Will Sascha secure a spot in the round of 16?
After a somewhat rocky start to the tournament against Alexander Blockx, Alexander Zverev showed off his skills for an hour and a half in the second round. Valentin Royer didn’t stand a chance for most of the match. It wasn’t until the final stages that the German lost his rhythm a bit, but he then maintained the upper hand in the tiebreak and advanced to the third round of the Wimbledon Championships with a 3-0 victory.
Even now, with Marcos Giron set to face Alexander Zverev, the prediction is that the newly crowned French Open champion will clear the next hurdle and reach the round of 16 at the London grass-court Grand Slam for the fourth time in his career—and the outlook is promising.
However, whenever Sascha stumbles against relatively beatable opponents at Grand Slam tournaments, it’s almost always on Church Road, where he has never before reached the quarterfinals. At all three other Grand Slams, the 29-year-old has already reached the final. Thus, in the match between Marcos Giron and Alexander Zverev, predicting that the Hamburg native will once again secure a clean 3-0 victory is quite risky. Since the odds allow for it, we’re betting—from a value perspective—that the Californian can take at least one set from the world No. 3.
Admittedly, at 1.80 meters tall, Marcos Giron is definitely not a serving giant, nor is he the prototypical grass-court specialist. He lacks the power, as evidenced by the fact that in his second-round match against Quentin Halys, despite a 3-0 victory, he won only 48 percent of points on his second serve. Nevertheless, the 32-year-old Californian was broken only twice. So anyone who doesn’t think the American can win a set could alternatively bet that at least one set will be decided in a tiebreak.
Marcos Giron – Alexander Zverev Head-to-Head Record
Head-to-Head: 0–4
The two players have faced each other four times in official singles matches on the ATP Tour so far, and Alexander Zverev has come out on top in all four encounters. The German has also beaten the Californian twice on grass—including once at Wimbledon two years ago, when Marcos Giron was completely outclassed, losing 2-6, 1-6, and 4-6.
Marcos Giron – Alexander Zverev Prediction
Generally speaking, the French Open champion is the clear favorite in this matchup; as the No. 2 seed, he’s also among the favorites to win Wimbledon. However, Sascha hasn’t yet had a truly deep run on Church Road. He’s reached the round of 16 three times, but that’s always been the end of the road for him.
Although he truly shone in the first two sets of his second-round match and was already a break ahead in the third set, the Hamburg native also demonstrated just how difficult it can sometimes be for him to close out matches. A half-hour lapse in concentration led to a tiebreak, which he ultimately managed to win.
The lesson from the second round, however, is that things can change very quickly, and a set that seemed all but won can still be lost. With that in mind, we wouldn’t expect Sascha to roll over his opponent effortlessly; rather, we’re betting that the experienced Californian can take at least one set from the German No. 1.
For the 32-year-old to win by more than 0.5 sets, Betano is offering odds of 2.07 on Marcos Giron vs. Alexander Zverev, though we’re cautiously betting three out of ten units on this.
