French Open in Paris, 2nd round, Thursday, 29.05.2025, 12:10 p.m.
A confident performance with room for improvement, no sets lost, no unnecessary points given away – Alexander Zverev can be satisfied with his start at the French Open 2025. There is no time to catch his breath, though, as the second round continues on Thursday.
The fact that his opponent had to go to five sets in the first round should play into the German’s hands. Accordingly, I will now reveal to you in my Zverev de Jong tip why I am betting on another straight-sets victory.
“It was a good start to the tournament. I’m happy to have won in three sets. I usually need three or four sets in the first rounds. I hope it continues like this,” said Alexander Zverev, realistically assessing his start at the French Open.
He had previously beaten Learner Tien 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. With 90% of points won on his first serve and 70% on his second, he had every reason to be completely satisfied. Breaks allowed? None, despite four chances for his opponent.
Had he not missed four out of twelve opportunities himself, the match might have been over even quicker. He was on court for less than two hours, so he was even able to conserve some energy.
Last year’s finalist also started the 2024 tournament with two straight wins. Funny: Since 2016, Zverev has played either three or five sets in the second round, avoiding the golden mean.
After a few wobbles in 2025, the Hamburg native knows that he can never feel too secure. His last four matches before the start of the French Open all went to a tiebreak, which may be of interest to you.
The tiebreak bet for Thursday would earn you odds of 2.50 at Bet365. Zverev first met Jesper de Jong in Hamburg in 2024, fittingly also on clay.
He won 6-2, 6-2, and he would be happy with such a clear result this time around. At 1.80 meters tall, the Dutchman is well below Zverev in terms of height, who is a full 18 centimeters taller.
Although de Jong, ranked 88th in the world, is not exactly a nobody on the tennis circuit, the bookmakers have only one strategy: they see the German as the clear favorite with average odds of 1.03 to 13.0.
What is Jesper de Jong’s Grand Slam experience? He only played in the main draw at Roland Garros for the first time in 2024, when he qualified directly for the second round.
After Jack Draper was sensationally defeated, he won one set against Carlos Alcaraz, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6. I can’t report much more from the big stage, because:
He only appeared in the main draw at the 2024 Australian Open, where he also lost in the second round (in straight sets to Jannik Sinner). This time, he came close to being eliminated in the first round, and that in his first Grand Slam tournament without having to qualify.
The final score against Francesco Passaro was 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-1, so the Dutchman made a spectacular comeback. 80% of points won on his first serve? Not bad at all. Despite the problems.
However, he allowed Passaro to break him four times, which he won’t be able to afford against Zverev. At the Masters in Rome, the 24-year-old showed flashes of his potential.
His 6-0, 6-2 victory over Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina was impressive, but as expected, his run came to an end in the third round against Jannik Sinner. What he still lacks are victories against the big names – Zverev would be one of them.
My Zverev de Jong tip
The start has been successful, now don’t let up. Alexander Zverev played strong, convincing tennis in the first round in Paris, especially with his serve. He should now conjure up exactly the same on court in the second round.
Jesper de Jong, on the other hand, had to fight for hours against Francesco Passaro, eventually winning after trailing 0-2. Since Zverev didn’t have to push himself to the limit on the other side of the net, I quickly decided on the following bet:
Zverev beats de Jong in straight sets!
