Winston-Salem Open 2022: Dominic Thiem vs Jeffrey John Wolf preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (WC) Dominic Thiem vs (WC) Jeffrey John Wolf
Date: August 21, 2022
Tournament: Winston-Salem Open 2022
Round: First round (Round of 64)
Venue: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $731,935
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK – Amazon Prime Video | Canada - TSN | Australia - beIN Sports
Dominic Thiem vs Jeffrey John Wolf preview
Former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem will battle it out against American wildcard Jeffrey John Wolf in the first round of the Winston-Salem Open.
Dominic Thiem has had a suboptimal season this year. The Austrian made a competitive return in March after being sidelined for a year due to a wrist injury and other complications.
He has recorded seven wins and nine losses so far. Thiem’s best result came at the Swiss Open, where he reached the semifinals. He lost the encounter to Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-1, 6-4.
Dominic Thiem continues his run in Gstaad!
First semi-final in 14 months for Domi, who beat Juan Pablo Varillas (6-4 6-3) 💪 https://t.co/1KDssG8fZN
Apart from that, Thiem made it to the quarterfinals of the Swedish Open and the Austrian Open.
The 28-year-old seemed to be getting back to winning ways, but he suffered a setback when he had to withdraw from the ongoing Cincinnati Open due to a respiratory infection.
Currently ranked No. 228, he has accepted a wildcard at the Winston-Salem Open. The round-of-64 match will be his first match since his loss to Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals at Kitzbuhel.
Jeffrey John Wolf, meanwhile, has had a breakthrough of sorts. Ranked outside the top-200 earlier in the year, he now stands at a career-high of World No. 83.
Wolf has managed to pull off some important upsets over Lorenzo Sonego, Hugo Gaston, Lorenzo Musetti, Jenson Brooksby and more recently against Denis Shapovalov and Holger Rune at the Citi Open.
J.J. Wolf defeats 
Holger Rune @holgerrune2003 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to secure his spot in the #CitiOpen quarter-finals.
🇺🇸 J.J. Wolf defeats 🇩🇰 Holger Rune @holgerrune2003 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to secure his spot in the #CitiOpen quarter-finals. https://t.co/1btgaljQ5c
The 23-year-old has garnered seven wins against six losses so far. His best showing has been in the quarterfinals of the Citi Open, where he entered as a wildcard and overcame Taro Daniel, Denis Shapovalov and Holger Rune before being outsmarted by Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-3 in the last eight.
The American has additionally reached significant stages of numerous Challenger events in 2022. Wolf is a wildcard entrant at the Winston-Salem Open and will be entering the tournament on the back of a first-round loss to Emil Ruusuvuori at the Cincinnati Masters.
Dominic Thiem vs Jeffrey John Wolf head-to-head
Thiem and Wolf will meet for the first time in Winston-Salem and their head-to-head stands at 0-0.
Dominic Thiem vs Jeffrey John Wolf odds
(All odds are sourced from bet365)
Dominic Thiem vs Jeffrey John Wolf prediction
There will be no clear favorites for this clash. Both players are deficient in the number of matches played at the ATP tour level. Wolf, however, has contested many Challengers tournaments and this will likely work in his favor.
Dominic Thiem will be playing his first competitive match in almost a month and could thus be ill-prepared. Thiem is ideally a vastly threatening player with swift movements on the court. His one-handed backhand is widely regarded as one of the best on tour and he frequently employs it to hit high-speed winners down the line.
Wolf, meanwhile, has great anticipation. He doesn’t shy away from the net and is able to win points off of his net play. The American also uses his serve to earn free points.
Although Thiem is a very experienced player, this will be the first hardcourt match of the year for the 2020 US Open champion and could prove to be his undoing.
Pick: Wolf to win in three sets.