Alexei Popyrin vs Grigor Dimitrov Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Shanghai Masters

Prediction published on 07/10/2024, 07:16  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 07/10/2024 at 08:17 in ATP Shanghai Masters Predictions

Two seeded players face each other in the third round of the Shanghai Masters. Alexei Popyrin is the 20th seed and he's up against ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov in this outdoor hard court tournament. Here's our match prediction.

The winner of this match will face an unseeded opponent in the last 16, either Jakub Mensik or Alexander Shevchenko. Popyrin is the world number 24 and that's one position behind his career high and 23rd in the Live Race.

August saw Popyrin win the Rogers Cup in Montreal. That was an impressive performance with five top 20 players being beaten by him in that Masters event. He beat Novak Djokovic on his way to the last 16 of the US Open but lost in his opening match in Tokyo last week

He returned to winning ways in Shanghai with a straight sets win over Miomir Kecmanovic, losing only five games. Popyrin leads Dimitrov 2-1 in previous meetings, all played on hard courts. He was one of the players beaten on the way to winning the Rogers Cup.

The other two meetings were both played three years ago. Those three previous matches have seen four tie-breaks played. A bet on one in this match looks like a good side-beat.

Grigor Dimitrov is tenth in the latest ranking list and also in that position in the ATP Live Race. Going deep in this tournament would boost his chances of making it into the Tour Finals at the end of this year.

The Bulgarian reached the last eight of this year's US Open where he retired in the fourth set against Frances Tiafoe. Dimitrov has won one hard court tournament this year. That was in Brisbane but he also got to the final in both Marseille and Miami.

We go for Dimitrov to win this match.