ATP Masters in Miami, 2nd Round, Friday, 25.03.2022
A freak-out, a suspension, criticism from all sides and on top of that an embarrassment in Indian Wells – you really don’t get bored at the moment when reporting on the best German tennis player.
In Miami, the world number 4 naturally wants to do some rehabilitation. His opponent in the 2nd round sounds easy, even the bookies give him the clear favourite role. Can I confirm this in my Coric Zverev tip?
The bookies are giving Alexander Zverev a run for his money in Miami and he is listed as the top favourite for the title behind Daniil Medvedev. But how strong is the 24-year-old really after the last few weeks?
His exit in the round of 16 at the Australian Open in three sets against Denis Shapovalov was a surprise, and his subsequent defeat at the Open Sud against Alexander Bublik was not expected.
The big scandal then followed in Abierto. Zverev struggled to win against Jenson Booksby and then wanted to win the German duel against Peter Gojowczyk. But it didn’t come to that, because in the doubles Zverev insulted the umpire.
After a misconduct that shocked the tennis world, he was excluded from the rest of the tournament. In Indian Wells, he wanted to show that the incidents were long forgotten, but everything turned out differently.
2-6, 6-4, 6-7 – he already failed in the 1st round against Tommy Paul! He has now dropped to fourth in the world rankings and Miami has not exactly been one of his favourite venues in recent years.
In 2018, he had lost a close final to John Isner here and wanted to repeat that success quickly. In the two most recent events, however, the Hamburg native disgraced himself to the bone.
In 2019 it was David Ferrer, in 2021 Emil Ruusuvuori. Both times, Zverev only made it into the second round, but can that be interpreted as a bad omen? The German bettors don’t care about the history, more than a 1.15 can’t be achieved.
Looking at the world rankings, Borna Coric’s glaring underdog role is quite understandable. The Croatian is ranked 166th and the average odds are 5.20.
Of course, one should not forget how long the 25-year-old was condemned to watch the tournament due to injury. Just a year ago he was ranked in the top 30, so he is by no means a bad player when he is fit.
His return to Indian Wells ended in the first round, but still showed that he is on the right track. Others have lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-6, 0-6, 5-7.
In Miami, however, he started the tournament quite successfully, winning 6-4, 7-5 against Fernando Verdasco. He showed that he quite likes the Miami Open in his last two participations.
In 2019, he was eliminated in the quarter-finals against Felix Auger-Aliassime, which is exactly what happened to him the year before. The opponent at 4-6, 4-6? Alexander Zverev! The two faced each other five times, Coric still leads 3:2.
The matches had one thing in common: they were all not over in a flash. Only two sets twice and a total of five tiebreaks, but when these two players meet, it can be a long evening!
My Coric Zverev Tip
Of course Alexander Zverev is favourite against a Borna Coric who is only slowly fighting his way back. Nevertheless, I warn against underestimating the Croat. His fighting spirit is back, plus he likes the Miami Open.
He is not in top form, as Indian Wells showed. That’s why I don’t expect him to win in no time on Friday and I’m betting on him:
We see at least 20 games!
