Will Dimitrov enter the tournament with a win?

With Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov, two former third-place finishers in the world rankings will face each other in the second round of the Rome Masters! While the Bulgarian is only now getting into the tournament at the Foro Italico, the Swiss already has a match under his belt.

In this match “Stan the Man” won 2:0 against the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka. For the upcoming duel between Warinka and Dimitrov, however, the tip aims for a defeat of the Swiss.

Stan Wawrinka – statistics & current form

Stan Wawrinka has been on the ATP Tour for more than 20 years and at the age of 38 he is naturally over his zenith. His top successes like winning the French Open in 2015 are a long time ago. In 2023, things have also been mixed so far.

He did start the clay-court season in Monte Carlo with a narrow three-set win over Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands, who is significantly higher in the world rankings, but the tournament then came to an end for the three-time Grand Slam winner after he lost to Taylor Fritz of the United States.

In the following competition in Banja Luka, he also suffered a defeat right from the start against the 19-year-old Luca van Assche from France. In addition, Wawrinka was knocked out of the tournament in the second round at the recent Madrid Masters.

Last year he already went downhill on clay

While his record on hard court is still positive this year with 12:9, it is only balanced on clay (3:3). The decline in his performance on this surface was also evident last year, when he won only two of his seven matches on clay.

Nevertheless, at least a close match can be expected in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, as his upcoming opponent also had room for improvement in his recent performances. For this reason, in the clash between Stan Wawrinka and Grigor Dimitrov, the betting and odds on a three-set win for the Bulgarian also seem profitable.

At least a tiebreak?

With this background, it is also possible to predict at least one tiebreak in the duel on Friday morning. This is also supported by the fact that Wawrinka at least made it to the third round at last year’s Rome Masters, where he was beaten by eventual winner Novak Djokovic.

Grigor Dimitrov – statistics & current form

Grigor Dimitrov is admittedly no longer dewy-eyed with 31 years, but at the same time still significantly younger than his counterpart. In addition, he is currently ranked 33rd in the world and is thus around 50 places better than his upcoming opponent.

In the last edition of the Rome Masters, “G-Force” did not lose to the eventual winner like Wawrinka, but he did lose to the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was also a finalist in the competition.

Like Wawrinka, Dimitrov’s performance in 2023 is still variable. His record on the surface also shows three wins and losses. However, it was actually only two defeats on the court, as he had to forfeit the round of 16 at the tournament in Barcelona just under a month ago without a fight due to injury.

Nearly a set win against prodigy Alcaraz

In addition, his form curve showed an upward trend recently. At the ATP tournament in Madrid at the end of April he was knocked out in the second round, but the defeat came against the Spanish top favorite Carlos Alcaraz, who subsequently also won the tournament.

Dimitrov played well against the runner-up in the current world rankings and was able to keep up with the Iberian at least in the second set. This can be seen from the fact that he was only narrowly beaten by the 20-year-old 5:7.

Stan Wawrinka – Grigor Dimitrov Direct comparison / H2H record

The last time these two players faced each other on clay was at the French Open in 2019. Back then, Wawrinka clearly prevailed in three sets. Overall, however, the record on the surface is even at 2:2. In addition, the Bulgarian won the last comparison for the time being in February 2020 on hard court in Acapulco, Mexico, 2-0.

Stan Wawrinka – Grigor Dimitrov tip

Stan Wawrinka has bagged a whopping 16 titles during his long career and successful career. However, his last triumph was six years ago when he beat Mischa Zverev in the final at the ATP tournament in Geneva in 2017, and his results on clay in particular have dipped in the last two years.

At 31, Dimitrov is also slowly becoming an older player on the ATP Tour and has not won seven of his eight titles on clay, but he has looked stronger recently. A verdict based, among other things, on his last match at the Madrid Open.

In that match he gave the eventual winner Carlos Alcaraz, who as the current winner of the US Open can undoubtedly be regarded as one of the best players on the tour, a good run for his money, at least in the second set, which he only just lost. In light of this, the forecast and betting odds on a success for the Bulgarian in the match between Wawrinka and Dimitrov are worth considering.