ATP Tournament in Bastad, 2nd Round, Thursday, 20.07.2023
In Bastad, Sweden, Alexander Zverev’s opening match was a bit rough. In the end, the German prevailed in three sets against Alex Molcan.
He now has to play Thiago Monteiro in the last 16. He will meet the Brazilian for the third time in his career. Can he solve the compulsory task? In my Zverev Monteiro tip, I reveal why I ultimately decided on a bet from Bet365.
Zverev had no major problems against Alex Molcan before. That changed on Tuesday in the first round of the 250cc tournament in Bastad. He had to play three sets.
It was only at the end of the last set that he was able to finally decide the match, after he had already been one break ahead at the beginning of the set. But after the rebreak, Zverev again had to take a service game from the Slovak.
The 1.98-metre Hamburg native definitely felt more comfortable in the return game. As is known for his game on clay, he again worked out all the break chances, 15 to be precise.
However, the efficiency left much to be desired. Among other things, he failed to retrieve his lost service game at 0:40 in the second set and had to accept the set loss.
In the end, there were four successful breaks. On his own serve, the second serve weakened. In total, he hit five aces and five double faults. 33 percent of points won on serve two are not enough for Germany’s number one.
Molcan also broke three times and had the opportunity to make the match exciting. Zverev wants to minimise his error rate for the next match. Monteiro now awaits him there.
Once again, Zverev is the clear favourite. Betano gives the reigning Olympic champion 1.15 odds, while the Brazilian’s odds are in the 5.50 range. Betano has 1.50 in his repertoire for the straightforward 2:0 victory.
If Zverev can put away the slight errors and act a little more courageously in the rallies, Monteiro, who is outside the top 100, should have no chance. If Zverev plays with a lot of pressure, only a few players in the world can hold a candle to him.
Monteiro knows that too, at least since their last encounter at the Davis Cup in March 2022. The first set ended 6-1. He found his way into the match better in the second set, but could not become dangerous. In the end, the scoreboard showed 6-1, 7-5 for Zverev.
Monteiro only had one break point, but Zverev made the most of three of his five opportunities and was much more efficient than he had been against Molcan.
Can Zverev repeat this performance? Should the tiebreak fail to materialise again and the former world number two win in two sets, the Bet365 betting configurator will offer 1.80 odds.
It was a completely different situation in 2014 when the two professionals met for the first time. Back then, the Hamburg player, who will be serving in his home tournament next week, was only 16 years old.
With that little experience, he still lost to Monteiro, who is three years older, 4-6, 3-6 in qualifying for the tournament in Panama City.
Monteiro, who is touring the tennis world this year for the first time since 2017 with a negative record of 16 wins in 36 matches, also had to go through three sets in round one like Zverev.
Danil Elahi Galan initially took the lead but could not maintain the level afterwards and eventually lost 7-5, 4-6, 4-6.
My Zverev Monteiro Tip
Were it not for Zverev’s easy errors, he would have easily won the match in two sets against Molcan in round one. Easy volleys, smashes went down the drain and he also made the match difficult for himself with a few double faults.
I think his performance will improve in the second round. Moreover, the first round was his first clay match since the French Open.
He had Monteiro clearly under control in the last match. He won the match in two sets and without a tiebreak. I now trust him to do the same in the last 16 in Bastad, also because the Brazilian has struggled with form this year and has a negative record for the first time since 2017.
My Zverev Monteiro tip: Zverev wins 2:0 and no tiebreak
