World number seven Alexander Zverev will look to set his record straight against Pierre-Hugues Herbert when the two of them meet in the second round of the 2020 French Open. The match could be scheduled for Wednesday, September 30, with exact timing yet to be determined. Get the live streaming options of this Alexander Zverev v Pierre-Hugues Herbert match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Alexander Zverev v Pierre-Hugues Herbert Head to Head
As far as their rivalry is concerned, all of their previous four matches were played between 2013 and 2016, with Herbert winning three of them. Zverev’s only win in this head to head came at the 2016 French Open, it was a first round match that went to four sets.
The other three wins for Herbert were at Metz, Brisbane and at a Challenger competition.
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Zverev Overcomes Slow Start to Get a Move On
A finalist at the US Open, Zverev opted to take some time off between that tournament and the start of the French Open. In fact, like the US Open winner Dominic Thiem, Zverev did not play in a single match before this competition and that was always going to play a part going into his opener – and against tougher, later opposition.
Which is also when the German fell behind 2-5 in the opening set, it was little surprise – the rustiness and these cold, heavy conditions that look alien to most looked to have made it more difficult for Zverev too.
It was the fighting back following that early struggle that would have made the victory sweeter. He broke back in the ninth game, holding his serve on either side of that to level things off at 5-5 and then took the only break-point opportunity in the 11th game to serve for the set.
Things got a lot easier from there on. An early break in the second set was followed by a second one in the seventh game of the set, allowing him to wrap it up 6-2, before a repeat of that in the third took him home in three.
Zverev might have performed brilliantly on hard courts, having made the final at the US Open and the semifinal at the Australian Open, but his record on clay is one to watch too. Not spoken about in the same breath as Rafael Nadal (obviously), Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem on clay, he has already made it to two French Open quarterfinals, and won titles at both, the Madrid Masters and Rome Masters.
For starters though, he would like to get things right on that head to head with Herbert.
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Herbert Clinical in Sending out Mmoh
Herbert has a decent singles record in his own right but it’s doubles tennis where he really flourishes, having won four men’s doubles Grand Slams titles. In the first round against Michael Mmoh, however, it looked like he had found another gear in singles tennis too.
The Frenchman needed just over two hours to get past Mmoh, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 and it was thanks to the 51 winners he hit as opposed to his 19. Against Zverev though, he might have to improve on his first serve percentage which stood at a measely 59% in his opener.
Once ranked 36th in the world, Herbert has fallen down the ranks and opted to focus on clay court Challengers in August instead of travelling to USA for the American hard-court swing. He reached the semifinal of one of the Prague Challengers and the third round of the second, before qualifying for Kitzbuhel Open and losing in the first round.
The intensity of the battle can now be expected to change dramatically but Herbert has in his favour are the slower conditions and the extra practice on clay. Can he make something out of it?
Zverev v Herbert Prediction and Tip
This looks like a straightforward win on paper with Zverev starting out at 1/4 but we can expect Herbert to win at least one set here.
Tip: Zverev to Win and Both Players to Win a Set: 6/4 (bet365)
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The French Open 2020 will be played from September 27 to October 11. You can watch & bet on the French Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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