Paris Masters, Round of 16, Thursday, 31.10.2024, 4:00 pm
Alexander Zverev had struggled against Tallon Griekspoor in their last few matches, but in the second round of Paris he had now beaten him in straight sets, only finding it a little harder in the starting phase.
Now he faces the player who previously knocked out Jan-Lennard Struff – and did so convincingly. At his home match, Arthur Fils wants to go far.
However, I am assuming in my Zverev Fils tip that the round of 16 will be the end of the road, putting the Zverev victory at Betano in the race.
He did not get through the season perfectly in terms of his health. At times, he struggled with his thigh, then he came down with pneumonia. He is not currently at 100 percent, but he hopes to be back in Australia in 2025 for the next major tournament.
But first, Zverev is in for some nice points and a nice prize money in Paris, where he is competing in his third tournament after the French Open and the Olympics, just like the other top stars. This time, however, on the indoor hard court. He was already in the final here in 2020.
Daniil Medvedev snatched the title from him back then, but he has already been eliminated. Despite his physical problems, Zverev is considered the top favorite to win behind Carlos Alcaraz in Betano’s odds.
A 1.50 is offered for the victory in the round of 16, Fils has a 2.60, the odds distribution reminds me of the US election. The weighting per Donald Trump is similar. However, we will have to wait even longer for a decision there.
In round two, Zverev did not even leave Griekspoor with every fourth point in his own service games. The first serve rate was still low by Zverev’s standards, at 62 percent. A comfortably won tiebreak and a break for Zverev were enough for the win in the end.
Fils was only able to win six of 35 points on Struff’s first serve, but benefited from the fact that it landed in the targeted field just once every two attempts. After Struff’s second serve, he was able to attack fully and won a whopping 61 percent of the points.
In any case, Fils has a very aggressive game. Zverev would be better off not allowing himself moments of passivity. The world number 20 will mercilessly take advantage of this if he has a good touch. After all, the 20-year-old sometimes has games in which things don’t go well for him.
In Shanghai, he was knocked out in his opening match against Roberto Carballes Baena, who is anything but a hard court ace. Overall, however, he has put in a strong performance on court in recent weeks, winning his second 500 series title in Tokyo after Hamburg and reaching the semi-finals in Basel.
He also didn’t have the absolute top opponent in Paris in the form of Marin Cilic, and he is currently 1-2 in his direct duel against Zverev.
Zverev won the first Hamburg encounter of 2023, a 6-2, 6-4 in the semi-finals. Zverev was also more consistent in Halle. In his defeat this year in the Hanseatic city, he struggled with efficiency, only converting one of 22 break chances!
In three sets, Zverev, who was able to exert significantly more pressure, just couldn’t get the job done that day.
My Zverev Fils Tip
Time for revenge! Zverev played a strong game against Griekspoor, served well and courageously distributed the balls. He was able to keep on getting the better of him on the return. I have a lot more faith in Zverev than in the first three matches anyway.
This is also due to the fact that Fils is not one of the absolute top servers on the tour.
In addition, Zverev’s return skills are still somewhat underestimated in my opinion, which may be because he too often fails to follow up a good long ball with the right shot in his matches.
In the matchup against Fils, I definitely see him ahead. I expect him to get into the service games of the local favorite more often and to get crucial breaks.
By the way, you can now also deposit at Betano very conveniently via Apple Pay.
My Zverev vs. Fils tip: Zverev to win!
