France's Ugo Humbert, Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard go into the season's first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open aiming to prove that their strong finish to 2024 was no fluke.
Humbert ended 2024 by reaching the final at the Paris Masters, one of the most prestigious events on the circuit after the four Grand Slam championships at the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Last week, of his intent for 2025, Mpetshi Perricard literally served notice. He unleashed a barrage of aces from his 2.03m frame on his way to the semis at the Brisbane International.
Fils advanced to the quarter-finals at the Hong Kong Open where he was beaten by compatriot Alexandre Müller who went on to claim the title.
As a result of his success, Müller rose 11 places in the ATP lists to 56 in the world and the 27-year-old will start in Melbourne against Nuno Borges from Portugal.
Humbert, France's top tennis player at number 14, will begin his seventh visit to the Australian Open against the 23-year-old Italian Matteo Gigante who came through the three qualifying rounds to attain the main draw.
Fils will play Otto Virtanen from Finland and Mpetshi Perricard will start in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament as a seed for the first time against his experienced compatriot Gael Monfils.
Last year, Humbert reached the third round in Melbourne. Fils went down to the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the second round and Mpetshi Perricard failed to make it out of the qualifying tournament.
"Humbert is for the second time in his life inside the top 16 in the world rankings and that means you can't play a better ranked player before the second week," explained Julien Reboullet, tennis correspondent for the French sports newspaper L'Equipe.
"The first time it happened to him was at Wimbledon last July and he got to the fourth round where he played against Carlos Alcaraz.
"Although he lost in four sets, it was quite a fight. So I think the fact that he has this ranking right now is a very good point."
That Humbert beat Alcaraz on his way to the final at the Paris Masters should instil him with confidence. And so should the fast conditions on the cushion acrylic hard courts in Melbourne.
Speed
"The courts in Melbourne suit his game," Reboullet added. "During December, Humbert worked very hard on his physical condition. He plays on the front foot and doesn't wait for his opponent's faults. If he manages to find his form and to handle the heat in Australia, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the second week in Melbourne."
The journey of Fils and Mpetshi Perricard will be as intriguing. Fils won his first title on the tour at the ATP 250 event in Lyon in May 2023 when he was still in his teens.
Under the guidance of the French former top 10 player Sébastien Grosjean, Fils finished 2023 in the top 40 and flaunting the accolade of the circuit's breakthrough player of the year.
In July 2024, barely 20, Fils scooped the biggest prize of his career when he upset defending champion Alexander Zverev to claim the ATP 500 crown on the clay at the Hamburg Open in July. Another ATP 500 trophy followed in Tokyo in September.
Fils, who lost to Zverev at the Paris Masters in the last-16, ended the 2024 season at number 20 in the ATP rankings.
"After last year, Fils clearly has to be targeting the top 10," said Reboullet. "And I think he is giving himself all the chances because he is already working with Grosjean and he has added another coach to his team.
"I think looking for another piece of expertise is really the sign that he is in the process and the mood to get better and better."
Fraternity
That thirst for improvement will likely keep Mpetshi Perricard as aspirational. He and Fils have been firm friends since meeting 10 years ago at the training centre in Poitiers, western France. They've holidayed together and teamed up to win the doubles at the French Open junior event in 2021, a few days before Fils' 17th birthday.
"I want to thank Gio for the birthday present," said Fils after a straight sets victory over Martin Katz and German Samofalov. "Playing and winning with your mate ... there's really nothing better than that."
Three and a half years on from such giddiness, Mpetshi Perricard, the elder of the duo at 21, will be able to lean on his chum's experience on the senior circuit to negotiate what will be a complicated campaign after rocketing up the rankings in 2024 from 200 to 30 in the world courtesy of victories in Lyon in May and the ATP 500 event in Basel in October.
On his way to the last four in Brisbane, Mpetshi Perricard served 87 aces in his four matches before succumbing to the equally big-serving American Reilly Opelka.
"It will not be so easy to be a surprise," said Reboullet. "Because now the public and the other players are expecting something from him. But his serve will be a huge weapon and it will mean every opponent will have to stay very focused during the whole game.
"They will have to be very confident because they know that if they lose their own serve, they will have a very good chance of losing the set."
Sensibly, the France Davis Cup captain, Paul-Henri Mathieu, has drafted the trio to represent their country in the first round of the 2025 Davis Cup against Brazil in February in Orléans, central France.
"Ugo did so well to reach the final at the Paris Masters," said Mathieu, himself a former top 20 player. "Arthur won in Tokyo and Gio won in Basel. All three of them play well on a fast indoor surface."
But how they operate on a fast outdoor court in searing heat will be the question as they and the 125 other players in the first round draw jostle for one of the sport's most coveted accolades.
Contenders
World number three Carlos Alcaraz enters the Australian Open hoping to add the crown to his titles from the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Should the 21-year-old Spaniard triumph, he will become only the sixth man since tennis was opened up to professionals in 1968 to win the prize at all four sites.
After the retirement of Rafael Nadal last September, Novak Djokovic bestrides the circuit as the only active player to have achieved the exploit.
The 38-year-old, who was beaten in the semis in 2024 by the eventual champion Jannik Sinner, will go into the 2025 tournament seeking a record-extending 11th Australian Open trophy and an unprecedented 25th singles crown at a Grand Slam tournament with a new coach in the shape of former world number one Andy Murray.
"I think it was a move of a genius," said Reboullet who has been reporting on tennis for 25 years. "The message for the other ones is: 'Hey, I'm not dumb. And now I have a big guy with me, and you will have to beat Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray this year if you want to go further.'
"Djokovic is telling everyone that he's not done yet and he still wants to win something big."
Sinner, who won at the US Open in September 2024 and the season-ending championships in November, appears more than capable of stopping Djokovic's dream for a second successive year.
And while the Serb goes into battle for legend, France's top three will fight for credibility.
