Will the Hungarian upset the German favorite?

Although he missed out on a spot in the semifinals last week in Vienna, two-time world and Olympic champion Alexander Zverev continues to be on an upward trajectory. The German stands at 51 wins from 76 singles matches in 2023, the last year in which he also returned to the top 10 of the ATP world rankings. Accordingly, the tendency for Márton Fucsovics against Alexander Zverev goes clearly to the tip on the opening victory of the Hamburg player.

For Sascha it is still about important points for the qualification for the ATP Finals. Accordingly, his opening opponent at the Paris Masters is unpleasant. After all, Márton Fucsovics has already claimed his first two victories at the Accor Arena, where the Hungarian had to fight his way through qualifying. It is not out of the question that Márton Fucsovics’ prediction of a surprise victory for the underdog against Alexander Zverev will come true.

It is also striking how often Alexander Zverev has wobbled in the first rounds of major tournaments so far this season. Time and again, he dropped at least one set against comparatively small opponents. For example, at the end of September in Beijing against Diego Schwartzman (ATP 133) or earlier in Chengdu against Pavel Kotov (ATP 106).

Against this backdrop, it is very coherent in our eyes to bet that the supposed underdog Márton Fucsovics can also snatch at least one set from the German.

Márton Fucsovics – statistics & current form

Current ranking in the world: 52
Position in the seedings: Qualifier

The 31-year-old Hungarian Márton Fucsovics first appeared on the ATP Tour in the 2010 season, but only made it to the main draw of a major tournament for the first time in 2016. At the US Open, however, he was eliminated in the first round.

The man from Nyíregyháza had his best run in the 2021 season, when he reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships with two victories over top-10 players at the time. Fucsovics secured his only singles title on the tour in 2018 in Geneva.

A win percentage of just 10% against top-10 players

But the fact that it never really went that high for the 31-year-old is due to the fact that he recorded two of his total of just three wins against top-10 players ever at the aforementioned 2021 Wimbledon Championships. Out of 30 singles matches, mind you. Thus, the Hungarian’s win rate against top-10 players is just 10%.

Against this background, it is not surprising that the odds are against Márton Fucsovics against Alexander Zverev, who is currently 52nd in the ATP world rankings and has not yet made a significant appearance this year.

Won 20 of 39 singles matches in 2023

So far this season, the Hungarian has played 39 rated singles matches on the ATP Tour, winning 20 of them. His last defeat was a first-round loss to Gael Monfils (ATP 140) in Stockholm in mid-October. The 31-year-old had already impressed in Shanghai, where he first beat Félix Auger-Aliassime (ATP 15) 2-1 in the last Masters tournament to date and then only just lost to Francisco Cerundolo (ATP 21) 2-1.

At least the set win against Alexander Zverev has to be trusted to the Hungarian, especially since Márton Fucsovics has already survived the qualification in Paris. In the Accor Arena, the world number 52 celebrated two straight 2-0 victories against Emil Ruusuvuori and Hanfmann defeater Grégoire Barrère, through which he now belongs to the main draw of the last Masters tournament of the season for the fourth time.

Alexander Zverev – statistics & current form

Current ranking in the world: 9
Position in the seedings: 10

In 2023 so far, 26-year-old German Alexander Zverev took a long time to catch up with the world’s best after the injury he suffered at the 2022 French Open.

After a weak and shaky start to the year, however, things have steadily improved for the Hamburg native in recent months. At his home tournament in Hamburg in the summer and at the end of September in Chengdu, Sascha secured two more singles titles on the ATP Tour, which brings his career total to 21 titles.

The ATP Finals are the declared goal

The German has already won the ATP Finals twice, for which he would love to qualify again in 2023. He is currently ranked seventh on the “Road to Turin”, for which five of eight participants have already qualified. However, he may still need a point or two if his current rivals are to make a big impression.

All the more reason to assume that Sascha will not take the Paris Masters, where he already reached the final once in 2020 (1:2 against Daniil Medvedev), purely out of contractual obligations, but with maximum seriousness in order to perhaps reach a final at a major tournament for the first time since May 2022.

Recently lacked aplomb in the early rounds

The German’s record is certainly respectable, having already won 51 of his 76 completed singles matches in 2023. Nevertheless, with Márton Fucsovics against Alexander Zverev, betting on a clean 2-0 win for the 26-year-old is associated with great risks.

Despite his good form, he has lost his opening matches and dropped sets against underdogs from time to time. Prior to Vienna, Sascha lost 2-0 to Jordan Thompson (ATP 60) in his first match in Tokyo and 2-0 to Roman Safiullin (ATP 50) in Shanghai, while he needed a 2-1 comeback win over Diego Schwartzman (ATP 133) in his opening match in Beijing and also dropped a set in his first two matches against Pavel Kotov (ATP 106) and Miomir Kecmanovic (ATP 47) in Chengdu.

Márton Fucsovics – Alexander Zverev Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to head: 0:0

Never before has there been a direct duel between the two athletes. Consequently, there is no “head to head” data available yet, which could influence the forecast for Márton Fucsovics vs. Alexander Zverev

Márton Fucsovics – Alexander Zverev tip

In the run-up to the opening match between Márton Fucsovics and Alexander Zverev, the bookmakers’ betting odds swing very clearly in the direction of the favored German. A first-round match is always a mixed bag, especially in a busy schedule. But because the Hamburg native still needs points to reach the ATP Finals, we definitely expect a committed Sascha, who has, however, received an unpleasant opponent for the opener.

The Hungarian has found it extremely difficult against top 10 players so far. Also in view of the fact that Sascha has already lost numerous sets against comparatively small opponents this year, it still makes a lot of sense to predict that the Hungarian underdog will win at least one set in Márton Fucsovic’s match against Alexander Zverev.