French star Richard Gasquet will meet Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the Round of 32 of the 2022 ATP Moselle Open on Wednesday, September 21.
2022 ATP Tour
ATP 250 Series
Moselle Open
Arenes de Metz (Indoor Hardcourt)
Selected Round of 32 and 16 Matches- 21st September
Round of 32
Richard Gasquet vs Dominic Thiem
This should be a fascinating clash between two former finalists in this event. It’s a testament to Richard Gasquet’s longevity that he reached the final here way back in 2004.
It’s little secret that the 36-year-old Frenchman is closer to the end of his career than the start. But he has actually played some really consistent tennis this season. He beat Danil Medvedev en route to a semi-final berth in Geneva. He has actually reached four quarterfinals throughout the year.
He also showed reasonably solid form at the Slams, reaching the 3rd round at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
He just picked up a few straight-sets victories at the recent Davis Cup matches. He is basically free-rolling as he heads towards retirement and you can expect him to play pretty carefree tennis until that point.
Thiem is slowly clawing his way back to a semblance of his former self. He really struggled to reacclimate to life on tour after returning from an injury hiatus in March.
He lost his first seven successive first-round matches after returning to action (ouch!). But he skipped Wimbledon and found his range in the clay-court events immediately thereafter. He reached the quarterfinal stage or better in four successive events (this included a semi-final in Gstaad).
The 2020 US Open champion endured a disappointing return to New York after being eliminated in the first-round. But he comes into this event off the back of some decent tournament form. He just reached the final of a pretty strong Challenger event in Rennes (too bad he was utterly thrashed by Ugo Humbert in the final).
It has really been a year of two steps forward, two steps back for the Austrian. But his fitness does seem to be slowly returning and he was a sensational indoor-hardcourt player in his pomp (he actually reached the final here back in 2016).
Verdict: Thiem to win in three- Gasquet actually leads the head-to-head with Thiem 2-1. Thiem easily won their last encounter at the 2019 China Open.
I think that Thiem should persevere over three sets. He may be slightly rusty after his exploits in Rennes. But I expect him to slowly grind Gasquet down as the match progresses.
Gasquet has played a lot of tennis this year and could tire in the latter stages.
Round of 16
Lorenzo Musetti (3) (37/20) vs Seb Korda (41/100)
Lorenzo Musetti is part of a wave of young Italian talent that has taken the tour by storm in recent years. But it has been a pretty schizophrenic season for the Italian. He picked up his 1st ATP Tour title with an exceptional victory at the Hamburg European Open. That included a victory against current World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in the final. But outside of that it has been a slightly disappointing season for Musetti.
He reached some notable quarterfinals at the Rotterdam Open and Grand Prix Hassan II. But he has occasionally struggled with the physical demands of the tour. He is a lithe player who tends to play in a fairly old-fashioned style. He relies on changes of pace rather than crude power.
He will need to work on that if he wishes to evolve on the tour. But he’s still just 20 years of age. He is coming off a decent 3rd round run at the US Open and will be looking to improve on his 21-20 record for the season.
Seb Korda hasn’t had the type of season that many were expecting of him. He had a breakthrough 2021 campaign that saw him capture his maiden title in Parma. But he has battled a persistent foot issue this season and he has seen many other NextGen stars soar past him in the rankings.
His season started well enough. He reached the 3rd round of the Aussie Open and the quarterfinal of the Delray Beach Classic. He also reached the semi-final at Estoril. But he really struggled to defend some of the clay-court points he had accumulated last year. But he did find some encouraging signs during the North-American hardcourt swing.
He reached the quarterfinals in Washington before a round of 16 run in Cincinnati. He will need a real late-season flourish to ensure that he finishes this season ranked inside the top 50 in the world.
Verdict: Korda to win in straight sets at 21/20- Korda leads Musetti 2-1 in their head-to-head rivalry.
The Italian actually easily dismantled the American at this year’s Madrid Open. But Korda won their only hardcourt encounter at last year’s NextGen Finals. I think Korda is the superior player on hard surfaces.
He can get some cheaper points on serve and should have the ascendancy with the groundstrokes.
