Winston Salem Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Winston Salem Open 2022: Men’s Singles Draw Preview and Prediction

Grigor Dimitrov, Botic van de Zandschulp, Holger Rune - Top 3 seeds of the Winston Salem Open 2022

The Winston Salem Open 2022 will be the final Tour event in the US Open Leg Series before the 2022 US Open kicks off on 29th August in New York. The tournament will be under the ATP-250 category and will feature a rather big draw that will see the tournament commence from the Round of 64. This year’s tournament will be the 53rd edition.

Tournament Details:

  • Tournament: Winston Salem Open 2022
  • Date: August 21 – August 27, 2022
  • Number of Entrants: 48 (Singles), 16 (Doubles)
  • Venue: Wake Forest University
  • Surface: Hard Court
  • Prize Money: $731,935
  • Defending champion: Ilya Ivashka

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YouTube video

Top Seeds at the Winston Salem Open 2022

  • Grigor Dimitrov
  • Botic van de Zandschulp
  • Holger Rune
  • Maxime Cressy
  • Lorenzo Musetti
  • Nikoloz Basilashvili
  • Sebastian Baez
  • Albert Ramos Vinolas

Top Half

Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo Musetti

With the 16 seeds all getting bye, the first round sees the high-ranked players making a direct entry in the second round. Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini, Dusan Lajovic, Jack Draper, defending champion Ilya Ivashka, young guns Holger Rune, Sebastian Baez and Lorenzo Musetti are the big names in the top half of the draw. Thiem starts against J.J. Wolf while Fognini and Lajovic lock horns against each other in the first round. Djere against Goffin will be another exciting round 1 clash.

FS Video

1st Semifinal Prediction: Lorenzo Musetti vs Ilya Ivashka

Bottom Half

Thanasi Kokkinakis
Thanasi Kokkinakis

Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Adrian Mannarino, Lorenzo Sonego, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Jaume Munar and Botic van de Zandschulp are few of the big names in the bottom half of the draw, a rather simpler half as compared to the top-heavy draw in the tournament. John Millman against Hugo Gaston, James Duckworth against Kokkinakis and Denis Kudla against Thiago Monteiro are the big matches in the bottom half.

2nd Semifinal Prediction: Botic van de Zandschulp vs Thanasi Kokkinakis

Semifinals

Ilya Ivashka
Ilya Ivashka

Musetti and Ivashka could meet for the second time in their career with their first meeting taking place this season in Madrid Masters where the Italian won the match in 3-sets in what was a fantastic battle between the two. Thanasi and Botic are yet to meet on the Tour and with both being good players on hardcourts, they could play out a brilliant match if they clash for a place in the finals.

Winston-Salem Open 2022 Final: Ilya Ivashka vs Botic van de Zandschulp

Final

Botic van de Zandschulp
Botic van de Zandschulp

In a highly inconsistent draw, both Ilya and Botic stand a chance to make merry and clear their woes before the US Open begins. Having not played each other on the Tour earlier, the matchup will be further interesting as it will be the title decider and while Botic continues to look for his maiden title, Ivashka will eye the successful title defence of his only title won so far.

Champion: Botic van de Zandschulp

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