French Open, round of 16, Monday, 03.06.2024
That was close! Alexander Zverev took a deep breath at the French Open in Paris, but after two commanding victories he ran into his first problems. Before the round of 16 on Monday, it’s important to forget what happened.
He will play a youngster who is known for both embarrassments and big wins: Holger Rune. The Dane has already beaten Zverev, so he knows exactly what it takes.
In my Zverev Rune betting tip, I will now find out who has the edge in the second direct duel, explain why the bookies are calling for a narrow German victory and also reveal why I am clearly going for a tie-break in this match!
The opponents are getting tougher, the victories tighter – but it doesn’t get much tighter now! Alexander Zverev started the tournament with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, followed by a 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 against David Goffin a little later.
In the 3rd round, he finally faced Tallon Griekspoor. Although his opponent was seeded 26th, the bookmakers were of the opinion that victory could only go to Zverev.
In the end, he did, but the Olympic champion had to push himself to the limit for a whole four hours and 14 minutes. 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6, it was only in the match tie-break that he finally prevailed.
Especially at the beginning of the match, the world number 4 was not really present and was 2-0 down in no time. He got better in sets two and three, but then slumped a little again
In the deciding fifth set, Griekspoor was already 4:1 ahead and it looked as if Zverev would be going home early. But the favorite recovered and the tie-break turned out to be quite commanding in the end.
He gave his opponent the chance to break ten times in total, which is quite unusual for him. He has NEVER won more than 80 percent of his points on both serves at this major.
On a good day, the 27-year-old easily makes an 85 here, but this time he is still holding back with the cracking right. Perhaps he will unleash it against Holger Rune on Monday.
Two years ago in Munich, also on clay, the two faced each other for the first time, with Rune triumphing 6-3, 6-2. Will there be a rematch this time? In any case, our bookmakers see the German just ahead with an average of 1.42 to 2.75.
If you place your favorite bet here, you can also keep an eye out for the first lucrative European Championship bonus offers. Holger Rune is also likely to have at least one eye on the tournament, as Denmark will also be attending.
The 21-year-old has only played twice at the French Open, both times reaching the quarter-finals. He needs one more win to reach this round for a third time.
Since the clay court season began, the Dane has never managed more than two wins in a row, now he has three in Paris. In round 1, he beat Daniel Evans 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
A few days later, he put on a real show for the fans against Flavio Cobolli. Rune was already 6-4, 6-3 in front, but then his nerves got the better of him and in no time at all it was 3-6, 3-6!
The match tie-break decided the game, with Rune winning 10-7. This match had taken a lot of energy, but it was still enough to win 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 against Jozef Kovalik in the 3rd round.
Only a good 50% of his first serves hit their target, while his service percentage was just over 70% – very similar to Alexander Zverev. He played two tiebreaks and won both.
I count seven tiebreaks in total when I look at all tournaments on grass. The win rate couldn’t be higher at 100%. But at the same time, Zverev also won all the tiebreaks in Paris
My Zverev Rune tip
That took some strength! Alexander Zverev is still in Paris and just managed to avoid elimination. He probably can’t afford to make too many mistakes against Holger Rune, although the Dane is not without his faults either.
Rune and Zverev have already played a few close sets at Roland Garros, with the younger player in particular having already attracted attention in the run-up to the match with some 7-6 results. In the end, I’m not only leaning towards a close match, but I’m also saying:
Zverev and Rune go to at least one tiebreak!
