ATP Italian Open 2023: Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (3) Daniil Medvedev vs (19) Alexander Zverev
Date: Tuesday, May 16.
Tournament: Italian Open 2023.
Round: Fourth Round (Round of 16).
Venue: Foro Italico, Rome, Italy.
Category: ATP Masters 1000.
Surface: Outdoor clay.
Prize money: €7,705,780.
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video.
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev preview
Third seed Daniil Medvedev will take on 19th seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Medvedev has won 35 out of 40 matches so far this season, with four titles to his name. The Russian won the Miami Masters along with the Rotterdam Open, the Qatar Open and the Dubai tennis Championships.
Medvedev entered the Italian Open seeded third and thus received a bye to the second round. Here, he beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round, where his opponent was 31st seed Bernabe Zapata Miralles. The Spaniard won the opening set 6-3 but the Russian fought back hard to win the next two sets 6-1, 6-3 and book his place in the fourth round.
Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, has won 14 out of 26 matches so far this season, with his best performance being reaching the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The German entered the Italian Open seeded 19th and subsequently received a bye to the second round of the tournament.
Zverev faced David Goffin and found himself a set and a break down. However, he staged a fightback to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the third round. Here, the German took on JJ Wolf and started the match strongly, winning the opening set 6-4.
The American showed some resistance in the second set but Zverev managed to win it 7-5 to book his place in the fourth round of the Italian Open.
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev head-to-head
Medvedev leads 8-6 in the head-to-head against Zverev. The last match between the two came in the fourth round of the Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this year, with Medvedev winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(7).
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev odds
All odds are sourced from BETMGM.
Daniil Medvedev vs Alexander Zverev prediction
Medvedev beat Zverev when they locked horns in Monte-Carlo but he had to toil for it. The German is a very good player on clay and he will fancy his chances against the Russian.
Medvedev's first serve has been quite effective throughout the Italian Open so far, serving 12 aces while winning 71.6% of points (58 out of 81). He has also produced 47 winners while hitting only 23 unforced errors.
Medvedev may not be the best mover on clay but he has the groundstrokes, the stamina and the baseline game. That said, he will have to bring on his A-game if he is to defeat Zverev, who has already won three Masters 1000 titles on clay.
The German served ten aces in his last match against JJ Wolf and will look to serve more of those against Medvedev. He has hit 61 winners in his two matches in Rome while accumulating only 18 unforced errors.
Zverev will be eager to be aggressive from the start of the match with the intention of putting Medvedev under pressure. Eventually, whoever out of the two makes fewer mistakes on court, will come out on top.
Both of Medvedev's wins against Zverev this season were hard-fought and given the latter's quality on clay, there is a fair chance he could get the win this time and move on to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open.
Pick: Zverev to win in three sets.