Washington top seed Taylor Fritz might face a rematch with big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard at the Mubadala Citi DC Open following Saturday’s release of the draw for the combined ATP/WTA 500.
Mpetshi Perricard, who must win a first-round match with Australian Aleksandar Vukic to set a showdown with Fritz, dropped 37 aces and led the American No. 1 by two sets in the Wimbledon first round before the Californian dug in for a five-set win.
The 22-year-old from Lyon also fired the fastest recorded serve in Wimbledon history - a 153 mph/246 kph thunderbolt - during his clash with Fritz, who went on to reach the semi-finals to cap an impressive grass-court swing that included titles in Stuttgart and Eastbourne.
Fritz is playing the historic Washington event for the fifth time. His best result was a semi-final showing in 2023. Mpetshi Perricard, No. 45 in the PIF ATP Rankings, reached the third round on debut last year.
Saturday’s draw also threw up another potential big-serving opening-round challenge for former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who faces the winner of 6’ 11” American Reilly Opelka and a qualifier.
Second seed Lorenzo Musetti could face recent Wimbledon quarter-finalist Cameron Norrie in his opener. Third seed Holger Rune is seeded to meet 13th-seeded American Alex Michelsen in the third round.
Fourth seed Ben Shelton is seeded to meet countryman and D.C.’s favourite son Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals. Shelton leads the Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-1.
Main draw action begins Monday.
