Hellenic Championship draw: Djokovic the favourite as Musetti makes late-gasp ATP Finals bid
Tennis great Novak Djokovic returns to action at his “home” event, the Hellenic Championships, next week and he has received a cushy draw, but all eyes are likely to be on Lorenzo Musetti as he looks to secure qualification for the ATP Finals.
Playing in his first tournament since losing in the semi-final of the Shanghai Masters, Djokovic is the headline act at the ATP 250 tournament as he is the highest-ranked player in the draw and also the only Grand Slam champion.
The Serbian – who moved permanently to Greece with his family a few months ago – is the top seed at the Athens event and receives a bye into the second round along with the rest of the top four.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner will face either Alejandro Tabilo or Adam Walton in the second round with world No 46 and sixth seed Nuno Borges a projected quarter-final opponent.
Although Djokovic would be favourite against either Tabilo (82) and Walton (83), he has a poor record against the former as the Chilean has 2-0 head-to-head record against the world No 1 as he beat him earlier this year at the Monte Carlo Masters and at the 2024 Italian Open.
Both of those were in straight sets and they were on clay.
If the seeds hold, then Djokovic will likely meet fourth seed Brandon Nakashima in the semi-final with the American facing either Marcos Giron or Pedro Martinez in the second round while he could take on eighth seed Fabian Marozsan in the last eight.
Djokovic is looking to win his second title of the year as his only other trophy this year has come at the Geneva Open.
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Musetti headlines the bottom half of the draw and he accepted a late entry into the main draw following his ATP Finals qualification setback at the Paris Masters.
The Italian is currently eighth in the Race To Turin, but he lost in the round of 32 at the ATP 1000 event and will be overtaken by Felix Auger-Aliassime if the Canadian wins his semi-final against Alexander Bublik.
The pair are separated by just 90 points and Auger-Aliassime will also be in action next week as he has entered the Moselle Open with Alexander Bublik also in the draw in France.
However, Bublik will need to win the Paris Masters to have any hope of qualifying.
Djokovic, of course, has already qualified for the ATP Finals, but it remains to be seen if he will participate. If he decides not to enter, like he did last year, then it leaves two places up for grabs.
Musetti, though, has been handed a tough task as he will face either Botic van de Zandschulp or Stan Wawrinka in the second round while he is projected to meet fifth seed Alexandre Muller in the quarter-final.
We could have an all-Italian semi-final as Musetti’s compatriot Luciano Darderi is seeded third, but he will likely have to get past seventh seed Alexei Popyrin in the last eight.
