Yoshihito Nishioka vs Grigor Dimitrov Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Italian Open

Prediction published on 09/05/2024, 08:12  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 09/05/2024 at 09:13 in ATP Italian Open Predictions

Former semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov takes on unseeded Yoshihito Nishioka in round two of the Italian Open. Dimitrov is the eighth seed for this outdoor clay court Masters event. In round three, the winner of this match will face either 26th seed Lorenzo Musetti or qualifier Terence Atmane. Dimitrov reached the last four here ten years ago  and more recently the last eight in 2020. Last year saw him get to the third round where he lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets. The Bulgarian is up to ninth in the live rankings and at the same position in the Live Race. His best performance on clay this year has been reaching the last 16 of the Monte Carlo Masters. He's 2-0 up in previous meetings with Nishioka. This is their first match in four years and Dimitrov won that on clay in this tournament.

Yoshihito Nishioka is at 80th in the latest ranking list but was as high as 24th last year. This is his sixth time in the Italian Open and a win here will take him into the third round for the first time. The Japanese player is up to 129th in the Live Race after beating Sebastian Ofner in the first round. He needed to win a final set tie-break to win that match after dropping the middle one. Nishioka needed that win as he'd lost three of his four clay court matches played this year, one on the Challenger Tour. We go for Dimitrov to win this match in straight sets.