Will the Karlsruhe native upset the top favorite?
While the newly crowned French Open champion struggled somewhat surprisingly to a 2-1 victory over Vit Kopriva in the first round—a match that lasted over two hours and ten minutes—Yannick Hanfmann pulled off an upset. In just 65 minutes, he didn’t give the favored Joao Fonseca the slightest chance (6–2, 6–2). This makes it all the more intriguing to consider whether there’s value in betting on the player from Karlsruhe to take at least one set from Germany’s No. 1, Alexander Zverev, in their match in Halle.
Before we explain our Alexander Zverev vs. Yannick Hanfmann prediction, let’s just say up front that we definitely think it’s possible for the player from Karlsruhe to win a set. After his hard-fought opening-round victory, Sascha himself admitted that he’s still struggling with the transition from clay to grass following the long clay-court season, which ended with his historic French Open victory, while Yannick Hanfmann already put in a strong performance last week in Stuttgart.
Although he was eliminated in the second round of singles, he teamed up with Jan-Lennard Struff to win the doubles title. The 34-year-old has thus clearly adapted much better to grass, which is why we see great value in betting on the Karlsruhe native with a +1.5-set handicap.
On top of that, Yannick Hanfmann managed to take a set from Germany’s number one in their first and only head-to-head match so far, at the 2018 BMW Open in Munich. Against this backdrop, there’s a strong case to be made that this all-German round of 16 match in Halle will go the full distance of three sets, for which the bet365 app is offering odds of 3.50 on Alexander Zverev vs. Yannick Hanfmann.
Alexander Zverev – Yannick Hanfmann Head-to-Head Record
Head-to-Head: 1:0
Only a single official singles match on the ATP Tour has taken place between the two German players, and that match was more than eight years ago. In 2018, the two players faced off in the second round of the BMW Open in Munich. After Yannick Hanfmann won the first set in a tiebreak, Alexander Zverev ultimately secured a 2-1 victory (6-7, 6-4, 6-2).
Alexander Zverev – Yannick Hanfmann Prediction
Although he was matched up against Vit Kopriva—who isn’t particularly dangerous on grass—in what should have been a very favorable first-round opponent, Alexander Zverev dropped a set in the first round of his first singles match since his historic French Open title win. This shows that the transition from clay to grass is quite challenging. Yannick Hanfmann has already mastered that transition and, together with Jan-Lennard Struff, won the doubles title in Stuttgart last Sunday. He has a full week’s head start on Sascha in terms of match practice on grass and, in the first round, swept the favored Joao Fonseca off the court in a surprisingly decisive 2-0 (6-2, 6-2) victory in just 65 minutes.
Given this context, we’re absolutely confident that the 34-year-old from Karlsruhe can win at least one set against the German No. 1. It therefore makes sense to place a +1.5-set handicap bet on the player from Karlsruhe, which effectively covers every possible outcome of the match except for a straight 2-0 victory by the Hamburg native.
Bet-at-home is offering odds of 2.80 for Alexander Zverev vs. Yannick Hanfmann, and we’re cautiously placing a bet of two out of ten units on this. Those who want to keep the risk low can also place this bet using a free bet.
