French Open in Paris, Round of 16, Monday, 05.06.2023
After trailing in the first set against Frances Tiafoe, Alexander Zverev showed mental strength and turned the match in his favour on Saturday night.
Now Germany’s tennis ace is in the last 16 of the French Open and has to prove himself against Grigor Dimitrov on Monday. The task will not be any easier.
Will the German prevail? In my Dimitrov Zverev betting tip, I provide an overview of the best odds and a prediction including a betting tip.
Alexander Zverev is well on his way to showing his critics. After the long-term injury he suffered at Roland Garros last year, the German is fighting his way back towards top form.
The previous tournaments have shown that he is not yet able to consistently play at a high level, but after more than half a year off and seven torn ligaments, that is understandable.
At the French Open, he punched his ticket to the last 16 with a comeback against Frances Tiafoe (3-6, 7-6, 6-1, 7-6). In general, with the early exit of his long-time rival Daniil Medvedev, the German has a good chance of going far.
After all, the Russian, with whom he also fought verbally off the court, was in the same quarter of the tournament tree. But he fluffed in round one and thus paved the way for the German Olympic champion.
On Monday evening, however, another tough hurdle awaits. Grigor Dimitrov challenges Zverev. He already took a German player, Daniel Altmaier, out of the tournament in the sixteenth final.
Otherwise, there would have been a German duel in the round of the last 16 players. But Altmaier did not have enough energy after the strenuous endurance match against Jannik Sinner to stand up to the fresher Dimitrov.
The Bulgarian has yet to drop a set in the entire tournament, prevailing over Emil Ruusuvuori and Timofei Skatov in the early rounds.
The bookmakers are impressed by the Geneva finalist’s performance and give him only slight underdog odds (2.62).
Alexander Zverev is the favourite at Bet365 (1.50). By the way, if you place your bets with Bet365, you can also follow all the matches of the French Open live in the stream. Alternatively, the matches will also be shown on the Eurosport channels.
Zverev and Dimitrov have already played each other four times. Only in the first encounter did the Bulgarian win. At that time, however, the long German was only 17 years old, Dimitrov 23.
In 2016, Zverev beat Dimitrov twice in the months close to his 19th birthday. In Indian Wells, he needed three sets. At the Rome Masters on clay, there was an emphatic 6-1, 6-4 win.
It was a little closer five years later in their last encounter to date. After two tiebreaks and one won by Zverev, the Hamburg-born player also prevailed in the third set.
In three of the four matches, both players won at least one set. I expect there will be at least four rounds on Monday as well.
For over 3.5 sets in the match, Betano is offering 1.53 odds. A tiebreak is also conceivable. In the most recent duel, there were two tiebreaks, just like in Zverev’s first and third round match.
Over 0.5 tiebreaks stand at odds of 1.60, a 3.95 is even available with at least two tiebreaks in the match.
Those expecting close sets but preferring to commit to a high number of games could also bet on over 37.5 games at Bet-at-home (1.77).
Summary: Zverev is known for going above and beyond at the Grand Slams. In Roland Garros, too, he shows a clear improvement in performance compared to the previous tournaments.
Dimitrov put in an impressive performance in the first rounds, had an easy game against a tired Altmaier, who had to play for five and a half hours against Sinner two days earlier.
His first round opponent Skatov was also quite a pleasant opponent to secure the second round ticket.
I expect Zverev to be outclassed and win the match, but not to go the full five sets. Therefore, I decide to bet: Win Zverev with -1.5 set handicap.
