🏆 Ongoing Tournaments

Hey, Tennis Pro! It's finally Friday!

Musseti leaves Milan early. As the week progresses we've seen several surprises in the tour's new promises tournament. Almost at the same level of unexpectedness, Stricker has had a perfect pace and the tournament's favorite pick was left out without even reaching the semi-finals.

Since his debut in Milan, Musetti had come from bad to worse. The first match was a day at the park against Tseng, however on the second and third days things did not go as planned.

On the second round, he was surprised by the undefeated Stricker, extending the match against the Swiss to 5 sets in which all were decided in a tiebreak.

Yesterday, he just didn't show the character that Lorenzo has us accustomed to. The Italian was outplayed by Jack Draper who withdrew him from the tournament in three straight sets, of which Musetti only won four games versus the Brit.

It seems that tiredness got the best out of Lorenzo, since apparently he didn't have the stamina to show some eagerness in his last stand against the British. Musetti stays at home empty-handed and gives way to new promises who have shown better form in the Next Gen Finals.

🔑 Next Gen Semi-Finalists Key Stats

I'd already planned to design a graph of the most important stats for the Next Gen semifinalists. However, I would've expected to see Musetti on the last stage, and I definitely wasn't counting on Dominic Stricker as a strong contender for the title.

The undefeated Swiss player in the tournament is last in three of the five graphed stats and yet he has beaten whoever has been put in front of him. Dominic is going hard in Milan.

For his part, the now considered favorite for the title Jack Draper presumes to be in first place in three stats and near the top in Service Games Won. Of those that remain, Draper and Nakashima are the strongest on tour and the numbers back them up.

Meanwhile, Lehecka is neutral in most stats, with particular inefficiency in Second-Serve Return Points Won percentage. Neither the momentum of the tournament nor the stats put him as a favorite to go to the final.

The Next Gen show rather good numbers and the tennis level we have seen so far proves it.

💪 Dominic Stricker: the undefeated Next Gen

Despite the fact that Stricker was already assured of the top spot in the Red Group at the Finals, the Swiss didn't hold back and earned his second victory of the tournament in three straight sets.

Interestingly, all of the eight sets that had taken Dominic to the lead of his group had been won in tiebreaks. However, the exception was Taiwanese Tseng, who was not given a chance to defend a tied set.

The last Round Robin match for Stricker lasted just 56 minutes, making it the only match in the tournament that lasted less than an hour.

For today, Dominic will face the second of the Green Group, Jiri Lehecka, the Swiss being the clear favorite to advance to the Next Gen final.

We've been covering Dominic closely throughout the week and he continues to amaze with his effectiveness. I see a tight close of the week with Draper and Stricker displaying a top-level game.

🗒️ Daily Results

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

⏱️ Today’s Order of Play

[Updated 06:00 a.m. GMT]

👋 So long, and thanks for all the tennis!

→ The Nitto ATP Finals official groups.

→ Stefanos and Rafa's court-view practice in Turin (must watch).

→ A romantic recap for Swiatek's dream season.

→ A juggling version of Casper Ruud.

→ Rafa showing off the football skills just weeks ahead of the World Cup.