Hubert Hurkacz vs Jack Draper Prediction & Betting Tips - Antwerp, Belgium

Prediction published on 18/10/2022, 07:32  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/10/2022 at 08:32 in Tennis Predictions

Top seeded Hubert Hurkacz takes on unseeded Jack Draper in the European Open second round. Possible third round opponents include sixth seeded Francisco Cerundolo and Dominic Thiem.  Both of those players have recently been beaten by the top seed. Hurkacz got a bye into the second round and began this week ranked 11th just behind Felix Auger-Aliassime who is the second seed in this tournament. The top seed is battling to make it into the ATP Tour Finals. He's currently in ninth place but Novak Djokovic will go ahead of him because he's won a Grand Slam this year. Hurkacz has been in good form of late with a semi-final in Metz, followed by a last eight appearance in Astana in his most recent tournament.

Jack Draper has been one of the rising stars this year. He started this European Open ranked 48th but was 282nd this time last year. He's up to 44th in the live rankings, putting him ahead of Andy Murray. His big target for the rest of the year and early January will be to get himself into the top 32 and be seeded at the Australian Open. Before that he has the NextGen finals to look forward too. Draper had a comfortable first round win over Jenson Brooksby, only losing three games. That was his first match on the ATP Tour since retiring hurt against Karen Khachanov in the US Open. He'll give the top seed a good match but Hurkacz can get the win.