The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan will reach its finale tomorrow with Jiri Lehecka and Brandon Nakashima facing off. The first Czech to appear in the event defeated Dominic Stricker in four sets in the semifinals while the San Diego champion eliminated Jack Draper. As always, we here at LWOT will preview and predict every match. Who do you think will be the champion?
Next Gen ATP Finals Final Prediction
Jiri Lehecka vs Brandon Nakashima
Head-to-head: Nakashima 1-0 Lehecka
A Green group re-match in the final of Milan, the crowd will be hoping for a more exciting outing than the first time around. Nakashima won the match comfortably 4-1 4-3(2) 4-2. The Next Gen ATP Finals’ four-game no-deuce format makes it very unlikely this will be the case again in the final though.
The Czech No. 1 has had a tough indoor hard season, earning some decent wins over Grigor Dimitrov, Marcos Giron, and Tim van Rijthoven but failing to win back-to-back matches at any point. This came as a slight disappointment after Lehecka had his career-best run on indoor hard back in February, reaching the semifinals out of qualifying at the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. The 21-year-old earned wins over the likes of Denis Shapovalov or Lorenzo Musetti before he went a set up on Stefanos Tsitsipas, eventually losing 6-2 in the third. In Milan, Lehecka defeated Francesco Passaro and Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets while losing to Nakashima, getting out of the group in second place before eliminating Dominic Stricker 4-1 4-3(4) 2-4 4-1.
Nakashima has had a very solid season in his first full year on the main tour. The 21-year-old won his first ATP title in San Diego, reached at least the third round at three of the four slams, and had decent results throughout the year with seven quarterfinals on the ATP Tour. The American began his week with a five-set battle against Matteo Arnaldi but won his next two matches comfortably over Lehecka and Passaro. Nakashima turned aside the big game of Jack Draper in the semifinals in four sets, coming through 4-3(6) 1-4 4-2 4-3(5).
It should be an interesting final with a contrast in styles and though the scoreline was straightforward in their group clash, I expect a more competitive match this time around with Nakashima still coming out the champion.
Prediction: Nakashima in 5
