lining for Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard amid poor form
Though Perricard has struggled on the ATP Tour since the summer, the indoor hard court season is upon him, which is where he has excelled in the past. With his big serve, Perricard has achieved a winning record on indoor courts in his career.
He holds a tally of 12 wins to nine losses indoors, a strike rate of 57%, and clinched his most recent title at an indoor event. Perricard won the 2024 Basel Open, where he put together a remarkable run with some big wins.
In that campaign, Perricard beat Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Holger Rune and Ben Shelton en route to the title. He won four of his five matches in straight sets at the tournament, conceding just one set in his match with Shapovalov.