For England’s Jack Draper, priority No. 1 at the 2023 Winston-Salem Open is to get more matches under his belt before heading to the US Open.
Draper seemed poised for a breakout campaign in 2023 before things went sideways because of injury.
The 21-year-old closed out last season quite well and he seemingly carried that momentum into 2024, but Draper was injured at the Australian Open and then again at the Indian Wells Masters in March and once more at the French Open.
Draper has played just three matches since the end of May and nine since March 6.
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Despite that, Draper is a chunky -285 favorite over World No. 79 Nuno Borges.
As you’d expect with that kind of price under these circumstances, Borges is in some pretty woeful form.
He hasn’t won a tour-level match since defeating John Isner at the French Open, and he’s only played one match since losing in the first round of Wimbledon.
With Draper still working his way back and Borges in bad form, this could be a pretty edgy match with plenty of mistakes at both ends.
Draper is deserving of his status as a favorite based on his upside — especially on hard courts — but this likely won’t be a straightforward contest for the Englishman.
Borges may not be in good form, but he’s gone 27-11 on hard courts over the last 52 weeks, per Tennis Abstract.
He should provide enough of a test for Draper to send this match over 22.5 games.
The Bet: Over 22.5 Games (FanDuel)