Main-draw competition at Queen’s Club will get underway on Monday, when Grigor Dimitrov and Holger Rune take the court. Dimitrov opens against Adrian Mannarino, while Rune faces Jordan Thompson.
(3) Grigor Dimitrov vs. Adrian Mannarino
It will be a classic grass-court contest when Dimitrov and Mannarino square off in round one of the Cinch Championships on Monday. Both players are outstanding on this surface–but will be it do anything to turn the tide of this matchup for Mannarino? Dimitrov has won all five of their previous encounters (all on outdoor hard courts) and is 10-2 in total sets. They most recently met in round three of the Indian Wells Masters this spring, when the Bulgarian cruised 6-3, 6-3.
Dimitrov is a sparkling 28-9 for his 2024 campaign and comes in at No. 10 in the world. Surprisingly, the 33-year-old is making his first appearance at Queen’s Club since he won it in 2014. Mannarino ended 2023 on fire, but this season has been a much different story. The 35-year-old Frenchman is a horrendous 8-14 and had lost eight matches in a row heading into the grass swing–a losing streak that began with none other than his Indian Wells setback against Dimitrov. Not even the lawns may be able to save Mannarino, as the world No. 21 fell in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch second round this past week at the hands of world No. 232 Gijs Brouwer. All signs point to Dimitrov maintaining his mastery of this matchup.
Pick: Dimitrov in 2
(7) Holger Rune vs. Jordan Thompson
Rune is coming off a solid but unspectacular clay-court season. The 15th-ranked Dane compiled a 9-5 record, which included a quarterfinal performance at the Monte-Carlo Masters and a fourth-round effort at the French Open. The essence of an all-court player, Rune now heads to grass–on which he advanced to the Queen’s Club semifinals and the Wimbledon quarters.
Up first for the seventh seed this week is Thompson, who is No. 37 in the world and needs to do something special to get seeded for Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Australian is stellar on grass, with a 63-45 lifetime record. Unfortunately for Thompson, he is on a five-match losing streak after bowing out right away in ‘s-Hertogenbosch 6-3, 6-4 to Milos Raonic. Another tough draw will likely add to Thompson’s woes.
Pick: Rune in 2
