Alexander Zverev and Alex de Minaur will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers when they battle for a quarterfinal spot at the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday afternoon.
Zverev leads the head-to-head series 6-2, but De Minaur will not be daunted in the least. All of the German’s wins have come prior to the summer of 2022 and the Aussie won their most recent meeting at this year’s United Cup via a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 decision. It’s also worth noting that De Minaur trailed Stefanos Tsitsipas 10-0 before finally getting over the hump in Acapulco, so a 6-2 deficit in this matchup won’t faze him.
The 2024 version of De Minaur is one we had not seen before, too. With a 15-4 record this season and a current seven-match winning streak, the 25-year-old is up to No. 10 in the rankings. Coming off a title in Acapulco, De Minaur has advanced so far at the Indian Wells Masters with routine victories over Taro Daniel and Alexander Bublik.
Zverev led Germany to the United Cup title and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, but he has since cooled off. The world No. 6 slumped through Mexico, losing to Jordan Thompson in the Los Cabos semis and to Daniel Altmaier in the Acapulco opening round. Zverev is back on the winning track in Indian Wells, having taken out Christopher O’Connell and Tallon Griekspoor during first-week action.
A clear edge in current form goes to De Minaur and the playing conditions should be to his liking. The surface isn’t super slow, but even a big hitter of Zverev’s caliber will struggle to hit through it on a consistent basis. Look for De Minaur to get too many balls back in play and remain red hot.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
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