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Sports · US Open 2026 · Men's Singles · Round of 128
Jurij Rodionov vs Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard — 7-6(2) 6-0 7-6(4)
 Jurij Rodionov✓ | 7 | 6 | 7 |
 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | 62 | 0 | 64 |
Final · Monday, August 31, 2026 · Round of 128
Result
Two tiebreak sets with no break of serve in either, and a 6-0 in between where every break of the match happened. Rodionov played the afternoon without a double fault against Mpetshi Perricard's seven, won 61% of his second-serve points to the Frenchman's 39%, and made 18 unforced errors to 36. He held four match points at 6-5 in the third, all of them on return, converted none, and took the tiebreak 7-4 instead. It is his first US Open main draw — his only previous major main draws were three at Roland Garros — and Mpetshi Perricard's fifth first-round exit in a row. 112 points to 91 in 2 hours 10 minutes.
Jurij RodionovRows the source hadn’t published are left off rather than guessed.
At this Stage
The Round of 128 is the widest the net ever gets: 64 matches a draw, spread across three days, every seed in action and every qualifier playing the biggest match of the year. This half of the bracket filled in late — qualifying ran a day long after rain pushed the last round to Friday, so these names were still blank slots on draw night. First-round losers leave with $140,000. The winner draws Menšík or Mochizuki in the Round of 64.
What we know now
What I said beforehand
The preview, frozen before the first serve. Clearly dated, never rewritten — that's the deal that makes the pick worth anything.
Mpetshi Perricard serves as big as anyone alive and is ranked 104th; Rodionov is a 143rd-ranked left-handed qualifier who is 12–7 on the season — much the better recent form of the two, against Mpetshi Perricard's 12–18. Best-of-five is the Frenchman's friend, because it gives the serve more chances to decide sets, and his 38–42 hard record beats Rodionov's 26–40. But a lefty returner who has just won three matches on these courts is a bad first-round draw for a one-dimensional server. Call it Mpetshi Perricard in five, with two tiebreaks.
The case for Jurij Rodionov
44% to winRodionov is left-handed, in form (12–7 this season against 12–18), and has three wins on these exact courts this week. Returning is the one department where Mpetshi Perricard is beatable, and a lefty's angles into the ad court are the hardest read for a server relying on raw speed.
The case for Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
56% to winOver five sets, the serve is the safest asset in tennis. Mpetshi Perricard is 39 places higher in the world, has a better career hard record (38–42 to 26–40), and does not need to break more than once a set. Rodionov has never played a US Open main draw; the Frenchman has.
Both cases written 2026-08-29, before the first ball — frozen into the record exactly as written, whatever the result. The percentages are mine — opinions with a percent sign on. They add to 100 because tennis has no draw to hide the rounding in.
My locked pick: Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard to advance ✗ WRONG
“Best-of-five hands the biggest serve in the match more chances to decide sets, against a first-time main-draw qualifier.”
Locked 2026-08-29 01:40 UTC — rendered verbatim from the pick ledger; never a fresher, hedged version
Tale of the tape
Jurij RodionovGiovanni Mpetshi PerricardPlayer vitals: US Open official player feed (usopen.org) and Tennis Abstract career match logs · as of 2026-08-28.
Career head-to-head: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Storylines
- Rodionov, 27, reaches a US Open main draw for the first time — through qualifying, as a left-hander.
- Mpetshi Perricard lost in the first round here in 2025, his only previous appearance.
- Recent form flips the ranking: Rodionov is 12–7 this season, Mpetshi Perricard 12–18.
Head to head
They have never met.
Source: Tennis Abstract career match logs (tour-level) · as of 2026-08-28.
Court & schedule: Court 6, Monday 31 August. The US Open posts each day's order of play the evening before; this one is on the board. (Official US Open order of play, as of 2026-08-30)
Weather: Sunday — the men's final, and the last match of the fortnight — was forecast at 78°F with showers and thunderstorms 95% likely, the wettest day of the two weeks and the one day that could not be pushed back. The rain came in the morning and stopped before the final, which Ashe played with its roof open. It cleared from there: 15% overnight, 15% Monday, then dry and sunny. (National Weather Service New York forecast, as of 2026-09-13)
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadows, New York — hard.