The business end of the 2024 United Cup is upon us, as Saturday marks semifinal action on both sides of the bracket. Host Australia is facing Germany, while Poland is battling France for a place in the championship tie.
Saturday’s showdown in Sydney between the Aussies and Germans is headlined by a men’s singles matchup featuring Alex de Minaur and Alexander Zverev. They will be facing each other for the eighth time in their careers and unfortunately for the host nation Zverev has won six of their seven previous encounters. On the bright side for De Minaur, his lone win came at home in Australia–via a 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 decision at the 2020 ATP Cup. Their only other encounter Down Under ended in a fifth-set tiebreaker, with Zverev prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) during 2018 Davis Cup competition.
De Minaur is obviously the underdog in this matchup, but he won’t lack confidence–especially not in a team setting and in front of the home crowd. The world No. 12 has been stellar so far at this year’s United Cup, losing to Cameron Norrie in a third-set tiebreaker before beating Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 and then upsetting top-ranked Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-4.
Zverev also finds himself in formidable form to begin the season. The world No. 7 is 4-0 overall and 3-0 in singles, most recently knocking off Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 on Friday.
With De Minaur playing well and backed by what is sure to an enthusiastic crowd, this may not be as one-sided as the overall head-to-head statistics suggest. However, it’s tough to look past Zverev’s history of success in this matchup; plus he is simply playing great at this tournament.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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