Clear number for the Australian Open champion?
There are numerous smaller stops on the ATP Tour before the Sunshine Double with the Major tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March. All tournament directors were vying for the reigning Australian Open winner. Rotterdam got him. For the first time since his Grand Slam victory, Jannik Sinner is back on the tennis court at Rotterdam Ahoy. Naturally, the bet on Jannik Sinner’s opening win against Botic van de Zandschulp is under a good star
Theoretically, history from Melbourne could even repeat itself in the Dutch port city. These two players also faced each other in the first round of the Australian Open 2024. As is well known, the Italian had the better end, beating the Dutchman 3:0. That’s why our prediction for Jannik Sinner against Botic van de Zandschulp is an unchallenged victory for the Sesto player
In addition to the “head-to-head” comparison, which only consists of the first round match at the Australian Open 2024, Jannik Sinner’s annual record is also clearly in his favor. The man from Sesto has only played the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne so far and therefore has seven wins from seven singles matches played in 2024. Meanwhile, Botic van de Zandschulp has also played seven singles matches this year. However, the Dutchman has lost four of these seven matches.
Although Botic van de Zandschulp, as a local hero, is sure to have one or two spectators on his side at Rotterdam Ahoy, we assume that the Australian Open champion will flex his muscles. We therefore play the bet on Jannik Sinner’s victory with a handicap of -5.5 games
Jannik Sinner – Statistics & current form
Current position in the world rankings: 4
Position in the seeding list: 1
The 22-year-old South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner naturally competes on the ATP Tour under the Italian flag and has just become the very first Italian to ever win the Australian Open in Melbourne.
In doing so, the man from Sesto seamlessly followed on from his big coup in the winter of 2023, when he won the Davis Cup with Italy. Now the shooting star of the ATP Tour is competing again for the first time since his first Grand Slam victory. The world number four will start as the top seed at the Rotterdam Open 2024
Does Jannik Sinner’s winning streak continue in Rotterdam?
So far in 2024, the 22-year-old has done very little. In Down Under, Jannik Sinner went all the way to the semi-finals without dropping a set and even managed to demystify defending champion Novak Djokovic 3:1 (6:1, 6:2, 6:7 and 6:3).
It was only in the final that the man from Sesto had a wobble, but he fought back from 2-0 down against Daniil Medvedev and was crowned Australian Open champion with a 3-2 victory over the Russian. The Italian has now won 20 of his last 21 singles matches this year
Jannik Sinner already defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in Melbourne
Of course, the South Tyrolean now wants to carry his momentum into the Dutch port city, where there will be a déjà vu in round one. With Jannik Sinner against Botic van de Zandschulp, the odds are so clearly in the 22-year-old’s favor because he only just swept the Dutchman off the court 3-0 in the first round of the Australian Open 2024.
Two figures stood out in particular in that victory over van de Zandschulp: on the one hand, the Italian won 65 percent of all points (24 out of 37) even with his second serve. And on the other hand, Sinner scored 42 percent of all points on his opponent’s serve, which meant that the Dutchman hardly saw any land
Botic van de Zandschulp – statistics & current form
Current position in the world rankings: 66
Position in the seeding list: unseeded
28-year-old Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp has been making regular appearances on the ATP Tour since the 2019 season. The man from Wageningen has qualified for the main draw of the Rotterdam Open, one of the most important tournaments in his home country, for the fourth time.
So far, however, the quarter-finalist at the 2021 US Open has never made it past the second round of the Rotterdam Open. In five singles matches played at the indoor hard court tournament at Rotterdam Ahoy, van de Zandschulp has only managed two wins
Botic van de Zandschulp struggles against top 10 players
Jannik Sinner’s chances of making it through to the next round against Botic van de Zandschulp are again under a very bad star. After all, he is up against none other than the reigning Australian Open winner, who is taking part in the tournament as the top seed in the ATP 500 category.
So far, the 28-year-old has not had much to say against top 10 players. Botic van de Zandschulp has only won six of his 23 singles matches against an opponent who was one of the top ten players in the ATP world rankings at the time of the match. That corresponds to a win rate of just 26.1 percent.
Botic van de Zandschulp still out of form in 2024
In addition, the Dutchman goes into the opening match of the Rotterdam Open 2024 with a poor annual record of just three wins from seven singles matches played. Jannik Sinner was the only notable player he had to admit defeat to.
His other three defeats came at the hands of Juncheng Shang (ATP 183), Alejandro Tabilo (ATP 82) and Leandro Riedi (ATP 175). Three players who are well behind Botic van de Zandschulp (ATP 66) in the ATP world rankings, which says a lot about the form of the Dutchman, who already had a negative annual record of just 23 wins compared to 25 defeats on the ATP Tour in the 2023 calendar year
Jannik Sinner – Botic van de Zandschulp Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 1:0
There has only been one meeting between the two athletes so far, but it is certainly significant. After all, the two players only just faced each other in the first round of the Australian Open 2024. On his way to the first Grand Slam title of his career, Jannik Sinner beat the Dutchman 3:0 (6:4, 7:5 and 6:3).
Jannik Sinner – Botic van de Zandschulp Tip
The bookmakers’ betting odds on Jannik Sinner against Botic van de Zandschulp are heavily in favor of the in-form Italian, who will be looking to build on his Australian Open 2024 coup at the Rotterdam Open 2024. The South Tyrolean goes into this match with incredible momentum and has not only won all seven singles matches in 2024, but also has 20 wins from his last 21 singles matches on the ATP Tour over the course of the year
In view of the fact that the man from Sesto dispatched his Dutch opponent 3:0 in the first round of the Australian Open 2024 without losing a set and without a tie-break, our prediction for Jannik Sinner against Botic van de Zandschulp is that the South Tyrolean will win comfortably. We apply a handicap of -5.5 games to the Australian Open champion
