tennis | Monday, October 17, 2022 8:20 AM

Monday Tennis Best Bet: ATP Antwerp, Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper

Jon Reid

Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper Best Bet: Monday, October 17th

Well, it was a poor end to the week, as Mackenzie McDonald was dispatched with ease by an in-form Lorenzo Musetti.

For the week of the 17th, the ATP Tour has a trio of stops, including Antwerp, Belgium, Napoli, Italy and Stockholm, Sweden. For at least a day or two, we’ll focus on the two indoor events, as the event in Italy has had some major problems with the venue and court quality in the early goings.

Monday’s selection will come from Belgium, where Jenson Brooksby will take on one of the more promising young stars on the men’s tour in Jack Draper.

In this article:

Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper Preview
Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper Best Bet

Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper Preview

October 17th, 14:30 UK Time

An enticing afternoon matchup that will feature two polar opposite game styles, Brooksby and Draper should provide some entertainment.

With the American relying more on his tactics, as well as his spins, variety and consistency, he’ll need to be at the top of his game in order to get by the big-serving, big-hitting and incredibly athletic young gun in Draper.

After bursting onto the scene in 2021, Brooksby has regressed a tad in recent months – even on his preferred hard courts. He won just one match in the Washington, Montreal, Cincinnati swing, with three relatively disappointing straight-sets losses. He failed to reach the second week of the U.S. Open and was dismantled by eventual-champion Carlos Alcaraz in the third round, then won just one match in San Diego and was gone in the first round last week in Florence.

Even in his lone deep run of late (in Seoul), he needed three sets as a massive favourite and a walkover to reach the weekend.

His underpowered game just won’t get it done at the higher levels of the game, and his serve has to be one of the weakest for someone of his stature that we’ve seen in quite some time.

His junk game may trouble the young Brit, but Draper has shown a marked improvement in playing with margin and using spin to get lower-bouncing balls back without committing errors.

As for Draper, he is perfectly suited for the conditions in Belgium. Not only does his serve and forehand combination play incredibly well and find him a lot of cheap points, but his primary weakness – his endurance – can be masked at events where points are kept nice and short.

It was a run through several indoor hard-court Challenger tournaments earlier in the year that set the stage for his ascent through the rankings. He won four events in Forli, Italy and St. Brieuc, France overpowering his opposition on serve and using his improved athletic ability and coordination on the return of serve to break at an impressive rate.

Jenson Brooksby vs Jack Draper Best Bet

Considering the form of Brooksby of late, the fact it appears the tour may have figured out how to trouble him and the massive edge in terms of conditions for Draper, I’m more than happy to back the Brit at even money in the betting markets.

His vastly improved return game in 2022 should also afford him plenty of looks on Brooksby’s serve to find the breaks of serve he’ll need to win the match.

Finally, while the spins and variety would’ve been a big concern against the 2021 iteration of Draper, this year’s version has been much more patient and shown the ability to avoid trying to hammer lower-sitting balls that often leads to unforced errors.