The top two seeds Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti remain in contention for a friendly Athens clash. 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 securing a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals. The world No. 9 was in the Paris Masters before Felix auger-aliassime stole – at least temporarily – the all-important eighth place by reaching the membership match. To get it back, Mumetti must lift the medal this week at the Hellenic Championship. This 23-year-old meeting gave himself the opportunity to win by winning over Stan Wawrinka-after two points from the defeat and Alexandre Muller.
Standing in Mumetti’s way to the final on Friday is Korda, with the head-to-head series tied at 2-2. Not surprisingly, Korda is 2-0 on indoor hard courts and 0-2 on clay. The 52-ranked American’s wins came at the 2021 Nextenn Ap Finals and the 2022 ATP 250 with Metz. It is true that the surface likes Korda, but Mumetti is now a very different player on the fast courts than before after he returned in 2021 and 2022
Choose: Musetti in 3
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. (q) Yannick Hanfmann
Djokovic seems surprisingly motivated by this ATP 250 event, perhaps wanting to get as many matches under his belt as possible before his expected participation in Turin. However, the 38-year-old has played it a little in recent months – his only other US Open appearance came at the Shanghai Masters, where he reached the semifinals. Djokovic is off and running in Athens with straight defeats of Alejandro Tabilo and Nuno Borges.
Next up for the world No. 5 on Friday is a third meeting with Hanfmann, who has lost their previous contests – 6-3, 6-3 on the red clay of Geneva last year and 4-6, 7-5, 6-6 last month in Shanghai. It has already been a busy week for Germany with a high ranking of 117, which was worthy of the great attraction of Athens and chased Ivan Ivanov, Vit Koppiva, and Marcos Giron. Hanfmann is playing well, but will not be able to catch Djokovic by surprise after taking a set from the 24-time champion in Shanghai.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
