In the early semifinal from the 2023 Paris Masters, Stefanos Tsitsipas will face Grigor Dimitrov. At stake is a spot in the final for this last Masters Series event of the 2023 ATP season. However, nothing is at stake for tour finals qualification. Tsitsipas has already booked his spot in the tour finals while Dimitrov cannot qualify regardless of his results for the balance of the season. My Tsitsipas vs Dimitrov prediction is that the former will win this match to advance to the 2023 Paris Masters final.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Grigor Dimitrov Head-to-Head Series
Tsitsipas holds a huge edge over Dimitrov on head-to-head meetings. The Greek national is 6-1 overall in their series.
Dimitrov’s only victory came under similar conditions to the Paris Masters venue. He beat Tsitsipas in an indoor hard-court match at the 2020 Vienna event. However, Tsitsipas avenged that defeat the following season at the same event. Those are the only two indoor/hard-court matches that they have played.
The two players have one match this season from the United Cup in Australia (outdoor/hard court). Tsitsipas won that match but it went to a third-set tiebreaker. In fact, their last two matches went to third-set tiebreakers, so there’s a chance for some parity in this semifinal.
Tsitsipas no longer slumping
Tsitsipas enters the semifinal having been in a slump in recent months. This very tournament is the one where he appears to be breaking out of it. He enters the semifinals having not lost a set at the 2023 Paris Masters — despite a tough draw. He defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alexander Zverev, and Karen Khachanov — all in straight sets. That’s more than enough to show that the Greek player has shaken off the bad patch of tennis his fans have seen for the last little while.
Dimitrov has been playing well lately. He was in the Shanghai Masters semifinals not long ago. But his ride to the semifinals in Paris has been somewhat bumpy. In four matches, Dimitrov is 8-3 for sets played. He has played three tiebreakers and flirted with elimination a little bit.
While his draw in Paris looks tough on paper, it did go through both Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz at times when each player had to be tiring. They both appeared in finals a week ago and did not have much time for rest ahead of Paris. Dimitrov is playing well but doesn’t look sharp enough to make the final.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters
Tsitsipas vs Dimitrov Prediction: Tsitsipas wins
My recommendation is to go with Tsitsipas at -150 (bet365). It certainly works in his favor that he should be the fresher player for this late-round match. Not only is he a lot younger than Dimitrov, but Tsitsipas has played just six sets this week to Dimitrov’s eleven. Tsitsipas should win this match to face the winner of Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev in the final.
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