Jack Draper vs Francisco Cerundolo Prediction & Betting Tips - Lyon, France

Prediction published on 24/05/2023, 06:34  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 24/05/2023 at 21:00 in Tennis Predictions

Fourth seeded Francisco Cerundolo takes on unseeded Jack Draper in the last eight of the Lyon Open. Possible opponents in the semifinals include defending champion Cameron Norrie or sixth seeded Sebastian Baez. Cerundolo began this tournament ranked 28th so will be seeded at Roland Garros. He's had a busy clay court season with tournaments played in both his native South America and Europe. The Argentinian reached two quarter finals on the South American clay court tour. In Europe, the 24-year-old has had some good results on clay. He beat Cameron Norrie in Monte Carlo and Casper Ruud on his way to the last eight in Barcelona. Another last eight appearance came in Rome where Jannik Sinner was beaten before Ruud got revenge on him. In Lyon, Cerundolo has beaten Juan Pablo Varillas but that only lasted eight games. He won the first set 6-2 and his opponent then retired injured.

Jack Draper sadly knows what it is like to have to retire in a match. He's had several injuries in the past year and that's halted his rise up the rankings. Back fit again he's up five places to 55th in the live rankings. A win over Cerundolo will take him back into the top 50. That's still below the career high of 38th he achieved in January of this year. This Lyon Open is only the second clay court tournament he has played in 2023. He did well in the other one though, getting to the last 16 in Monte Carlo. He then took on Carlos Alcaraz and retired in the second set. The first round of this tournament saw him beat Alexandre Muller and only lost five games. In the next round he caused an upset when beating the fifth seed Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets. This is going to be tougher and we go for Cerundolo to get the win.