Alexander Zverev vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert: French Open Preview and Prediction

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev sets up a tricky encounter against homeboy, Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the French Open. 

Zverev who started his opening match against Dennis Novak slowly got into the groove in the latter stages of the first set eventually winning the clash 7-5 6-2 6-4. He smashed 37 winners and 10 aces.  

On the other hand, Herbert dished out a comprehensive performance thrashing Michael Mmoh 6-3 6-2 6-3 in two hours smashing 51 winners. 

Head to Head record 

Herbert leads the head to head record 3-1 against Zverev. Zverev ousted Herbert in the first round of the French Open 2016 in four sets. 

Having reached the US Open finals recently, Zverev has adapted fastly to clay courts. He has reached the quarterfinals at the French Open twice before and would be aiming to improve on that finish this time. 

Primarily a grand-slam champion in men's doubles, Herbert is slowly climbing up the chart in singles. 

While Zverev is playing his first clay-court tournament, the Frenchman played in a couple of challengers held in Prague and also took part in the Kitzbuhel Open. 

Hence, he will take advantage of the slower and cold conditions along with the extra practice on clay. 

"I won, which is important, obviously I didn't play any clay-court matches before coming in here, simply didn't have the time, happy to get through, because Dennis is somebody that plays well on this surface, he can beat good players," said Zverev mighty pleased with his start. 

Herbert lost in the second round of the French Open last year in five sets to compatriot Benoit Paire and he would look to put that close loss behind. 

Having won six of his last 10 matches, he would be confident of his abilities. He needs his serve to fire to play with rhythm. Zverev's attacking game can be affected due to the heavier balls though he has found it comfortable to play with.

The German starts as a strong favourite here but must avoid complacency as Herbert is strongly capable of pulling off an upset. 

Prediction - Alexander Zverev to win in four sets

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