How Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov performed as they return to action straight after Wimbledon

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Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to Novak Djokovic in the second round of Wimbledon, while Grigor Dimitrov fell to Arthur Fery in the fourth round.

Both players returned to ATP Tour action straight after Wimbledon, with Tsitsipas competing at the Swiss Open in Gstaad, and Dimitrov heading over to Sweden for the Nordea Open.

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With 250 ranking points on the line, Tsitsipas and Dimitrov could have both done with a title on the clay, although for one player, that’s already off the table.

Grigor Dimitrov is already out of the Nordea Open while Stefanos Tsitsipas hangs on in Switzerland

After losing to Fery in a five-set thriller at Wimbledon, Dimitrov took on Czechia’s Dalibor Svrcina in the first round of the Nordea Open.

This time, Dimitrov emerged victorious in a deciding set, winning 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.

The win was his first on clay this year, having lost five matches before the grass-court season.

Unfortunately for Dimitrov, he couldn’t double his win tally, losing to Portugal’s Nuno Borges, 4-6, 2-6, in the second round.

Like Dimitrov, Tsitsipas won his first-round match, defeating this year’s Hamburg Open champion, Ignacio Buse, 6-4, 6-4.

He then returned to take on the home favourite, Jerome Kym for a place in the quarter-finals.

Tsitsipas won the opening set 6-4, but was forced into a decider when he lost the second in a tiebreaker, 6-7 (2-6).

With the score level at 5-5 in the third set, play was suspended as night fell, leaving their second-round match hanging in the balance.

The Greek and Swiss will return to complete the match on Thursday, but if Tsitsipas can pull off the win, who else could he meet in Gstaad?

The Frenchman, Arthur Rinderknech, is waiting in the quarter-finals, and if Tsitsipas can go one step further, he would likely meet Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.

Bublik is the defending champion, having won his first clay-court title at the event 12 months ago.

He will be tough to beat, as will the man most likely to reach the final from the bottom half of the draw, Casper Ruud.

The Norwegian is a two-time Swiss Open champion and one of the best clay-courters of his generation.

Tsitsipas has, however, beaten Ruud to win a ‘big’ clay-court title before.

Two years ago, Tsitsipas beat Ruud in the Monte Carlo Masters final to become a three-time champion at the event.

Although it’s fair to say that the former world number three isn’t the player he once was, and while he would have been a favourite to win an ATP 250-level tournament just a short while ago, that’s no longer the case.

Whatever happens in Switzerland, Tsitsipas faces a long journey back to the top of men’s tennis.

Where are Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas ranked?

When Tsitsipas played Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Australian Open final, a win would have seen him become world number one.

Today, the 27-year-old sits 76th in the ‘Live ATP Rankings’.

Live ATP Rankings (Stefanos Tsitsipas)

And the Greek isn’t the only player to have struggled recently.

Missing the second half of last season due to an injury he sustained at Wimbledon, Dimitrov plummeted down the rankings.

Live ATP Rankings (Grigor Dimitrov)

The Bulgarian now finds himself ranked outside the world’s top 100, with fewer than 500 points to his name.

He will be keen to return to the top 100 before too long, but will need to finish the year strongly if he is to do so.