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Alexander Zverev will take on the red hot Damir Dzumhur on Friday afternoon (European time) in the quarterfinals at Shenzhen.
Zverev opened his Shenzhen campaign with a thriller against Steve Darcis, edging Belgium’s Davis Cup hero by 2 sets to 1 (4-6 7-6 7-6). It was Zverev’s first official match since he lost to Coric in the second round at the US Open – although he also played a couple of matches in the Laver Cup last week and did very well there, dispatching Querrey and Shapovalov in straight sets in the exhibition tournament.
Damir Dzumhur is arguably the most in form player on the ATP tour over the past 10 days, putting together a run of 7 consecutive wins. He won the title at Sankt Petersburg last week (def. Fognini 2-1 in the final) and continued on the same note this week in Shenzhen, getting past Millman and Lacko without losing a set. Dzumhur is playing very well, but it remains to be seen how long will his stamina last, especially with the conditions in Shenzhen being very difficult.
Bet on Zverev vs Dzumhur and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!This will be the first meeting between Alex Zverev and Damir Dzumhur.
The weather in Shenzhen was brutal this week, with temperatures around 35 °C and a real feel as high as 45 °C. Many players looked completely drained and to be honest it`s a surprise that Dzumhur dealt so well with the heat despite playing so much tennis recently.
This will be Dzumhur’s 8th match in 12 days, and he will play less than 24 hours after his win against Lacko yesterday (which was the last match of the day). Temperatures will be again over 30 °C (might rain, but real feel will still be 37-40 °C), so you would expect Dzumhur to finally feel some fatigue – especially as he meets a top class opponent like Alex Zverev, who will make him work hard for every point.
Although Shenzen is only an ATP 250 tournament, where Top 10 guys like Zverev sometimes don`t give it their all, the German seemed very motivated in his clash with Darcis. He came back multiple times and now that he got through that thriller, he will surely want to advance further and not let that effort go to waste. Chances are he will improve his level (which was not bad anyway, Darcis played well) in this quarterfinal stage, as top players usually do.
For all of Dzumhur’s great recent form, he hasn`t faced any Top 25 player during his winning streak. When you add the weather and the potential fatigue, you have to feel that this will be the end of his remarkable run.
As long as Zverev is focused and doesn`t have a stinker, he should win this. Given that he put in the work against Darcis and reached this QF stage, I expect Zverev to be at a good level, so my tip here will be the German to win.
Some might feel odds 1.40 are low, but given the circumstances I think this is an excellent price, and it is playable even as a singles bet. I think Dzumhur’s potential fatigue and the weather actually create value on Zverev, even at this price. I would take anything above 1.35 with 8 units here. Prediction: Alexander Zverev – Damir Dzumhur 7-5 6-1.
Pick: Zverev
Odds: 1.41 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 3.28
Event date: 29 September
