Winston-Salem Open draw as Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem, Kyle Edmund eye US Open match practice

ATP Tour

Shahida Jacobs
August 22, 2022

Former world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov headlines the final US Open warm-up event, the Winston-Salem Open, but he has been handed a tough draw.

On the back of his first-round exit at the hands of Denis Shapovalov at the Western & Southern Open last week, Dimitrov accepted a wildcard entry into the ATP 250 event as he looked to get more matches under his belt ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year, which gets underway on August 29 at Flushing Meadows.

Although the Bulgarian is the top seed at the event, he has been handed difficult path to the final at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Winston-Salem Open draw

World No 18 Dimitrov has a bye into the second round, but he will face either 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem or rising American star JJ Wolff in the opening night match on Monday. The Dimitrov vs Thiem-Wolff encounter is scheduled for Tuesday.

Thiem is another player who needs match practice ahead of the US Open as the Austrian only returned in March after spending nine months on the sidelines due to a wrist injury. After a couple of early losses, he found some form in July as he reached the quarter-final in Bastad, the semi-final in Gstaad and the quarter-final in Kitzbühel.

Up and coming British player Jack Draper is seeded 13th and he also finds himself in Section 1 in the top half of the draw. He also faces a tough opener as he will take on either Fabio Fognini or Dusan Lajovic and the winner of that second-round encounter will face Dimitrov/Thiem/Wolff.

Fifth seed Lorenzo Musetti headlines Section 2 and he is up against veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the second round with 12th seed Pedro Martinez a possible third-round opponent.

Botic van de Zandschulp in the second seed and he headlines the bottom half with either Tallon Griekspoor or Alexei Popyrin first up for the Dutchman.

Kyle Edmund ‘grateful to be back playing tennis’

Former Australian Open semi-finalist Kyle Edmund, who is also on the comeback trail following a lengthy injury-enforced absence, is also in the section and he used his protected ranking to enter the event. First up for the Brit is Tomas Etcheverry.

Fourth seed Maxime Cressey is the star attraction in Section 3 and the American will face either James Duckworth or Thanasi Kokkinakis first up while eighth seed Albert Ramos Vinolas, who takes on John Millman in the first round, is a projected quarter-final opponent.