ATP tournament in Acapulco, 1st round, Wednesday, 28.02.2024
It starts with a real bang! Alexander Zverev has digested his exit in Los Cabos because he knows that the ATP tournament in Acapulco is now one of the events on the calendar that he particularly likes.
But he will have to be very careful in the first round, as one of his compatriots will certainly not make it easy for him. The Olympic champion’s aim is to get it over the line a little more confidently than in the first two direct duels.
In my Zverev Altmaier tip, I’ll give you all the important information about this German duel and also reveal why I can imagine at least one close set!
Two final appearances in a total of five starts and one title? That’s neat! Alexander Zverev loves playing in Acapulco, but of course that alone won’t be enough for the Hamburg-born player to achieve a great result in 2024.
I’ll actually start my analysis with a little historical context. Six years ago, when he made his debut at this tournament, his path took him all the way to the semi-finals, and just one year later he fought for the title for the first time.
After losing to Nick Kyrgios in the final, it would take another three years before Zverev reached the top. He beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final in 2021, making it one of his best years, and not just because of that
You will surely remember: a few months later, the 26-year-old won the gold medal at the Olympic Games! So is a good performance in Acapulco a decisive factor in how successful a season is?
After his less than successful performance in Los Cabos, Zverev wants to show that he can actually do much better. After his semi-final exit at the Australian Open, he was actually the top favorite to win the title here.
He defeated Yoshihito Nishioka and Thanasi Kokkinakis easily, but Jordan Thompson was surprisingly the last man standing. 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, the German fought in vain for almost four hours to progress
Maybe he was comforted a little by the fact that this Thompson was able to take his first ever ATP title a little later and Casper Ruud also despaired of the Australian.
Now he is seeded No. 1 again and naturally doesn’t want to be stopped. Opposite him is Daniel Altmaier, so they know each other very well. 2022 Australian Open, 2023 US Open, they have only played each other at the big majors so far.
Zverev won both duels, dropping just one set. That sounds very confident at first, but these two matches also contained a total of three tiebreaks. So you might well ask yourself: how close will it be this time?
According to our bookmakers, not at all! With odds of 1.05 to 7.00, Zverev is clearly ahead, while his opponent is a full 51 places behind him in the world rankings
Daniel Altmaier is taking part in Acapulco for the third time in a row, but has yet to achieve a good result. Twice in a row he was knocked out directly in round 1, Cameron Norrie and Brandon Nakashima were too strong.
After the 25-year-old failed to beat Karen Khachanov in four tight sets at the Australian Open, he was unfortunately unable to show his best side in Argentina.
In Cordoba he lost to Federico Coria, and a little later he also lost to Facundo Diaz Acosta. Not the best conditions for upsetting a real top player in Acapulco, of course!
Altmaier is ten centimetres shorter than his compatriot Zverev and knows that he has now been knocked out in the first round three times in a row. Of course, you might also be interested to know that his eight matches this year have featured eight tiebreaks
My Zverev Altmaier tip
That Alexander Zverev is naturally favored in a duel with Daniel Altmaier? No surprise! The 2021 Acapulco champion has fond memories of this tournament, but also knows that he hasn’t succeeded in everything yet.
He was eliminated against Jordan Thompson in Los Cabos, but can count himself lucky that his upcoming opponent is even worse. However, as both head-to-head duels were closer than it appears at first glance and the underdog can definitely serve, I opt for the following tip:
We’ll see at least one tiebreak!
