Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka takes on Belgian David Goffin as they kick off their bids at the Rome Masters on Tuesday. First-round action is also wrapping up with a showdown between familiar foes Grigor Dimitrov and Jan-Lennard Struff.
Stan Wawrinka vs. David Goffin
Stan Wawrinka hasn’t had a banner season so far, but he seems to slowly be making his way back from knee surgery. The world No. 29 posted a handful a quarterfinal results (including last week in Madrid), and he even made the final in Rotterdam. Wawrinka has no titles on the year yet, but his ranking is way up from No. 263 last June.
Opponent David Goffin has similarly had a mixed bag in 2019. The Belgian was ranked ninth in the world one year ago, but a lackluster clay season this year finds Goffin at 23rd. Worse, he has a losing record this year; he goes into Rome with at 9-11.
Wawrinka holds the head-to-head edge in this matchup. The Swiss has won three of their four encounters and he comes into Rome off a decent run in Madrid, where he lost in the quarters to Rafael Nadal. This season’s results notwithstanding, Goffin knows how to play on clay. This could be quite an entertaining match.
Cheryl pick: Wawrinka in 3
Ricky pick: Wawrinka in 3
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Grigor Dimitrov vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
This is a rematch from a couple weeks ago in the second round of the Monte-Carlo Masters. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov won in straights, but they were two relatively competitive sets. Jan-Lennard Struff, who has hovered around the world No. 50 mark for several years, has had some good wins this season. He defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in Barcelona two weeks ago and Denis Shapovalov in Monte-Carlo.
Dimitrov has had much more experience at the top of the men’s game. A year ago he was the No. 4 player in the world, but his mediocre results since last clay season has seen his ranking plummet to No. 48.
This also has the potential to be a competitive and entertaining match, but the edge goes to Dimitrov.
Cheryl pick: Dimitrov in 2
Ricky pick: Struff in 3
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