Leonardo Mayer plays Alessandro Giannessi in the final of the Napoli Challenger.
Mayer has produced some classy tennis all week in Napoli, seeing off Stephane Robert and Andreas Beck without dropping a set. If he wins today he'll probably break back into the top 100 which will be a big boost for him after a tough year in the wilderness having fallen from a ranking of 51 in the world.
Mayer has been on fire over the summer, reaching the finals of events in Dortmund, Trani and Genova and he has far more experience in these sort of matches than the 21 year old Gianessi who is enjoying the season of his life.
Just a short while ago, Giannessi was having to qualify for these sort of tournaments but he's been a revelation in the challengers this summer and this is his first final at this level. Last week he enjoyed the best result of his career at the ATP event in Bucharest, qualifying and reaching the quarter-finals before losing to eventual finalist Pablo Andujar.
The left-hander has found things very comfortable this week and he saw off Romania's Adrian Ungur with ease 6-2, 6-4 in the semis. Giannessi has a vicious topspin forehand but Mayer is the more powerful player and I would expect him to be able to hit through Giannessi.
Prediction: Mayer in two.
