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Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is the new ace king of the ATP Tour.

Leveraging his 6’8” frame, the 21-year-old Frenchman has used his serve to devastating effect in 2024, serving on average five aces more per match than any other player.

‘Gio’ has fired 87 aces across four matches this week en route to the Swiss Indoors Basel final, topping even his jaw-dropping season average of 17.8 aces a match, which is a significantly higher mark than any other player on tour according to Infosys ATP Match Stats.

Coming into Basel, Mpetshi Perricard had served 375 aces across 21 matches. That mark was five aces more per match than Hubert Hurkacz, who has the next best 2024 match average of 12.8. (The Pole has served more total aces than any player this season, with 730 untouched serves in 57 matches.)

His booming deliveries have proven to be a key to his rise. After starting the 2024 season outside the Top 200, the young star is up to a career-high No. 37 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, after reaching the final of the ATP 500 this week. Mpetshi Perricard also claimed his maiden tour-level title in Lyon in May.

Felix Auger-Aliassime announced on Saturday his withdrawal from the Rolex Paris Masters due to a back injury.

“I tried to give myself every last opportunity to be fit to play in Paris but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be this year ❤️‍???,” Auger-Aliassime wrote on Instagram. “After experiencing some pain in my back during Basel, I did some testing and attempts to practice before concluding that I wouldn’t be ready to compete in Paris at the level I’d hope for.

“That being said, it’s a bittersweet ending to the season and I’m going to do everything in my power to recoup mentally and physically for a strong start in 2025 ?? We keep going ?”

Auger-Aliassime was drawn to play Ben Shelton in the first round, with the winner to take on No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner in the second round. The Canadian is No. 27 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Auger-Aliassime closed his post with a message to his fans: “Thank you as always for all of your kind words and support ??”

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson are the fourth doubles team to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. They join Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic, Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos and Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori in the field.

The Australians have enjoyed a standout season, including a run to their first major title together at the US Open, where they lost just one set en route to the trophy. In New York, Purcell and Thompson became the first men from their country to win the US Open doubles crown since Todd Woodbridge triumphed with Swede Jonas Bjorkman in 2003.

The victory came on the back of heartbreak. Purcell and Thompson made the Wimbledon final, in which they earned three championship points before falling short to Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten.

The qualifiers have also claimed trophies in Dallas, Los Cabos and Houston this season. Although it did not contribute to his qualification with Purcell, Thompson won the Madrid ATP Masters 1000 title with Sebastian Korda.

Purcell, 26, was an alternate at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2022 with Matthew Ebden. Thompson, 30, will be at the season finale for the first time.

Youth was served on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Specifically, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard served 17 aces as he continued his breakout season with a 7-6(6), 6-4 upset of Holger Rune. 

The Frenchman beat his fellow 21-year-old to improve to 4-1 against Top 20 players in the PIF ATP Rankings and advance to his biggest career final at the ATP 500. He will next meet 22-year-old Ben Shelton, after the American defeated 20-year-old Arthur Fils.

"It's amazing to be in the final. I played a good match today. It was difficult against Holger, but I found the key to win this match," said Mpetshi Perricard. "Inside of me there was a lot of emotion, but I tried to calm it down. It's nice to be in the final and I hope to get the win."

After beginning the season outside the Top 200, the Frenchman is up to No. 37 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings this week, setting him up for a career high. He entered the week at No. 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

PIF ATP Rankings: Biggest Movers Into The Top 50 (2024)

Even with the 2024 season into its final weeks, Jack Draper continues to break new ground.

The Briton held his nerve to edge Lorenzo Musetti 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday afternoon and reach the championship match at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. In doing so, he advanced to his maiden ATP 500 final and simultaneously ensured he will on Monday rise into the Top 15 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time.

Draper battled through a topsy-turvy second set, in which he let slip a 4-2 lead and had to withstand a clear rise in Musetti’s level, before completing a one-hour, 49-minute victory.

“I thought the first set was a really high level from my side,” said Draper. “Definitely Lorenzo is a really tough competitor. I’ve known him since I was really young and playing against him is always so difficult. He’s had an incredible season.“The second set was really up and down. There were some long points and definitely some nerves and difficult moments, but I’m really proud of the way I kept on fighting and kept on going. In the end I got it done.”

The 22-year-old Draper was one of three players that age or younger to advance to an ATP 500 final on Saturday: In Basel, where all four semi-finalists were under 23, the 22-year-old Ben Shelton beat 20-year old Arthur Fils before Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard beat fellow 21-year-old Holger Rune.

Ben Shelton’s big-kicking lefty serve proved the key ingredient to snapping one of the ATP Tour’s most impressive open streaks on Saturday at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The sixth-seeded American downed Arthur Fils 6-3, 7-6(9) in a hard-fought 78-minute semi-final encounter to halt Fils’ winning streak at ATP 500s after 13 matches. Shelton did not face a break point and won 88 per cent (45/51) of points behind his first delivery against Fils, according to Infosys ATP Stats, but he was still forced to rally from 3/6 in the second-set tie-break before completing his win.

“I served really well today, and I had to because I know what Arthur is capable of when he touches the ball,” said Shelton in his on-court interview. “The goal was to let him know I got clean hits on the ball as much as possible, and I executed really well. He served well [too], so there weren’t that many long points. A really high level match, and I’m not sure how I pulled that tie-break out in the second set.”

⭐️ PERFECTION FROM BIG BEN ⭐️@BenShelton defeats his good friend Fils 6-3 7-6(9) to reach the showpiece final in Basel!!!#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/sjVteMObn3

Shelton (aged 22) and Fils (20) were two of a host of young talents in ATP 500 semi-final action on Saturday. Shelton’s final opponent will be Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (21), who later prevailed 7-6(6), 6-4 against fourth seed Holger Rune (also 21). Meanwhile at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, Jack Draper ousted his fellow 22-year-old Lorenzo Musetti to reach his maiden ATP 500 final.

In a week when home favourite Dominic Thiem competed for the final time at the Erste Bank Open, Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler continue to keep the Austrian flag flying at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

The wild card pair booked its championship-match spot in dramatic fashion on Saturday at the indoor hard-court ATP 500. Erler and Miedler saved two match points in the Match Tie-break to down Wimbledon champions Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and set a final showdown against Neal Skupski and Michael Venus.

Chasing their fifth tour-level title of the season, Heliovaara and Patten raced to the opening five games of Saturday’s semi-final clash. They were unable to maintain that momentum to close out victory, however. They soon fell 2-5 down in the second set and, although they rallied from to level at 5-5, Erler and Miedler soon levelled the match with their second break of serve in the set.

Then came the Match Tie-break drama. The Austrians rallied from 1-4 and then from two match points down at 7/9 before converting their own third match point for a famous triumph in which they converted both break points they earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

With their 85-minute victory, Erler and Miedler avenged their Marrakech final loss to Heliovaara and Patten and drew level at 1-1 in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series between the two teams.

Jannik Sinner does not yet know the identity of his opening-round opponent at next week’s Rolex Paris Masters. Yet he is already well aware that his return game will be put to the test early in his bid for a fourth ATP Masters 1000 crown of 2024.

The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings has been drawn to face Ben Shelton or Felix Auger-Aliassime in his Paris opener. Whether it is the big-kicking lefty serve of World No. 23 Shelton or the flatter, right-handed delivery of No. 19 Auger-Aliassime he ultimately comes up against, Sinner knows he will need to adapt quickly in his first match indoors since he lifted the Rotterdam trophy in February.

“[It is a] very tough draw. A very, very difficult draw, especially here on these courts,” said Sinner in his pre-tournament press conference on Saturday in the French capital. “Big servers are very tough. But we go day by day. Then anything can happen. The draw can open up sometimes, or you never know what's coming.

“I try to prepare in the best possible way for the first-round match. It's going to be very difficult against Ben. It's very, very difficult in any case. And against Felix, I never won [in two attempts]. So it's going to be a very tough one.”

Sinner has won just one match in three appearances in Paris-Bercy. He fell to Carlos Alcaraz, in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, on event debut in 2021. After another opening-round exit in 2022 (to Marc-Andrea Huesler), Sinner registered his first Rolex Paris Masters win against Mackenzie McDonald last year, but then withdrew before his third-round encounter with Alex de Minaur.

At the 2005 Rolex Paris Masters, unseeded Tomas Berdych became the lowest-ranked champion in tournament history by beating Ivan Ljubicic in a five-set final. The Czech, No. 50 in the PIF ATP Rankings at the time, started a 21st-century trend of surprise champions at the ATP Masters 1000 in the French capital, with trophy runs for unseeded stars like David Nalbandian, Karen Khachanov and Holger Rune — plus the 16th-seeded Jack Sock — following Berdych's triumph.

Since 2005, only one man has won multiple titles at the prestigious Paris event: Novak Djokovic, who claimed the first of his seven in 2009. Roger Federer (2011) and Andy Murray (2016) have also reigned at a tournament that has crowned superstars and rising stars as champions in equal measure. With the Serbian out of this year's event and Federer and Murray now retired, the stage could be ripe for another dark horse to finish first.

Ahead of the latest edition of the Paris tournament, ATPTour.com looks back at the unexpected titlists who could inspire a new surprise champion in 2024.

Tomas Bedych, 2005
A 20-year-old Berdych won his one and only ATP Masters 1000 title with a five-set victory against Ljubicic in the 2005 final on indoor carpet. The Czech beat five seeded players en route to the title, including Guillermo Coria, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Gaston Gaudio and countryman Radek Stepanek, before his 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4 triumph against Ljubicic.

Berdych had previously beaten Federer at the 2004 Olympics, but even he was shocked by his success in Paris, where he remains the lowest-ranked champ in tournament history.

Alex de Minaur kept his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive by dispatching #NextGenATP star Jakub Mensik 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 on Friday, to reach the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open.

The 25-year-old, currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, dug deep and emerged victorious in two hours and 34 minutes.

“Now it’s crunch time. Every match counts. Every single point counts,” de Minaur said.

“I am gonna do my best. I haven’t played enough tennis this year, I have been sidelined for a while. So, plenty of energy and plenty of fight in me. So, I am going to make sure I give it my all every time I step out on court.”

Mensik was the first to switch gears as the opening set went into a tie-break. He employed aggressive groundstrokes and forced errors from the Australian to claim the first set 7-6(2). He fired 24 winners in the first set, including nine aces, according to the Infosys ATP Stats.

Holger Rune’s impressive form at the Swiss Indoors Basel showed no signs of slowing down on Friday.

The 21-year-old booked his spot in a third consecutive semi-final in Basel after defeating lucky loser David Goffin 6-2, 6-4. Rune was relentless throughout his 80-minute victory, during which he carved out 11 break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Dazzling into the semis ?@holgerrune2003 has his eyes on the prize in Basel, the No. 4 seed dismisses Goffin 6-2 6-4!#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/A6BHhTAaNz

Rune, who is yet to drop a set this week, is into his 20th tour-level semi-final. With his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head win over Goffin, Rune became the fourth man to reach more than seven ATP Tour semi-finals in 2024.

After improving to a 10-2 record in Basel, Rune is  up to 14th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 1,045 points adrift of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev.

The Rolex Paris Masters draw did no favours for top seed Jannik Sinner, who could open his campaign against the surging Ben Shelton before meeting 2022 champ Holger Rune. The No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings would face Shelton if the Basel semi-finalist survives a brutal opener against Felix Auger-Aliassime, with the 13th-seeded Rune a potential opponent in the last 16.

Having clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours earlier this month, Sinner will bid to add to his tour-leading seven titles and his three ATP Masters 1000 crowns in 2024. A potential sixth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Shelton would be a rematch of their Shanghai showdown two weeks ago, which Sinner won en route to the title. Sinner has not competed on the ATP Tour since then, while Shelton upset Andrey Rublev Friday in Basel to reach the semis at the ATP 500.

Rune, who opens against Matteo Arnaldi, could await Sinner beyond that. The Dane seeks to repeat his breakthrough run to the 2022 Paris title, when he saved match points against Stan Wawrinka in the opening round before knocking off five Top 10 opponents in succession. A fearless Rune won a three-set final that year against Novak Djokovic, who won his seventh Paris title in 2023 but withdrew from this year's event.

Fifth seed Taylor Fritz is also in Sinner's top quarter, while third seed Alexander Zverev and sixth seed Rublev headline the second quarter. Carlos Alcaraz anchors the bottom half of the draw as the second seed, joined by seventh seed Casper Ruud in his quarter, while fourth seed Daniil Medvedev and eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals of their section.

We move onto @RolexPMasters ?

Take a look at this year’s ATP Masters 1000 winners and the ? #Insight that powered their success ?

Who’s your pick for the next title, and which #Insight will be the game-changer this time❓?#TennisInsights | @atptour | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/8FZ6kuI008

Lorenzo Musetti battled back from the brink of defeat to book his spot in the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open.

In an absorbing clash with top seed Alexander Zverev, the Italian dug deep to prevail 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 after two hours, 36 minutes. Musetti produced some of his most scintillating tennis to rally from 0/3 in the second-set tie-break, before pulling to a commanding lead in the decider.

“It didn’t start how we planned, I was struggling to find the right balance with my forehand and the variation of my backhand,” said Musetti, who moved to 2-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “But I stayed there, even when he came back in the second, I saved a lot of break points at 5-5. It’s definitely a match that means a lot to me.

“It’s a pretty big win [in my career], because Sascha really loves to play here, on this court, in these conditions. But, after the first round, I was feeling in good shape and today I showed that.”

?????? ???? ?@Lorenzo1Musetti upsets the No. 1⃣ seed in Vienna to reach the SFs ?#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/rIjJpVNxVf

Ben Shelton’s ‘towel swing’ is the latest addition to his arsenal of powerful weapons.

The left-handed American boasts one of the most lethal serves in the sport, and he put that overhead strength to good use Friday at the beginning of his Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-final with Andrey Rublev.

As a lingering haze from the smoke machine – used to add dramatic effect to player walk-ons – failed to clear from above the court, Shelton took matters into his own hands ahead of his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with the World No. 7.

"What do you think if we started waving the towels like this," Shelton asked chair umpire Arnaud Gabas with a smile.

To the delight of fans, Shelton took his towel and began fanning the smoke in a double-handed overhead motion, drawing an ear-to-ear grin from Rublev and generous applause from fans, including Roger Federer’s parents Robert and Lynette, who were in attendance.

Arthur Fils on Friday earned more than a quarter-final victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The Frenchman also guaranteed that he will top the 2024 ATP 500 Bonus Pool.

The ATP 500 Bonus Pool this year distributes $1,340,000 to the five players with the most points earned at the ATP 500 category in 2024. By winning it, Fils will earn an additional $615,000.

Fils now has 1,400 points in the category for the season, leading second-placed Jannik Sinner, who has 1,330. Alex de Minaur, currently competing in Vienna, can pass Sinner. However, no player will be able to catch Fils.

The 20-year-old has won two ATP 500 titles this year, in Hamburg and Tokyo. In addition to his semi-final showing this week in Basel, Fils made the quarter-finals in Barcelona and Halle.

Casper Ruud currently holds the fifth spot for the Bonus Pool with 830 points. The players who still have an opportunity to finish in the Top 5 are Holger Rune (Basel), Alexander Zverev (Vienna), Andrey Rublev (Basel), Jack Draper (Vienna), Ben Shelton (Basel) and Lorenzo Musetti (Vienna).

Arthur Fils was in no mood to let slip his red-hot run at ATP 500 events on Friday at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The #NextGenATP star produced a steely performance to defeat third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 6-3 and advance to the last four in Basel. Fils has now won 13 consecutive matches at this level, underpinned by title runs in Hamburg and Tokyo this year. With the triumph, the 20-year-old improved to 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. 

“I think I served pretty well,” said Fils, who won 88 per cent (29/33) of points behind his first delivery and did not face a break point, according to Infosys ATP Stats. “I was very focused. I missed a crazy set point, but I am very happy with how I dealt with the tie-break and I think I played pretty good in the second set as well.

“I found a way to refocus [after missing the first two set points], and I think I did that pretty well, so I am happy.”

HE'S A BIIIIIG PROBLEM ?@ArthurFils1 punches his ticket into his 9th ATP Tour semi-final! #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/JvmW6Zaole

Holger Rune continued his impressive run of form at the Swiss Indoors Basel Thursday with a statement victory against Dominic Stricker.

The fourth seed surged past the Swiss wild card 6-3, 7-6(2) in one hour, 27 minutes. Rune, who reached the final in 2022, bounced back from a break deficit in the second set to cruise to a lead he would not relinquish in the tie-break.

“It was a good level from my side in the first set, but I lost a little bit of focus in the second when he broke me,” said Rune, who improved to 9-2 in Basel. “He was playing pretty fast, rushing me, so I had to up my footwork and be more active with my legs.

“I just had to stay in there and find a solution, and I did. I connected with some returns, managed to get the break back and everything was open.”

40th win of the season ?@holgerrune2003 sees off home hope Stricker 6-3 7-6(2) and will now face Goffin for a place in the last four! #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/tbiJy4e2hK

When Ozan Baris changed his name, it may not have seemed like a drastic switch on paper, but for the 20-year-old, it launched a new legacy.

Born as Ozan Colak, the American changed his name to solely his first and middle name. 'Ozan’ means ‘poet’ in Turkish while ‘Baris’ translates to ‘peace’.

“Colak means ‘crippled arm’ so I was like, ‘This is kind of bad juju’ to have ‘crippled arm’ in my name,” Baris told ATPTour.com at this week’s MarketBeat Open, an ATP Challenger Tour 75 event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“I was like, ‘I’ll create a new legacy behind my name and create my family and hopefully the Baris name will keep going on for however long it does’. I just wanted to create my own story.”

The 20-year-old is already creating quite a legacy as the No. 1 college player in the ITA singles rankings, the first player in Michigan State University programme history to reach that position.

Could Alex de Minaur be igniting a late charge to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals? 

The Australian advanced to the quarter-finals at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna after Flavio Cobolli was forced to retire trailing 7-6(2), 3-1. The Italian had clawed back a break of serve in the 10th game, but was unable to battle through a shoulder injury.

“I felt a little bit more comfortable in the way I was playing and moving, I think all round it was a very good level,” said de Minaur, who improved to 43-14 on the season. “Obviously, I don't want to finish the match like that by any means.

“I’m wishing Flavio a speedy recovery. He’s a hell of a player, a hell of a talent, and I am sure that all of the tennis world wants to see him back on court very soon.”

Cobolli is forced to retire due to injury ?

De Minaur is into the quarter-finals in Vienna 7-6(2), 3-1.#ErsteBankOpen | @ErsteBankOpen pic.twitter.com/9yfoS7MlXk