ATP Tournament in Marrakech, Round of 16, Wednesday, 05.04.2023
It’s finally time to get out on the clay! In the 2023 tennis season, we leave the hard court behind for the next few weeks, the best in the world concentrate entirely on preparing for the upcoming French Open.
Among others, they will be playing in Marrakech these days, where an Italian is seeded at position 1. Why he is only just ahead at Bwin for the round of 16 and why I also avoid a narrow victory, I now reveal in my Musetti Gaston tip!
He has been called a super talent, a player who once has a great career ahead of him with titles of all kinds. Lorenzo Musetti, now 21, is struggling with that status, currently unable to bring it on the pitch.
Already at the end of last year, he stumbled at the Next Generation Finals and had to leave very early. Obviously, he has not improved enough over the turn of the year.
He failed directly to Lloyd Harris at the Australian Open and did not get back into form afterwards either. Or as one could also put it: Musetti won a single match in 2023!
In Buenos Aires he beat a certain Pedro Cachin, all other opponents were too strong for him. Four of the last five eliminations by the way had the result of a 4-6, 4-6 to offer, quite interesting.
Nevertheless, he does not play the same way day in and day out. In Miami, he was knocked out by Jiri Lehecka and had only one break chance. Before that, in Indian Wells, Adrian Mannarino offered him eleven chances, nine of which he missed.
It is a little surprising that he is still ranked 21st in the world after his latest results. He is now competing in Marakkech for the second time after 2022, hoping for a turnaround.
In 2021, he already had the opportunity to experience Hugo Gaston, albeit not in a main draw. Both players have one win each and are not that far apart in our betting odds.
On average, Musetti goes into the race with a lead of 1.55 to 2.40, so there should also be a lot in it for Gaston. And that, although he should actually have no chance, purely according to the ranking (he is in 104th place).
Unlike Musetti, the Frenchman already has one match behind him. From a German point of view, we have to say: Unfortunately, he also won this one, because he played Jan-Lennard Struff in the 1st round.
3-6, 6-4, 7-5, the incredibly close match ended up in Gaston’s favour. Both players posted almost identical statistics, so advancing was also linked to the luck of being there in the all-important moments.
An exact comparison to Musetti is relatively difficult, because Gaston was often on the road in other tournaments. At the Challenger in Vina del Mar a few days ago, he reached the final but lost it.
With his 1.73 metres, Gaston is clearly smaller than average, but he goes to the net all the more powerfully. In Marrakech, he is now competing for the first time, and reaching the quarter-finals would give him a good start right away.
My Musetti Gaston Tip
Hugo Gaston downed Jan-Lennard Struff in Marrakech, coming back strongly from a deficit. Now he faces the tournament’s No. 1, but, as my analysis made clear, he is completely out of form.
Lorenzo Musetti is currently a shadow of his former self, he has only won one match this year. Therefore, I don’t think he will be able to easily prevail on Wednesday and so I’m betting:
Gaston will win at least one set!
