Alexander Zverev vs Marco Cecchinato: French Open Preview and Prediction

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev sets up a pulsating clash against a resurgent Marco Cecchinato in the third round of the French Open.

Zverev began his run overcoming Dennis Novak 7-5 6-2 6-4 in the first round. He survived the litmus test against Pierre-Hugues Herbert edging past him in five sets. 

Coming through the grind of qualifying, Cecchinato defeated the likes of Ernests Gulbis, Constant Lestienne, and Kimmer Coppejans in straight sets to storm into the main draw of the tournament. 

The Italian stunned the 25th seed Alex De Minaur in straight sets the first round. He ousted Juan Ignacio Londero in four sets.

Head to Head record 

Zverev leads the head to head record 1-0. This is their first meeting on the clay surface. Zverev proved his mental toughness when he is not at his best, but the German proved everyone wrong by winning against Herbert in an edge-of-the-seat thriller. 

After stunning the tennis world with his win against Novak Djokovic en route to the semifinals at the 2018 French Open, Cecchinato had a forgettable grand slam experience as he lost in the opening round eight times consecutively and also dropped out of the top 100 of the rankings. 

Zverev has deep groundstrokes on his forehand and is blessed with sublime footwork and smooth technique. Cecchinato plays with a lot of freedom. The Italian has a stunning single-handed backhand which enables him to take the upper hand in cross-court rallies. 

Cecchinato is very versatile and also plays disguised drop shots to often surprise his opponents. 

Zverev cannot afford a slow start against the Italian. The German has made it a habit to play five-setters against opponents he is supposed to ease part. If this practice continues, he may be out of gas in the matches to come. 

The German has made it to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros twice before and will look to go better this time given his tremendous fighting abilities.

Cecchinato always brings his best game against the big players and would look to continue his giant-killing run. While Zverev starts as a slight favourite, he would look to iron out his count of double faults and serve more consistently to outsmart the Italian.

Prediction - Alexander Zverev to win in four sets

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