Griekspoor knocked out Alexander Zverev – the tournament’s first seed – on Friday evening after a stunning match which saw two sets go to tiebreaks. Just two days later, the Dutchman would have to face the young and exciting Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
The two faced each other for the first time in their careers and came off very different matches in the previous rounds – whereas Griekspoor defeated Zverev, Mpetshi Perricard progressed after Fabian Maroszan had to give up after the first set.
The Frenchman gave up a break in just his second service game but hit Griekspoor with a re-break just one game later. The two would not give up another service game after, going all the way to a tiebreak to determine the first set’s winner.
Using his experience in Indian Wells tiebreaks after featuring in three tiebreaks already this tournament, Griekspoor jumped to a minibreak’s advantage on Mpetshi Perricard’s third service point and wound up winning the set after profiting from a double fault from his French opponent and giving away no breaks whatsoever.
28-year-old Griekspoor flew out the gates in the second set after opening with a love game and breaking Mpetshi Perricard in the fourth game of the set. In just his third set of this tournament, the Frenchman fought for what he’s worth but couldn’t keep up with a determined Griekspoor after committing 15 unforced errors in the second set – 13 more than his Dutch counterpart.
Griekspoor beat Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (3), 6-3 in California and thereby clinched just his second ticket for a fourth round of an ATP 1000 tournament. Griekspoor will face the winner of the matchup between qualifier Yosuke Watanuki and home hero Frances Tiafoe.