Alexander Zverev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Odds & Prediction – French Open Men’s Singles Semifinals

• While the “old guard” meet in the other French semifinal, younger guns Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev battle in the other half
• It’s the second meeting on clay between the two – and the biggest encounter of their careers.
• Tsitsipas is the favorite based on their head-to-head record. We break down the matchup, set for Friday

Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, the most in-form players on the clay who aren’t part of the legendary “Big 3” meet in a semifinal most had predicted before the French Open began.

In fact, neither Nadal vs Djokovic in the other semifinal, or Zverev vs Tsitsipas out of the bottom half, is a shocker.

Alexander Zverev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Odds

Odds as of June 10 at DraftKings

Both were expected to happen on paper. And even if that often doesn’t pan out in real life, it was the case for this French Open.

After Nadal, Tsitsipas was the second favorite to take the entire tournament before the first ball was struck.

Your first #RolandGarros semi-final confirmed:

🇩🇪 Zverev v. Tsitsipas 🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/9PFayTpE6a

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 8, 2021

Zverev and Tsitsipas to Semis with Minimal Stress

Having No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem eliminated early (and given his current form, perhaps not a threat anyway) made it smooth sailing for Zverev, who hasn’t faced a seed through five matches.

Not that he wasn’t fully capable of beating Karen Khachanov, Casper Ruud, Roberto Bautista Agut, Fabio Fognini or Thiem on his own. But he didn’t have to.

Crunching the numbers, he had a pretty sweet draw.

https://twitter.com/tennisbish/status/1402335732954546181

Zverev went down two sets to love to a qualifier, countryman Oscar Otte, in the first round before rolling over him to win in five – and straight-setting all his other opponents.

As for Tsitsipas, he has lost just one set – the first set in a four-set win over No. 31 seed John Isner.

He tossed aside No. 12 seed Pablo Carreño Busta and No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets in the last two rounds as though they were mere pretenders, not high-level, quality players.

Alexander Zverev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Match History

Tsitsipas Leads the Head-to-Head 5-2

Zverev won the first meeting between the two, nearly three years ago in Washington, DC.

It was a form win; Zverev was ranked No. 3. Tsitsipas, only 16 months younger but not as precocious as the German, was ranked No. 32.

Since then, it was all Tsitsipas – until the final in Acapulco last winter. Zverev was in full form; Tsitsipas, somewhat in and out mentally.

The most contentious one came in Canada.

Alexander Zverev vs Stefanos Tsitsipas Head-to-Head

Tsitsipas 1-0 vs. Zverev on the Clay

Their only meeting on clay came at the Madrid Masters in 2019, where Tsitsipas won in three sets in the quarterfinals.

But even though Zverev is the only one of the two to reach a Grand Slam final (at the US Open last fall, where he lost to Dominic Thiem), Tsitsipas is the clear favorite.

It’s not just the head-to-head record. The fact that Tsitsipas is a better hard-court player overall, and has fewer weaknesses in his game. And the dry conditions in Paris make the red clay feel almost like a hard-court match.

If Zverev has a bigger first serve, Tsitsipas has the better second serve and is more secure overall there.

If Zverev has a sweeter backhand, Tsitsipas has him beat both on the forehand, and in the net game as well.

Expect a Long Battle from the two Young Guns

The “over” on the total games kicks into the positive at 39.5 games. And you’d expect that to happen – even if the match only goes four sets.

Depending on how daring you want to be, even over 45.5 games (+260) doesn’t seem like a huge risk.

Zverev could also get off to a good start. So +160 to win the first set is a good option. He could well even break Tsitsipas in his opening service game (+410).

Going over 9.5 games in the first set (-125) is also a good possibility.

Best Bet: Tsitsipas in five sets (+480)