Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka will face the challenge of Ilya Ivashka in the opening round of the Italian Open

Ivashka is going through a really rough patch and is coming into this match at the back of two consecutive first-round exits from the Barcelona Open and the Madrid Open. He has had a pretty disappointing season with no noteworthy performances so far. The Belarusian ace will be aiming to start afresh at the Italian Open and set a positive tone for the remainder of the season. It remains to be seen if Ivashka can gain some consistency or the poor run of form continues.

Stan Wawrinka’s form coming into the match

Stan Wawrinka is in the twilight of his career and hasn’t been in the best of form so far this year. He is coming into this tournament following a second-round exit at the Madrid Open. He is nowhere near his best but did show glimpses of his class last month at the Indian Wells Masters when he defeated seventh seed Holger Rune 6-2, 6-7, 7-5.

Wawrinka’s best performance so far this year came at the Rotterdam Open, where he reached the Quarter-finals with wins over Alexander Bublik and Richard Gasquet in the process. The Swiss veteran followed it up with another impressive quarter-final finish at the Open 13. Unfortunately though, he hasn’t been able to replicate his good form in the last few tournaments and he will look to turn things around in Italy.

Details:

Date – Wednesday, 10th May

Court Type – Clay outdoor surface

Telecast – Tennis Channel

Start Time – To be Announced

Location – Foro Italico

Match details – Round of 128 match

Head-to-head and Predictions

Wawrinka and Ivashka have played each other only once before on the ATP tour. The Belarusian emerged victorious on that occasion at Marseille in 2023 and leads the overall head to head 1-0. However, Wawrinka enters this match as favourite both in terms of form and experience. It is definitely a tough ask for Ivashka but he won’t certainly be a pushover. We are predicting a close match and a win in three sets for Stanislas Wawrinka.

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