French Open 2019 Quarter Final: Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev, Preview and Prediction
Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, the present and the future of men's tennis respectively, clash in the quarter finals of the 2019 Roland Garros.
They have played against each other in a final twice, and the German has done incredibly well to hold his own against the great Serbian to win both the matches. The biggest of those wins for Zverev was in their latest encounter at the summit clash of the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals, where he triumphed in a surprisingly one-sided straight sets encounter.
In fact, each of their four matches has been decided in straight sets, in favour of one or the other. Whoever has won the first set, has run away with the match. So, the first set here will be extremely important for both, especially for Zverev.
Zverev’s form this season, after the high of ATP Finals win at the end of last season, has been a rather surprising one. Usually, he has performed very well in the non-Grand Slam events and struggled at the Grand Slams. Maybe, the winds are changing. Maybe the failures at Masters level and lower rung tournaments will spur him to do better at Grand Slams.
At the French Open so far, though he has not looked at his best, but he has found a way to somehow come up trumps. In fact, two of his four matches so far have been tight five-setters. Against both John Millman in the first round and Dusan Lajovic, he seemed down for the taking. But turning around his fortunes in those matches from tough conditions showed his mental fortitude, not always a strength associated with him.
He would also take heart from the fact that he has won his only previous clay match against Djokovic, at the final of 2017 Rome Masters. However, despite his decent record against the Serbian and his new found mental strength, he will need to up his game by a few notches.
He has especially struggled on his serve in this tournament. He has been broken a whopping seventeen times so far. This is complete contrast to his next opponent. Djokovic has been nothing less than spectacular thus far.
He has won all his matches in straight sets, and has only been broken twice in the four matches, while breaking his opponents a stunning twenty two times! At the moment, there is no doubt who the clear favourite here is.
Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in Straight Sets