20th seeded Grigor Dimitrov will feature in his fourth round at the 2019 Australian Open when he takes on Frances Tiafoe on Sunday.
Watch & bet on Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe live with bet365 here* on Sunday, January 20. The Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe match timings will be announced soon.
[the_ad id=’6730′]
*Geo-restrictions apply & pre-funded account needed
Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe Head to Head
This is going to be the third meeting between Dimitrov and Tiafoe with both those previous matches having come in 2018.
Dimitrov won both including once at the Laver Cup but it was the match at the Canadian Masters that might fill Tiafoe with confidence – he managed to push Dimitrov hard, into three sets with the Bulgarian winning two tie-breakers to clinch the encounter.
Dimitrov Aiming for Top 10
Traditionally, the Australian Open has been Dimitrov’s favourite Grand Slam. The Bulgarian world number 19 has reached at least the quarter-final of the tournament on three separate occasions, as opposed to just once in all other Grand Slams combined.
In 2017, he was a losing semi-finalist, going down to Rafael Nadal in the semi-final, which happened to be his best performance, while in the previous edition it looked like he might make it to his second successive semi-final but lost to Kyle Edmund in the quarters.
This time around, it might not be that easy. If he wins this match against Tiafoe, he could run into Rafael Nadal, and an in-form Nadal would be very hot to handle.
But it has been a good tournament for Dimitrov so far, with wins over Janko Tipsarevic, Pablo Cuevas and Thomas Fabbiano in the first three rounds that should have warmed him up nicely for this match-up against the American.
Tiafoe’s Turnaround?
You would think that Tiafoe’s start to the season was so poor, he wouldn’t made it past round two at best. Especially because he was facing Kevin Anderson, the fifth seed in that match after having beaten India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran in the first.
Tiafoe, however, shrugged off a five-match losing streak coming into this tournament and the loss of the first set to pummel Anderson in round two and then went on to defeat Andreas Seppi in a five-setter to reach the round of 16.
This would be his first time ever at the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, after having made round three at Wimbledon last year.
Dimitrov v Tiafoe Tips & Prediction
While we expect Tiafoe to be no pushover – and he will fight hard – but we think that Dimitrov’s superior experience should make him a favourite here to win this match in more than three sets.
You can watch & bet on Grigor Dimitrov v Frances Tiafoe live with bet365 here on Sunday, January 20.
Be the first to comment