Does Altmaier’s fairytale continue in Paris?
Daniel Altmaier stood on the court for five hours and 28 minutes on Thursday before he was overcome by his emotions and could finally let the tears run free. In the longest match of this tournament so far, the 24-year-old German prevailed in five sets against eighth seed Jannik Sinner, even fending off two match points in the fourth. For the second time since 2020, the man from Kempen now has the chance to reach the last 16 in Paris.
On the way to the second week of Roland Garros and a potential German round of 16 against Sascha Zverev, Altmaier must first defeat Dimitrov. The odds on the Bulgarian are considerably lower. The 32-year-old should be in better shape, at least in terms of fitness, especially as his second-round match against Ruusuvuori from Finland lasted less than three hours.
Despite this, we are not averse to a prediction on the underdog in the run-up to the Altmaier vs Dimitrov match. The world number 79 has impressively proven against a top ten player that he is perhaps currently in the best form of his life. His confidence is at boiling point and if the clay-court specialist puts in a similarly courageous performance as he did against Jannik Sinner, “Baby Federer” Dimitrov will have to stretch himself mightily to reach the last 16.
Daniel Altmaier – Statistics & current form
What a great story Daniel Altmaier wrote on Thursday! Against the eighth seed Jannik Sinner from South Tyrol, who is seen by some experts as a future Grand Slam champion, the 24-year-old German was actually already hopelessly behind, was even confronted with two match points in the fourth set, but managed to fend them off with a net roller passing shot and finally fixed his entry into the third round in five dramatic rounds.
This means that the French Open remains the absolute favourite Grand Slam of the tennis year for the 1.88 metre tall right-hander. Altmaier sensationally reached the last 16 in 2020. Considering that the right-hander has only won Grand Slam matches in Paris so far, it would be a huge achievement if he were to make it into the last 16 as a heavy underdog on Saturday.
Is Altmaier’s path leading to the last 16 again?
A third win in a row does not seem out of the question, however, because Daniel Altmaier’s success is no coincidence. In preparation for this tournament, the man from Kempen was already convincing with the Challenger tournament victory in Sarasota or the quarter-final participation at the ATP Masters in Madrid. The likeable player from the Rhineland, who played in the German tennis league for the first time at the age of 14, also made it through the qualification in Rome and only failed in the second main round.
Although his career high of 53rd position dates back to last year, it is fair to say that Altmaier is probably currently experiencing the best phase of his still relatively young career. In the live rankings, the tennis aesthete, whose most aesthetic stroke is certainly the one-handed backhand, is once again scratching the top 50. Against this backdrop and the fact that Altmaier’s game was also absolutely on a par with Yannik Sinner, we are convinced that the odds on a surprise coup can pay off between Altmaier and Dimitrov.
Grigor Dimitrov – statistics & current form
When Grigor Dimitrov looks back on his tennis career in a decade’s time, he will have to ask himself whether he has really made the most of his talent and available potential. For many years, the Bulgarian was even considered Roger Federer’s designated successor because of his playing style. The very clean one-handed backhand was reminiscent of the Swiss legend, as was the fact that “Baby Federer” had no serious weaknesses in his game.
Regardless of whether it was ultimately mental or more specific reasons, the now 32-year-old right-hander definitely cannot be one hundred percent satisfied. G-Force” has reached a Grand Slam semi-final three times, but the heartthrob, who once dated Maria Sharapova, was never able to take the last two steps to the final or to a Grand Slam title. It seems rather unlikely that this will change in the autumn of his career.
Dimitrov still without a set loss
Despite this, the veteran, who was even number three in the world rankings in his prime time, is of course an extremely uncomfortable and difficult opponent to play against. Timofey Skatov from Kazakhstan and youngster Emil Ruusuvuori from Finland already had to make this experience. Skatov won only five games in three straight sets, Ruusuvori twelve. However, the Northern European did not win a set either.
The current world number 29 enters this third round match with a clean slate. Because “Dimi” even reached the final at the last preparatory tournament in Geneva, he definitely has to be certified as being in good form. In view of the rather disappointing performances at the Masters tournaments on the red clay, we are nevertheless of the opinion that between Altmaier and Dimitrov the forecast on a clear success of the Bulgarian carries a big risk.
A more realistic bet is that this match will again go the full distance. For five sets between Altmaier and Dimitrov, the betting odds are 3.75. Even a small stake would be enough to pocket a very nice profit. “Baby Federer” is known as a marathon man and his German opponent also proved on Thursday that he is mentally and physically at his best at the moment.
Daniel Altmaier – Grigor Dimitrov Direct comparison / H2H balance
2021 the paths of the two tennis pros crossed once at the ATP Masters in Indian Wells. As expected, Grigor Dimitrov got the upper hand in two very straight sets. However, this so far only direct duel cannot necessarily be taken as a benchmark.
On the one hand, because on Saturday the match will not be played on hard court but on clay. On the other hand, because Altmaier has made remarkable progress in recent weeks and months and is well on the way to breaking into the world’s top 50 for the first time.
Daniel Altmaier – Grigor Dimitrov Tip
We can look forward to a fascinating third round match from the German perspective on Saturday. Although Daniel Altmaier is the underdog against his opponent Grigor Dimitrov, who is eight years older than him, the 24-year-old from Kempen showed impressively what he is capable of in his second round match against Jannik Sinner. If Altmaier can deliver a similar performance on Saturday, even the round of 16 might be attainable.
In view of the fact that the German was on the court for almost three hours longer than his upcoming opponent on Thursday, we will refrain from betting on Altmaier making it to the next round. At least the Games Handicap (+6.5) could be a clever alternative without taking incalculable risks.
Our preferred Altmaier vs. Dimitrov tip, however, relates to winning the first set. Especially at the beginning of the match, where the issue of fatigue will not yet be decisive, we see the in-form Altmaier at least on a par and therefore trust him to take the 1:0 set lead.
