Top two seeds Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti remain on a collision course for the inaugural Athens final. They still have to get past Yannick Hanffman and Sebastian Korda, respectively, in the semis on Friday.
Sebastian Korda vs. (2) Lorenzo Musetti
Musetti is two wins away from clinching a spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. The world No. 9 had been in position heading into the Paris Masters before Felix Auger-Aliassime stole–at least temporarily–the all-important eighth place by reaching the championship match. In order to get it back, Musetti must lift the trophy at this week’s Hellenic Championship. The 23-year-old has given himself a chance with victories over Stan Wawrinka–after being two points from defeat–and Alexandre Muller.
Standing in Musetti’s way of the final on Friday is Korda, with the head-to-head series all tied up at 2-2. Not too surprisingly, Korda is 2-0 on indoor hard courts and 0-2 on clay. The 52nd-ranked American’s wins have come at the 2021 NextGen ATP Finals and the 2022 ATP 250 in Metz. It is true that the surface favors Korda, but Musetti is now a much different player on faster courts than he was back in 2021 and 2022. The Italian is the superior all-around player right now and he obviously has a lot more at stake, so look for him to have a slight edge.
Pick: Musetti in 3
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (Q) Yannick Hanfmann
Djokovic seems surprisingly motivated at this ATP 250 event, perhaps wanting to get as many matches as possible under his belt in advance of his expected participation in Turin. After all, the 38-year-old has played sparingly in recent months–his only other appearance since the U.S. Open has come at the Shanghai Masters, where he reached the semifinals. Djokovic is off and running in Athens with straight-set defeats of Alejandro Tabilo and Nuno Borges.
Up next for the world No. 5 on Friday is a third meeting with Hanfmann, who has lost both of their previous contests–6-3, 6-3 on the red clay of Geneva last spring and 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 last month in Shanghai. It has already been a busy week for the 117th-ranked German, who qualified for the Athens main draw and then dismissed Ivan Ivanov, Vit Kopriva, and Marcos Giron. Hanfmann is playing well, but he won’t catch Djokovic by surprise after taking a set off the 24-time major champion in Shanghai.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
