2019 Madrid Masters Quarter Finals: Alexander Zverev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas, Preview and Prediction
Two of the most exciting young players, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas face off in a much anticipated quarter final clash at Madrid Masters.
Of the most promising young crop of players, the 22-year-old German has been widely regarded as the one with the most potential to challenge the big three. To be fair to him, in his short career, he has done enough to showcase his talent and potential, especially at the Masters level.
But after reaching the pinnacle of his nascent career at the fag end of last season by winning the World Tour Finals after defeating Novak Djokovic, he has endured a surprisingly barren season so far.
He is yet to win a title this season, his best effort so far being the final appearance at the Mexican Open, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios. He has seemed out of focus and out of form, bowing out at early stages of several tournaments.
He has come to the Madrid Masters as the defending champion, and a loss now would lead to significant loss of ranking points. He has won his two matches, but has looked nowhere close to his best. He recovered in time to defeat David Ferrer after a nervy start, but his first and second serve point wins of 52 and fifty percent respectively, was by no means an encouraging sign.
He fared no better in his next match against Hubert Hurcacz, where he laboured to a three-set win.
His opponent in the quarter finals, Stefanos Tsitsipas, has had a terrific season so far, in contrast. He has won two titles thus far, the Marseille Open and Estoril Open. Other notable achievements are his win over Roger Federer enroute to a semi-final appearance at Australian Open and a finals appearance at Dubai Open.
At Madrid too, he has looked quite impressive in his two matches, against Adrian Manarino and Fernando Verdasco. He has won both matches without dropping a set. He has had very high first serve win percentages in both these matches, though he would like to improve on his second serve win percentage, which was quite low against Verdasco.
The two have played each other twice, and have shared the spoils. At the moment however, Tsitsipas should be considered an overwhelming favourite against a low-on-confidence Alexander Zverev.
Prediction: Tsitsipas to win in Straight Sets