Wimbledon, England — The Frenchman Giovanni Mpetosi’s Gazette hit the fastest serve ever at Wimbledon on Monday, hitting 153 mph (246 kph) in the first round.
The 6-foot-8 MPETSHI Perication recorded a serve in the first set of his first round match against American Taylor Fritz, reaching another 151 mph.
The new mark breaks the previous record of 148 mph set by the American Taylor Dent in 2010. Serve chase began in 1991 at Wimbledon.
The first round match between the two men was postponed just after 10:20pm local time, tied together in two sets each. Mpetshi Perricard won the first two sets 7-6 (8), 7-6 (10), but Fritz leveled it by taking the next two 6-4, 7-6 (6).
Closed on a retractable roof from No. 1 Court and artificial lights on, Mpetshi Perricard was two points to win while leading 5-2 on the tiebreaker in the fourth set, but never came close.
From 6-All on the tiebreak in the fourth set, 2024 US Open Runne-Up Fritz scored the next two points, forcing the fifth set, slamming his right fist into the chest, yelling “Let’s (Expletive) Go! Come On!”
The decision to postpone the game until Tuesday was greeted with a boo from the court No. 1 crowd, and Fritz appeared to hope to continue the game. He lifted his palm and looked at the guest box and said, “I couldn’t do anything. I tried it.”
Wimbledon has a local curfew at 11pm, and if you believe the referee may not finish on time, you can stop the match before that.
Center Court also suspended the final game on Monday. Three-time major finalist Alexander Zverev stopped at 10:54pm local time, even on set with Arthur Lin Darkneck.
There were no serve breaks in either of the two sets they played. Rinderknech took the first 7-6 (3), second with Zverev with a 7-6 (8) score.
In addition to speed records, Mpetshi Perricard offered 33 aces against Fritz.
Fritz, a 27-year-old Californian, was a quarter-final scholar at Wimbledon in 2022, losing to Rafael Nadal and a year ago to Lorenzo Musetti.
21-year-old Mpetshi Perricard, 36th in the ATP rankings, surpassed Wimbledon service speeds at 140 mph in 2024. American Ben Shelton was first recorded at 153 mph last year, but his serve was later fixed to 132 mph due to a malfunction in pursuit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.