By Ricky Dimon
Following last year’s cancellation because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the NextGen ATP Finals are back for a fourth installment. Milan is once again hosting the festivities, which are headlined by an impressive quartet of top four seeds: Carlos Alcaraz, Sebastian Korda, Lorenzo Musetti, and Brandon Nakashima. Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Sebastian Baez, Holger Rune, and Hugo Gaston round out the field of eight.
Sunday’s draw ceremony produced the following:
Group A
Carlos Alcaraz
Brandon Nakashima
Juan Manuel Cerundolo
Holger Rune
Group B
Sebastian Korda
Lorenzo Musetti
Sebastian Baez
Hugo Gaston
Alcaraz is the biggest name in the competition and he is also in the best
form of anyone, so the Spaniard is an obvious title favorite. His 2021
highlights include a maiden ATP title in Umag and a run to the U.S. Open
quarterfinals.
“I am feeling comfortable and have a lot of confidence with myself,”
Alcaraz assessed. “It has been a brilliant year and I hope to show a good
level here at the NextGen. Playing against the young guys like me with the
different conditions, best of five sets, four games [is nice]. I am excited to
play.”
The world No. 32’s round-robin group is without question the more difficult of
the two, as it also includes Nakashima and a red-hot Rune. A title this past
weekend in Bergamo pushed Rune’s 2021 Challenger trophy count to four.
The most well-known competitors in the other foursome are Korda and Musetti.
Both guys have cooled off a bit since being on fire at many points during the
first half of the season. Korda advanced to the Delray Beach final, won the
Parma title, and reached the second week at Wimbledon. Musetti advanced to the
Acapulco semis and the French Open fourth round, even taking a two-set lead
over Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros before failing to seal the deal.
The 19th-ranked Italian is looking to join Jannik Sinner (2019) as a NextGen
champion.
“I saw the matches from Jannik when he won, so I hope to do the same
and win the trophy,” Musetti reflected. “I think everyone is honored
to be in this competition and playing the event this week.”
Musetti had been in a mighty slump the past couple of months but started to
fare at least slightly better in Antwerp, Vienna, and Paris. Everyone in Group
B other than Korda is most comfortable on clay, so this is a good chance for
Musetti to capitalize on a favorable draw and punch his ticket to the last four
in Milan.
Picks
Semifinals:
Alcaraz over Musetti and Korda over Rune
Final: Alcaraz over Korda
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.