Deja-vu at the Foro Italico

There are legends in tennis around Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal. Behind them are a whole series of crown princes who one day want to take the rank of the top dogs. Among them are Alexander Zverev from Hamburg and his Greek opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas. Both will meet in the semi-finals of the Masters in Rome on Saturday.

It is the last real test before the French Open in Paris and it has already become clear that Zverev and Tsitsipas will be among the favourites at the Stade Roland Garros. After their performances at the Masters tournaments in Monte Carlo, Madrid and also now in Rome, one has to speak of a more than worthy semifinal, because both are among the best clay court players in the world.

It is the third semi-final in a row in which the two opponents face each other. The Greek won in Monte Carlo and the German number one took revenge in Madrid. Therefore, one can absolutely expect a match of equals, in which it is complicated to make a prediction on the winner between Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The bottom line is that the Greek probably performed a little better in the eternal city. In addition, he had the tougher programme, while Zverev advanced to the final round against weaker opponents, without losing a set, but sometimes with great difficulty.

Alexander Zverev – Statistics & current form

Current world ranking: 3
Position in the seedings: 2

Alexander Zverev is an absolute specialist at the Masters tournaments. In the Foro Italico, the Hamburg native won his first title in a 1000s tournament. Apparently he likes the atmosphere in the eternal city, because he has been very successful again this year. However, his game still had room for improvement in phases. However, there are also some positive aspects.

Not yet at the limit

Whenever things got really tight, Alexander Zverev was able to shift into a higher gear, for example in the tiebreak of the first set against Sebastian Baez from Argentina or in the final phase of the second set against Alex de Minaur from Australia. The bottom line, however, is that Alexander Zverev has not yet dropped a set at the Foro Italico.

The German also had his problems in the first set of the quarter-finals, when Chile’s Cristian Garin held his own until 5:5. Only then did the Hamburg player pick up the pace again, winning the first set 7:5 and then had no problems at all in the second set at 6:2. If he manages to play like he did in his strong phases in the semi-finals, we can also imagine playing the odds on a victory for the German in the duel between Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

On the positive side, his service rate has improved over the course of the tournament. However, the 64 percent in the quarter-finals is actually still too little to beat all the strong players now. On the other hand, his two-handed backhand, perhaps his best shot ever, is becoming more and more precise. The trend is positive in any case.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Statistics & current form

Current world ranking: 5
Position in the seedings: 4

Unlike Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas has already won a title this year. The conditions at the Masters in Monte Carlo are very similar to those in Rome and therefore the number five in the ATP rankings is certainly a very hot candidate for the title in the eternal city. However, one should not forget that the Greek had his problems in the Foro Italico.

Marathon man Tsitsipas

In the second round against Grigor Dimitrov, he had to go over long three sets and could only prevail in the tiebreak of the decisive round. In the last 16, Stefanos Tsitsipas had to fight again. Against the Russian Karen Khachanov, the best Greek tennis player of all times lost the first set 4:6. Only then did Stefanos Tsitsipas find his game better and won the next two sets 6:0 and 6:3.

Stefanos Tsitsipas is also capable of bouncing back from setbacks and improving significantly in the course of a match. That was not necessary in the quarter-final against local hero Jannik Sinner. The Italian had noticeable health problems and so Tsitsipas won 7:6 and 6:2. Things got curious before match point when there was a medical emergency in the stands and the match had to be interrupted for several minutes.

But the Greek still managed to win the one point. In view of Jannik Sinner’s problems, however, this match did not really shed any light on his form. What could be a problem, however, is that the 23-year-old has been on court for well over two hours. At temperatures that feel like 35 degrees in Rome, these long matches, of which Tsitsipas has had three in the meantime, really take it out of you.

Alexander Zverev – Stefanos Tsitsipas Direct comparison / H2H balance

To date, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas have had eleven head-to-head duels. However, it is safe to assume that there will be many more in the future, as both of them should probably have a say in the sport of tennis in the next ten years. In the direct comparison, the Greek is ahead with 7:4 victories. Of interest for the Rome semifinals is Tsitsipas’ 3-1 record on clay.

The Greek won in the quarter-finals of the Madrid Masters in 2019 and confirmed this success in the semifinals of Roland Garros last year. Stefanos Tsitsipas followed that up with another clay-court win in the Monte Carlo semi-finals before Alexander Zverev got his revenge in last week’s Madrid semi-finals to add to his overall tally.

Alexander Zverev – Stefanos Tsitsipas Tip

We expect it to be a close match. The two semi-finals in Monte Carlo and Madrid have shown that each of the two opponents is capable of defeating the other. The better record on clay, but also the overall direct comparison speak more in favour of Stefanos Tsitsipas. Perhaps that is why the tendency on Saturday is more in the direction of the Greek.

The court conditions in Rome are more comparable to Monte Carlo, where Tsitsipas won last time out, than to Madrid, where Zverev came out on top.

Basically, both have performed very similarly this week at the Foro Italico. Both top players were always able to go the extra mile in close matches. Each of the two semi-finalists had problematic phases in all their matches. Therefore, a win bet is not that easy, but due to the better clay court record, we have decided to play the odds on a win for the Greek between Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas