French Open in Paris, 2nd round, Thursday, 01.06.2023
He returns to the place that has involuntarily stalled his career. Alexander Zverev wants to show at this French Open 2023 that the bad events of the previous year are no longer on his mind.
In his 1st round he had quite a lot of trouble at times, now in round 2 his opponent will certainly not be any easier. Why are the favourites at Bet365 tighter this time and why am I betting on at least one tiebreak? I’ll reveal that now in my Zverev Molcan tip!
A troublesome start, many questions, many doubts. No, Alexander Zverev is really not one of the favourites at the second Grand Slam of the year! One year after his horror injury in the match against Rafael Nadal, he wants to show that this no longer matters.
Since returning to the court, he has been struggling to reconnect with the world’s best, but so far in vain. In his first round, the Olympic champion had to deal with Lloyd Harris.
He won easily in the end, but had to push himself to the limit at times. 7-6, 7-6, 6-1, only late in the match did he really find his way into the match against a player who by now is not even in the world’s top 200.
“It was not easy. The conditions were difficult. I’m just happy to be one round ahead and not playing five sets like I usually do. I’ve never had a good first round at a Grand Slam in my life,” said Zverev.
Against Harris, the Hamburg-born player benefited from his serve as he often does, but he also frequently took risks. The bottom line is that he won, but certainly didn’t put an exclamation mark on his game.
For months now, he has been lacking his old coolness, and we also count many tiebreaks. Eight times he gave Harris the chance to break, seven of them he could fend off. Maybe the fact that he has never been knocked out in the 2nd round at the French Open will help him?
The betting companies trust in his qualities despite the wobbles from Round 1, the odds for the match against Alex Molcan provide 1.20 to 4.50. So the lead has clearly melted away!
In the first direct duel ever, Zverev benefits from being the much taller player, measuring a proud 20 centimetres more than his opponent. Alex Molcan knows how to convince in other ways.
The world number 86 serves with his left hand and won the first round 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 against Hugo Gaston. The world elite knows that the 25-year-old should never be underestimated.
At the last Australian Open he almost won against Felix Auger-Aliassime, the semi-final of the Srpska Open was also a sign. He may very seldom be able to beat the big ones, but he often manages to upset them.
Last year, Molcan appeared in the main round of Paris for the first time, losing in that very 2nd round. 2-6, 3-6, 6-7, against Novak Djokovic he got better and better from set to set.
Twice in his career he has made it to a 3rd round at a Grand Slam, so the dream of a triple is alive. In any case, with a victory over Alexander Zverev, he could be absolutely sure of attention.
My Zverev Molcan Tip
For Alexander Zverev, the hurdle of Lloyd Harris was nothing to sneeze at, several times the match was on the verge of tipping! The Olympic champion played two tiebreaks, since the end of March his tournaments have always been 6-7 or 7-6.
The service was good in the first round, Alex Molcan has to fight with 20 centimetres less body length, of course, much more. But: In his first match against Hugo Gaston he convinced us.
I think Zverev is basically the stronger player, but his nerves have been shaky since his comeback. Since there can be light and shade on the serve, I’ll risk the following bet:
Zverev and Molcan will play at least one tiebreak!
