TennisSection previews the 2021 Paris Masters as Grigor Dimitrov takes on Richard Gasquet in the Round of 64 on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021.
Can Grigor Dimitrov keep up his mid-season resurgence? Or will Richard Gasquet find his top form on home soil? This is an intriguing battle between two of the cleanest one-handers in the game. Dimitrov will renew a long-standing rivalry with Richard Gasquet in the first round of the Paris Masters – precisely four years since their last meeting which also happened at this event.
Grigor Dimitrov naturally comes into this Paris Masters first-round contest as the overwhelming favorite. His game has clicked into gear in the past couple of months and is an accomplished competitor indoors. Three of his eight career titles have been won under the roof including his biggest triumph at the ATP Finals in 2017. However, last week’s defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Vienna must have stung a little. Dimitrov squandered three set points in the first set en route to a straight-set defeat. But aside from that capitulation, he had made back-to-back semifinals at his last two hard-court tournaments. In that span, he scored massive wins over the likes of Daniil Medvedev, Aslan Karatsev, and Hubert Hurkacz.
Richard Gasquet, meanwhile, has been drifting away from the upper echelons of the men’s game. Injuries and inconsistency have troubled the Frenchman big time in 2021. Gasquet’s ranking plummeted to a lowly No. 82 in August – his lowest in more than a decade. Although he has since made up a few spots, he hasn’t quite made the cut to garner automatic main draw spots of the biggest events. Gasquet resorted to playing on the Challenger Tour this season in a bid to restore his confidence and climb the ATP rankings. He has been handed a wild card entrant this week in his 14th participation in the Paris Masters.
Grigor Dimitrov and Richard Gasquet have played each other eight times at tour-level before this. And it is the veteran Frenchman who holds a narrow advantage in the series, leading 5-3. But it is pertinent to note that Dimitrov won the pair’s last meeting in 2017, incidentally at the Paris Masters. Needless to say, the flamboyant Bulgarian looks poised to clinch another win over Gasquet under his belt on Monday. Dimitrov possesses a tide of measured groundstrokes and is bound to be the more consistent player to outhit his opponent. And considering that Gasquet comes into this Paris Masters match on the back of a questionable fitness concern. He pulled out from the quarterfinals of the Brest Challenger just a few days ago.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Grigor Dimitrov to win in straight sets.
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