World No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov will square off against World No. 55 Emil Ruusuvuori in the third round of the 2023 Washington Open on Thursday, August 3. Get the predictions and odds of this Grigor Dimitrov v Emil Ruusuvuori match along with its preview, head-to-head, and tips here.
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Grigor Dimitrov v Emil Ruusuvuori Head to Head
Grigor Dimitrov leads Emil Ruusuvuori 2-0 in their head-to-head, winning both matches this season, at the French Open and Queen’s respectively.
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Dimitrov Takes Out Home Hope McDonald
Grigor Dimitrov has not had a restful time playing Mackenzie McDonald. The head-to-head was tied at 1-1 ahead of their second-round match in Washington.
The Bulgarian need the full five sets to beat the American at the 2018 Australian Open, but he was soundly defeated in Miami last season, winning just five games.
So he entered Tuesday’s match not looking to throw caution to the wind. The first set saw both players hold serve comfortably. There was not a single break point and the set featured just one deuce game.
It was only practical that a tiebreak would be needed. Despite McDonald taking an early mini-break, Dimitrov leveled with a forehand ripper. That moment changed the outcome of the breaker and Dimitrov needed two bites of the cherry before prevailing.
The first break points of the match came in the first game of the second set, as Dimitrov’s pressure was finally rewarded breaking McDonald to 15. He went on to establish an unassailable 5-2 with another break late in the set. A loose forehand error on match point gave Dimitrov his win after an hour and a half.
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Ruusuvuori Comeback Foils Nishioka
Emil Ruusuvuori knocked out last year’s finalist Yoshihito Nishioka in a three-set barnburner that took two hours and 11 minutes.
The first set was the longest in the match and took close to an hour to settle it. Despite leading 4-2 with a break, Ruusuvuori lost his advantage straightaway and the set was on parity at 6-all.
Nishioka didn’t have the greatest of starts in the tiebreak, conceding a couple of mini-breaks, but he turned around a 2-5 deficit into a 7-5 lead, much to the disbelieving Ruusuvuori.
But that first-set choke only galvanized the Finn who started to hit the ball so purely in the second set, earning two breaks of serve and levelled the match. He won 12 of 14 first-serve points in that set.
Nishioka’s stay in Washington hang in the balance as Ruusuvuori maintained his consistent first serve that he used to rack up cheap points against an ineffective Nishioka return.
The World No. 55 broke Nishioka at the start of the third set, and kept his eyes on the ball in all his service games. He broke Nishioka to love in the seventh game, before serving for a place in the third round under the slightest of pressures.
Dimitrov v Ruusuvuori Prediction and Tip
This has not been a kind matchup for Ruusuvuori who has lost both his meetings against Dimitrov on clay and grass courts. But it’s hard courts where Ruusuvori generally matches up well due to the consistent ball bounce. So he’s got a shot of taking at least a set here, but we still think Dimitrov will have his number.
Tips:
- Low Risk Tip: Dimitrov to win: 2/5
- Moderate Risk Tip: Both players to win a set: 8/5
The 2023 ATP Washington will be played from July 31 to August 6. You can get all the tennis betting news with our tennis betting blog here. Also get rest of the tennis match previews here.
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