An entertaining week of tennis in Florence, Italy is winding down as we are left with two players competing for the title at the ATP UniCredit Firenze Open. #1 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime has worked his way into his third final of the season, looking for his second title. American J.J. Wolf is having a career week and has found his way into his first career ATP Tour-level final. We at LWOT have the preview and prediction for this final. Who will come out on top?
ATP Florence Final Prediction
Felix Auger-Aliassime vs J.J. Wolf
Head-to-Head: first meeting
Felix Auger-Aliassime and J.J. Wolf are set for their first meeting on tour as the title of the Firenze Open is on the line. As the #1 seed, it took Auger-Aliassime just three wins to reach this final. The Canadian has seemingly improved his form throughout each match this week, capped off with a 6-2 6-3 semifinal victory over Lorenzo Musetti.
Wolf, on the other hand, has already played four matches this week, including two three-setters. The American is into his first career ATP final in his first full season competing at the tour level. The 23-year-old American currently holds a career-best live ranking of #56 in the world.
Auger-Aliassime’s struggles in finals has been well-documented; He is 1-9 in ATP final matches. With that said, the 22-year-old was able to secure that lone title earlier this year in Rotterdam. The mental blockage of not having won a tour level is behind him. On top of this, the Canadian is playing for a lot more than a title in Florence. A win on Sunday would vault Auger-Aliassime back into the Top 10 while also extending his seventh-place position in the Pepperstone ATP Race to Turin.
Auger-Aliassime is 14-4 on indoor hard courts this season. Wolf is just 9-7.
When looking at the first head-to-head meeting between these two, expect a lot of long rallies with both players looking to push the other off the baseline. Both FAA and Wolf predicate their games on being able to hit through their opponents off of both wings. They will both look to use aggressive groundstrokes in order to keep the other on their back foot. The player who pushes the other behind the baseline will have a massive advantage in this one.
With that said, the indoor hard courts of Florence have been playing relatively slow this week. Despite the power of Auger-Aliassime and Wolf, I expect a lot of long points in this match.
Although the American is 0-5 against Top 15 opponents in his young career, he pushed three of those matches to a decisive third set. I think the in-form Wolf can power his way to a set victory, but I ultimately believe the consistency of Auger-Aliassime wins out.
Prediction: Auger-Aliassime in 3
Main Photo from Getty.
