Does the Russian show sportsmanship?

Rublev has not been Zverev’s favorite opponent for quite some time: While the German was able to win the first four matches against him, he has only won one of the last five duels.

The opponent is therefore on the way to becoming more of a scary opponent for the Hamburg native

The starting position this time speaks more in favor of a victory for the German. Before the last group match, Rublev no longer has a chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Zverev could still reach it with a win, provided the result from the previous match between Medvedev and Alcaraz suits him. His nemesis Medvedev would have to win, but he is already qualified and therefore unlikely to be over-motivated

The forecast for Andrey Rublev’s match with a particularly tricky starting position against Alexander Zverev is that the Russian will win the first set.

Andrey Rublev – Statistics & current form

The Muscovite started the tournament with a defeat. He was beaten in two sets by his compatriot Daniil Medvedev. He then went up against the number 2 in the world rankings Carlos Alcaraz.

In his duel with the Iberian, he suffered his next defeat, again in two sets. Rublev was already extremely disappointed with his performance during the match and even hit his knee with his racket several times until it bled. At least this slightly bizarre flagellation of his own body did not lead to the cancellation of the upcoming third group match

Rublev doesn’t want to be the total loser

Rublev will certainly be motivated once again against Zverev. His own aspirations prevent him from dropping out of the tournament without a care in the world. He also played well before the ATP Finals.

At the Masters in Paris, for example, he gave Novak Djokovic a terrific fight in the semi-finals and only conceded defeat to the world number 1 after three sets and 37 games. The Russian also reached the semi-finals at his penultimate tournament in Vienna and even reached the final at the Masters in Shanghai before that

Rublev likes closed roofs

In addition, the world number 5 feels at home at Indoors tournaments. Six of his nine tournament victories on hard courts have come indoors, such as at the Pala Alpitour in Turin. In view of this, the betting tip and odds on at least one tie-break in the duel between Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev are also worth considering.

Although nothing is at stake for the Russian, he wants to bow out of Turin in style. For this reason, there are signs of a close match between two players who are already on an equal footing. At least one set should be decided in a tie-break. A course of play that has already been observed in two of the three duels this year

Alexander Zverev – statistics & current form

The Hamburg native is a two-time winner of the ATP Finals and made a convincing start to the current edition of the “unofficial” world championships. He prevailed against world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz in three sets.

However, he then had to concede defeat to Daniil Medvedev once again. He played the Russian six times in 2023 and the Hamburg native triumphed only once!

Zverev suddenly becomes a Medvedev fan

Now, however, he has to hope that his intimate enemy, whom he has already denied fairness on the court in interviews, will win against the Spaniard. Only if Medvedev wins would the 2021 Olympic champion still have a chance of reaching the semi-finals with a win of his own in Friday’s second match.

Against this backdrop, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev’s clash also lends itself to a 2:1 victory for the German. On the other hand, the betting base does not believe that Zverev will win by more than a narrow margin.

The Hanseatic player has not played consistently in recent weeks. He has only won just under half (5) of his last eleven matches and even if the right-hander goes into the match more motivated than Rublev due to a Medvedev victory against the Spaniard, there are only signs of a three-set win from this perspective as well

Andrey Rublev – Alexander Zverev head-to-head comparison / H2H result

As mentioned at the beginning, Rublev has usually prevailed against Zverev in the recent past. He has always won the last three duels! Nevertheless, the Hanseatic player is still just ahead in the overall standings with five wins and four defeats

Andrey Rublev – Alexander Zverev tip

2023 the two pros met three times and the Russian always came out on top. Rublev also reached the semi-finals of the ATP Finals last year, the fourth time in a row that he has taken part in the tournament.

So far this year, however, it has been extremely disappointing from his point of view. With two defeats, he has no chance of reaching the semi-finals again. For the group match between Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev, however, the tip is that the Russian will triumph in the first round

The Muscovite wants to win at least one set at this year’s ATP Finals, as he has so far been unable to do so in his defeats against Medvedev and Alcaraz. He will be very motivated to pursue this goal right from the start, which is why it is reasonable to predict that he will win the first set.

On top of that, his form before the current tournament has been good and his German opponent may already be out of the tournament by the time the match starts. Should Medvedev lose to Alcaraz beforehand, the upcoming duel would also be meaningless for the Hanseatic player from a sporting point of view