Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Jack Draper show big-match poise in Basel, Vienna

For the better part of two decades, the men’s game has been waiting, hoping, praying, for a youthful revolution. In 2024, the tour finally got its wish.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz led the way, of course. The 23-year-old Italian and 21-year-old Spaniard finally wrested all four Grand Slam titles, and the top two positions in the rankings, away from Novak Djokovic. They don’t look like they’re going to give those spots back to anyone, anytime soon.

But the trend continued farther down in the rankings, as 12 other players under the age of 25 have cracked the Top 40. Three of them—Ben Shelton, 22, Jack Draper, 22, and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 21—were in action in the Vienna and Basel finals this weekend.

Read More: Jack Draper topples Karen Khachanov to capture biggest title in Vienna

Read More: Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard rides sizzling serve to upset Ben Shelton and win Swiss Indoors

All three of these guys have clear and obvious upsides. Shelton and Mpetshi Perricard may already have the two most explosive serves in the game, and Draper’s lefty delivery isn’t far behind. All three had won a title this season. Shelton and Draper have each made the semifinals at the US Open.

But there were still question marks about all three, at least for me.

Draper is flashy, and he looks like a tennis star. But how solid was he gong to be in the big moments? His less-talented countryman Cameron Norrie ran circles around him in their all-Brit showdown at Wimbledon this year.

Shelton and the 6-foot-8 Mpetshi Perricard both have serves that can get them out of all kinds of trouble. But how consistent were they from their ground, and could their less-than-smooth backhands—especially Mpetshi Perricard’s low-margin, line-drive one-hander—hold up at the highest level? That question took on more urgency as Mpetshi Perricard struggled to get out of the first round for much of the summer and fall. He came to Basel having lost eight of his last nine matches.

All three of these young players, including Mpetshi Perricard, went some way to answering those questions over the past week. No, none of them won a major or qualified for the year-end finals in Turin. And none of them beat a Top 5 opponent. But Draper, with a win over Karen Khachamov in the Vienna final, and Mpetshi Perricard, with a win over Shelton in the Basel final, took home their first 500-level trophies, against pretty strong fields, and showed big-match poise in closing out their title runs on Sunday.

In Basel, Mpetshi Perricard served himself out of his slump to beat Felix Auger Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Holger Rune, and Shelton. He wasn’t broken once during the event. In the final, he hit 22 aces in 11 service games; when you can hit two aces per game, you don’t need much else to get across the finish line. Against Shelton, Mpetshi Perricard broke his slightly nervous opponent in the opening game, and ran out the set from there. In the second set tiebreaker, he got another gift when Shelton stoned an easy volley at 4-4. Mpetshi Perricard made the most of the mistake, too, slamming down ace No. 22 at championship point.

“I almost killed myself trying to return your serve,” said Shelton, who couldn’t get out of the way of at least one of Mpetshi Perricard’s missiles.

“On this surface, of course my serve is a good weapon for me, but I try to be aggressive from the baseline and put some pressure on the opponent," Mpetshi Perricard said. "I’m very happy, it was a big part of my game this week.”

“My goal was to win a 250 or a 500, but to win both is amazing,” said Mpetshi Perricard, who moved to No. 34 in the rankings.

Draper knows the feeling. He also won a 250 earlier this year, in Stuttgart, and added his 500 in Vienna.

Where Mpetshi Perricard won mainly with his serve, Draper beat Khachanov by setting up his forehand and unleashing it down the line. Draper was in total control from the baseline, and led 6-4, 4-0, before the Russian dug in, and the Brit tightened up. He lost five straight games to go down 4-5, but crucially, he didn’t lose that sixth game. Instead, he held serve with a crosscourt backhand winner, broke with a crosscourt backhand pass, and saved two break points in the final game to close it out 6-4, 7-5.

“I was playing so good, and then the momentum shifted,” Draper said. “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.”

Draper and Mpetshi Perricard impressed in different ways: The Brit with his ability to gather himself and avoid collapse, the Frenchman with his ability to do just enough on his opponent’s serve, and let his own serve take care of the rest.

Even in this new ATP era, where youth has begun to triumph over experience, it’s still a long, step-by-step road to the top. Draper and Mpetshi Perricard took one of those small steps this weekend, and gave us a reason to think they’ll take more in 2025.