Novak meets an absolute clay court specialist
Six Austrians started in the qualifying for the third Grand Slam tournament on the hallowed grass at Wimbledon. Out of this sextet, only 28-year-old Dennis Novak celebrated three victories and thus keeps the red-white-red flags flying high in the singles competition. His first match is on Tuesday and the draw can definitely be called lucky. Dennis Novak and Facundo Bagnis will face each other in the first round of Wimbledon 2022.
Novak gained a lot of confidence with the three wins and is in the main competition at the legendary Church Road for the fourth time in a row. His opponent is ranked almost 40 places ahead of him, but the South American is still considered a heavy underdog. Maximum betting odds of 1.20 are offered for Novak’s victory over Bagnis.
The reason for this clear assessment in favour of the Austrian is certainly that the South American is a typical clay court player. He is not at all comfortable on grass and it would therefore be a big surprise if Novak’s journey should end in the first round of Wimbledon.
Dennis Novak – Statistics & current form
Dennis Novak is one of Dominic Thiem’s best friends, which made the news in April 2021 that Dennis Novak was changing his coach all the more surprising. Instead of Wolfgang Thiem (Dominic’s father), he returned to Günter Bresnik, of all people, the man with whom Dominic Thiem did not part on good terms. With Bresnik, the goal is to finally re-establish himself in the top 100 in the world. As the current number 155, this has not yet been achieved and will probably take some time.
But Bresnik is convinced that the 28-year-old still has this potential in him. He has never experienced a bad training session from Novak, only the implementation on the grass is not going according to plan. The grass-court classic at Wimbledon is one of his favourite tournaments. He has played 17 matches at Wimbledon so far (or the qualifying), and his record of 13:4 is quite respectable.
Good memories of Wimbledon
Good memories of Wimbledon’s hallowed turf are also due to the fact that this is the only place where Dennis Novak was able to win a match in the main competition. In total, Dennis Novak is in the main competition of a Grand Slam tournament for the tenth time, only in 2018 he was allowed to cheer. He played his way out of qualifying into the third round before losing out to Milos Raonic.
In the eight other GS appearances, the first round was the end of the line in each case. The good performances on grass are not particularly surprising, however, because Novak has a good return and a straight serve that often slips away on the uneven surface. This makes it enormously difficult for the opponent, especially if the opponent cannot cope with the conditions on grass anyway. Therefore, in the first-round duel between Novak and Bagnis, the prediction is recommended for a clear success for the Austrian.
Facundo Bagnis – Statistics & current form
In the extremely short grass court season, it is often seen that the world ranking cannot be used as an indication or argument for the match outcome. Either the players love tennis on grass, or they avoid it as much as possible. Many South Americans, the typical “clay court diggers”, belong to the second faction. Playing on grass is not in their nature and the results are accordingly.
Motivation Prize Money
But why is a player like Facundo Bagnis now competing at Wimbledon? This question is easy to answer – because of the money. Players receive 50,000 British pounds just for participating in the first round. A trip to London is therefore extremely lucrative. Facundo Bagnis, who is now 32 years old, will not have any real ambitions of winning himself, because he is aware of his own statistics.
The Gaucho can no longer be called a youngster, yet Bagnis has never won a match on grass in his career. However, he has only played seven matches on the green surface so far, all of them at Wimbledon (or in the qualifying). Bagnis not only lost seven times, but also only won two sets in those seven matches (2017 against Radu Albot, 2021 against Miomir Kecmanovic).
The omens for a success against the Austrian are by no means good. In addition, Bagnis was still on the road in Oeiras, Portugal, on Saturday and lost there on clay court in the semi-finals. For Bagnis, Wimbledon only means collecting the prize money, otherwise he has no ambitions. Accordingly, the match will be one-sided and between Novak and Bagnis a prediction of a very clear Austrian victory is obvious.
Dennis Novak – Facundo Bagnis Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Head to Head: 0:0
The Austrian and the Argentine will face each other for the first time in the first round of Wimbledon 2022
Dennis Novak – Facundo Bagnis Tip
As a qualifier, the range of possible opponents is huge – from horror lottery to dream lottery, anything is possible. From the point of view of Austrian Dennis Novak, it couldn’t have come at a better time. Although there are no ATP points to be earned at Wimbledon 2022, the prize money is just as important for players outside the top 100. Given the underlying stats, between Novak and Bagnis, betting on the Austrian is the only option.
Bagnis was still in clay court action on Saturday and has never won a grass court match in his career, while Novak comes in with the confidence of three qualifying wins. Moreover, his experience at Wimbledon is exceptional thanks to a third-round appearance in 2018. Lawn tennis also suits Novak’s style of play, so six units between Novak and Bagnis are also recommended for the 3-0 Novak prediction.
