Lorenzo Musetti vs Yoshihito Nishioka Prediction & Betting Tips - Toronto, Canada

Prediction published on 06/08/2023, 10:10  by Kennedy Kechula | Modified on 07/08/2023 at 04:00 in ATP Toronto Prediction

Sixteenth seed Lorenzo Musetti will play unseeded Yoshihito Nishioka on Monday at the Canadian Open first round. The winner here will face either unseeded Zhang Zhizhen or a yet-to-be confirmed opponent from the qualifiers in the second round. Lorenzo Musetti arrives in Toronto after a strong clay court swing where the majority of his 26 victories have come. He will now hope to be as decisive on hard court where he has compiled a 4-4 record. The Italian has struggled with a lack of consistency in 2023. But having defeated Nishioka twice, he will be confident of starting off with a win here. Musetti is making his main draw debut in Toronto. He was controversially removed from the qualifying list two seasons ago at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The 21-year-old is ranked 19th in the live ranking.

Yoshihito Nishioka will aim to advance from this round for the first time. He is making his fourth appearance here and the third in the main draw. The Japanese number one has struggled all through the year. He has lost more matches, 14, than the 12 he has won. This form has seen him drop with almost every passing week in the live ranking. He is currently down 14 places to number 45. The majority of his victories, seven, have come on hard court but he has also suffered the most defeats on the surface. Nishioka has one win in three encounters with Musetti. He will hope he rises to the occasion as he did in Parma in 2021.