Grigor Dimitrov vs Ilya Ivashka Prediction & Betting Tips - Washington, USA

Prediction published on 03/08/2021, 10:20  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 03/08/2021 at 11:20 in Tennis Predictions

Grigor Dimitrov is the fourth seed for the Citi Open in Washington. He had a bye through to the second round and now takes on Ilya Ivaska who had a straight sets win over Egor Gerasimov in the first round. Dimitrov is the world 21, a fall of two places from his ranking at the start of this year. It's not been the best of years for Dimitrov, a fact illustrated by his being only 41st in terms of ranking points earned this year with his opponent in 62nd place.  It started well enough though with a run to the last eight at the Australian Open where he beat Dominic Thiem, before losing to Aslan Karatsev. Recent form isn't so good with only two wins in his last seven matches. This is his first tournament since Wimbledon when he lost in the second round to Alexander Bublik. He did get a win over Ivashka in Geneve this year but that was on clay. That's the only time the two players have met on court.

Ivashka is the world number 65 but three places lower in the live rankings. He was ranked 108th in the world at the start of the year. The 27-year-old Belarusian had a successful clay season with a last eight in Marbella and a win over Alexander Zverev in Munich. He even took a set off Rafael Nadal in Madrid. He does well on other surfaces though getting to the quarter final on grass at Eastbourne and the last 16 at Wimbledon. Last week saw him get a win over world number 17 Gael Monfils in the Olympic men's singles, before losing in the last 16. He can get revenge on Dimitrov for that loss in Geneva.