ATP tournament in Indian Wells, 2nd round, Friday, 08.03.2024
German winners in Indian Wells? There was, but only one, and his two triumphs were more than 30 years ago! The first really big Masters of 2024 will not only excite tennis fans in black, red and gold.
Of course, our best player is counting on a strong performance, but he knows that a very early exit is not automatically out of the question. Is that also true for Friday, even though the bookies are so optimistic?
In my Zverev O’Connell betting tip, I take a look at the favorite and the underdog, and I’ll tell you why it could well be closer than expected and why I recommend that the Australian wins the set!
Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev? They’re all here! The Masters at Indian Wells attracts the world’s elite, and it’s a tournament nobody wants to miss.
While some have not been seen on the tour since the Australian Open (which is nothing unusual, especially for the Djoker), Alexander Zverev has certainly tried to stabilize his form in recent years.
Unfortunately, after the semi-final in Melbourne, he didn’t quite succeed. In Los Cabos, he had to concede to Jordan Thompson, the eventual champion, in the semi-finals, which was not the way he had planned it
The Hamburg-born player then had an even worse day in Acapulco. The Mexican sun didn’t go well for him and he had to retire in round 1 against his compatriot Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 3-6.
A bitter disappointment that showed that although the world number 6 can now beat any opponent in the world again, the fact unfortunately remains that early, unplanned defeats against outsiders are just as possible.
So how will he fare here in Indian Wells? He made the quarter-finals here three years ago, but has yet to achieve a better result. Not exactly up to his standard, in 2022 he was even knocked out right at the start
This time, as has been the case in recent years, Zverev started with a short break, only entering the tournament on Friday evening. In 2023, he already had the experience of playing Christopher O’Connell, his current opponent, twice.
7-5, 6-4 and 6-7, 4-6? The two matches had different outcomes! Although Zverev is 15 centimetres taller than his rival, he should know that O’Connell can also serve wonderfully.
In contrast to Zverev, the Australian had to take to the court in the first round, which was only logical as the world number 66. His match went up against Jack Draper and despite a huge false start, it ended well
O’Connell had lost the first set 1-6, but won in the end 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. Had he not only used four of his 15 break chances, the match might have been over sooner.
In recent weeks, the 29-year-old has been able to draw attention to himself from time to time. Want some examples? In Qatar he won against Jan-Lennard Struff, then in Dubai he knocked out Maximilian Marterer and only narrowly lost to top player Hubert Hurkacz 6-7, 4-6.
In his very first appearance in the main draw of Indian Wells, he has now made it into the 2nd round and will certainly be able to cope with the fact that he is not taken particularly “seriously” in the rankings of our betting providers with an average of 5.50 to 1.10.
My Zverev O’Connell tip
If we go purely by name and the world rankings, Alexander Zverev is of course clearly favored against Christopher O’Connell on Friday. But: I honestly haven’t forgotten his performances in Los Cabos and Acapulco.
Indian Wells is not his favorite tournament, but at the same time I think his Australian opponent is very unpleasant. O’Connell has beaten two German players recently, and the impressions from his current first round were also decent. That’s why I’m also betting now:
Zverev won’t get through easily
