French Open 2022, 3rd round, Friday, 27.05.2022
That went well just in time! Alexander Zverev almost said goodbye to the French Open 2022 in the 2nd round, but just managed to avert the embarrassment. That must have cost both strength and nerves.
The co-favourite for the 2022 title just can’t seem to find his form. He is once again the top favourite in his next match, but in my Zverev Nakashima tip I reveal why I don’t expect it to be a clear-cut affair!
He just can’t get going: Alexander Zverev is having a much harder time at the French Open than he would have liked. Although he is one of the favourites, several players are clearly ahead of him.
He still carries the burden of never having beaten a player from the top 10 at a Grand Slam. Accordingly, there is still no corresponding trophy in his display case.
He started in the French capital with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Sebastian Ofner. This result alone showed that there is still a lot of catching up to do in terms of concentration and final willpower.
Sebastian Baez proved to be an incredibly tough opponent afterwards. That shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise to Zverev, after all, the Argentine is in captivating form. He won the first two sets 6-2, 6-4.
Zverev only woke up in the third set, equalising 6-1, 6-2. In the fifth set, however, he did not remain ice-cold, but rather an intense exchange of blows developed, which almost went wrong from the German point of view.
The Olympic champion fended off a match point, gathered his nerves – and snatched the 7-5. Zverev knew after the match how the hare was running. “To put it bluntly, I just played badly. I had no rhythm, was without a plan on the court and didn’t know what to do.”
He is still without a title in 2022, the opponents on what was assumed to be eye level were always too strong in the end, and there were also defeats against actual outsiders. For the last four years, Zverev has always reached the last 16 in Paris, with a number of five-setters among them.
He has only been on court together with Brandon Nakashima, his current opponent, once before. At the 2020 US Open, he lost the first set but ended up picking up a four-set win.
Brandon Nakashima, of course, is not on anyone’s mind when it comes to winning a Grand Slam title. The American is ranked number 75 in the world, but is having a very enjoyable stay in Paris so far.
Twice, both times in New York, he played a second round on the big stage, so now he is celebrating his debut in Round 3. Yet it could well have happened that Nakashima already took the sails at the start of the Frech Open.
He needed five sets against Kamil Majchrzak, winning 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 in the end. He was much quicker against Tallon Griekspoor when he collected a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 win.
Looking at the 20-year-old’s results this year, it is noticeable that he has not been able to celebrate a win against the top players. However, he will have noticed how sluggish Alexander Zverev has been on the road lately.
The bookmakers certainly think a lot of Alexander Zverev, but the Hamburg native is not (any longer) among the top favourites at the French Open. And for good reason, as he proved to us in the 2nd round.
The lucky win against Sebastian Baez left its mark and took its toll on his strength.
While I favour him against Brandon Nakashima, it seems unrealistic to expect him to win on the fly. Since Nakashima beat Tallon Griekspoor so clearly, I send the following tip into the race against Zverev:
We see more than 28.5 games!
