Thiem – Dolgopolov

Two talented players in Dominic Thiem and Alexandr Dolgopolov will square off in a very interesting Nottingham 3rd round match.

Thiem is far from being a grass court players and actually his second round win against Malek Jaziri (6-3 6-1) was the first victory for him on the main draw of a tournament at any level. However, Thiem steadily improved on grass this week, first being routed by Mischa Zverev in Stuttgart, than playing a very close match against Nishikori in Halle and now finally reaching the 3rd round in Nottingham after a bye in the first round and the dominant win over Jaziri. Thiem had a good season so far, he was in solid form on clay and will hope to finally start making some noise on grass, because he has the talent – but Dolgopolov will be a different level of opposition.

Dolgopolov did one thing on grass this season, and one thing only – beating Rafa Nadal. In his other two matches he lost in two sets to Kohlschreiber and Garcia Lopez, before barely edging clay courter Andujar in his first match here in Nottingham. Dolgopolov needed two tiebreaks and a third set to defeat a player that has no business playing on this surface, so he really needs to step up this level if he`s to go further in this tournament.

Bet on Thiem vs. Dolgopolov and claim your 100% welcome bonus at Bet365.com!

The Head 2 Head is 1-0 for Thiem, the Austrian winning the only meeting last year in Paris, indoor hard – 6-2 4-6 6-0. Normally Thiem’s consistent baseline game should give a risk taker like Dolgopolov big problems, but the Ukrainean will hope that the faster grass court surface will turn the table in his surface.

Dolgopolov hasn`t been good so far on grass and he`s living off that win against Nadal, but Rafa was completely sub-par in that match. When he`s not in form, Dolgopolov can be upset by anybody, making a lot of errors and the talented Thiem is surely somebody who can take advantage. Dominic is actually the better player right now, playing better tennis over the course of the season and especially lately. The question is if he can step it up on grass – I believe he will, as he steadily improved in the last three weks and he`s now a totally different player than a few years ago, when he wasn`t even playing on the surface.

This could pretty much go either way, but I`m giving Thiem the first chance to defeat the inconsistent Dolgopolov. At these odds medium-high stakes are surely worth the risk, I would have bet more, but I`m not in good form so I`m keeping it reasonable. My tip is a Thiem win. Prediction: Dominic Thiem – Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6 3-6 6-3.

ATP Nottingham Thiem – Dolgopolov live streaming available for players at Bet365.

Pick: Thiem
Odds: 2.37 @ Bet365
Stake: 6
Possible profit: 8.22
Event date: 24 June