Next Gen ATP Finals 2022: Lorenzo Musetti vs. Jack Draper Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals as Lorenzo Musetti takes on Jack Draper in the Group Stage on Thursday, November 10th, 2022.

It is a winner-take-all clash at the Next Gen ATP Finals when Lorenzo Musetti takes on Jack Draper in a mouthwatering Group Stage match. The two highest-ranked players in the draw will vie to reach the semifinals, but that spot is reserved for just one of them. Who will qualify?

Lorenzo Musetti was instilled as the tournament favorite following the high-profile withdrawal of Holger Rune. The second-seeded Musetti opened up his Next Gen ATP Finals account with a routine win over Taiwan’s Tseng Chun-hsin. But he was outmatched by Dominic Stricker in Wednesday’s high-quality clash. Musetti had trouble dealing with the Swiss’ high topspin forehand. And he paid a hefty price for his failure to convert a couple of set points in the second set. Ultimately he went down in five tiebreak sets.

Jack Draper, for his part, has turned his fortunes around at the Next Gen ATP Finals. After also falling to Dominic Stricker in his opener, he posted his first win against Tseng. Thing could have gone awry for the Briton had he not indulged himself into a much-needed pep talk in the second set. He came from a set down to defeat the Taiwanese and stands within one match from the last four. Can he overcome the home favorite Lorenzo Musetti?

Lorenzo Musetti and Jack Draper have not played each other on the ATP Tour. However, they clashed at Wimbledon junior’stournament in 2019 where the Briton won their quarterfinal match. Musetti struggled to deal with Stricker’s left hander and unless he can change his approach the outcome might be the same here. Draper, like Stricker, is a southpaw and hits even harder and has averaged 80% first-serve points won in each of his two matches. And we also have to factor in Musetti’s late-night finish on Wednesday, he was clearly fatigued in his two-hour 30-minute battle. Draper will relish being the underdog.