ATP Masters in Miami, round of 16, Wednesday, 27.03.2024
The form is right! Alexander Zverev has now really impressed twice at the Miami Masters, despite the fact that his opponents are no walkovers. Now he is dueling with the man who faced him in the Olympic final.
How do you rate this match in our sports betting apps? Quite simply, they see the German a good bit further ahead. In my Zverev Khachanov tip, I will therefore tell you why I would also bet on the favorite to win – and why it might even be worth extending the odds to 2:0!
Whether it’s an exit in the first round, in the quarter-finals or a defeat in the final, Alexander Zverev knows only too well from recent years that anything can theoretically happen here in Miami.
After a disgraceful 2023, everything should be better this year, and so far his performances seem to be just that! Right at the start against Felix Auger-Aliassime, he showed how far he wants to go.
At 6-2, 6-4, he impressed with 93% points won on his first serve and 100% on his second – you can’t serve much better than that. Could Christopher Eubanks make it more open a little later?
I thought the American could do something, but he was no match for Alexander Zverev in this form. The German prevailed 7-6, 6-3, but had to cope with the fact that his serve dropped a little
Strong again: double faults were completely avoided. The 69% points won in the first service were better, but he converted both break chances and only conceded one to his opponent.
All in all, this performance was also very appealing, Zverev did what he had to do to progress without major difficulties. Eubanks was particularly strong in the first set, where other pros would probably also have had problems.
“A very difficult match. He controlled the game in the first set, his return was incredible. I had the feeling he wasn’t missing anything. He didn’t give me many opportunities to get aggressive myself. I just hung in there and I’m happy to have come through in two sets,” said the happy winner
Karen Khachanov? Of course, this not only brings back memories for Zverev himself, but also for all his fans! The last time the two met was in Tokyo in the summer of 2021, when they were going for Olympic gold!
Back then, Zverev easily secured the biggest triumph of his career with a 6-1, 6-3 win and now leads the head-to-head 3:2. However, the history is not very meaningful, as the last match was almost three years ago.
As briefly mentioned in my introduction, the bookmakers are leaning towards a German victory. However, the odds of 1.50 to 2.60 are not as clear-cut as you might think.
Is Karen Khachanov, who is also 1.98m tall, in top form? The Russian is ranked 16th in the world rankings, so he’s certainly no slouch
After getting off to a very confident start in Miami with a 6-2, 6-4 win against Laslo Djere (even though he only made use of four of his 19 break chances), Francisco Cerundolo awaited a little later as an opponent on equal terms.
6-1, 5-7, 7-6, what began so simply ended in a real thriller with a lucky winner from Russia. Previously in Indian Wells, Khachanov had failed to win against Thiago Seyboth Wild from Brazil right at the start, and that without any problems.
Actually, I can only highlight his tournament victory in Qatar positively, where he was seeded second, definitely didn’t beat any strong opponents and also achieved a very narrow, lucky victory against Jakub Mensik in the final
My Zverev Khachanov tip
Karen Khachanov is still dragging himself a bit through 2024, I haven’t really recorded his performances consistently. Things are looking a little better for Alexander Zverev, not least because of his performances here in Miami.
The Hamburg native serves very confidently, doesn’t produce any double faults and plays patiently to boot. I’ll keep it short: my tip is for a German victory. If you want to take a little more risk, four of the five direct duels have ended this way, you can also bet on a 2:0 at odds of 2.25.
Zverev beats Khachanov!
