Félix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexander Zverev Odds & Prediction – Erste Bank Open Quarterfinals
- No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev takes on No. 6 Félix Auger-Aliassime in the Erste Bank Open quarterfinals
- Zverev looks for his 50th singles win of the season; the match will go at about 10:00 am ET Friday
- Read on as we break down the matchup, look for value and pick a winner
As tough as his second-round match was against Indian Wells champion and in-form Brit Cameron Norrie, Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime gets the most accomplished indoor hard court player in the draw in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Of Zverev’s 17 career ATP Tour titles, 11 have come on a hard court – and five of those have come during the relatively brief indoor hard-court periods of the season.
That, and his 3-0 record against Auger-Aliassime on that surface, make him the strong favorite.
Félix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexander Zverev Odds
| Player | Spread | Moneyline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| [6] Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) | +3.5 (+100) | +185 | O 21.5 (-150) |
| [2] Alexander Zverev (GER) | -3.5 (-135) | -380 | U 21.5 (+110) |
Odds as of Oct. 28 at DraftKings
Confidence-Building Win for Auger-Aliassime vs Norrie
The most in-form player on the ATP Tour in this late part of the season has to be Norrie.
He batted away all covers to become a (very) surprise winner at the BNP Paribas Open earlier this month. And he’s at a career-high No. 14.
After a rough first set, Auger-Aliassime was down 1-5 in the second-set tiebreak. Norrie had three match points – the first two on his own serve at 6-3. But Auger-Aliassime saved both in brilliant fashion, winning five straight points to take the tiebreak and push it to three.
HIGHLIGHTS | Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime defeats Britain's Cameron Norrie in a hard-fought three set match at the Vienna Open to advance to the quarter-finalshttps://t.co/JejC7rfgER
— CBC Sports (@cbcsports) October 28, 2021
Auger-Aliassime then got up an early break in the third set, and Norrie looked out of energy and out of ideas after that.
It was a big win for the 21-year-old. He’s had great runs at Wimbledon and the US Open but his season has also been dotted with surprising losses. A thigh injury hampered him at Indian Wells in an opening-round defeat. And he withdrew from Antwerp. But he looks just fine now.
Félix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexander Zverev Head-to-Head
| 21 (Aug. 8, 2000) | Age | 24 (April 20, 1997) |
| Montreal, Canada | Birthplace | Hamburg, Germany |
| 6-4 | Height | 6-6 |
| 0 | Career ATP Singles Titles | 17 |
| No. 11 (Sept. 13, 2021) | Career High Ranking | No. 3 (Nov. 6, 2017) |
| No. 12 | Current Ranking | No. 4 |
| $5,105,754 | Career Prize Money | $26,988,000 |
| 35-21 | 2021 Won/Loss record | 49-13 |
| 1 | Career Head to Head | 3 |
Zverev Needs Three vs de Minaur
Meanwhile, Zverev dropped the middle set against Aussie Alex de Minaur.
But in the end, he won going away, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the strength of 17 aces to de Minaur’s … one.
Zverev made 4-of-5 break point chances, while de Minaur was only successful on 1-of-5.
No doubt the 24-year-old German is looking ahead at the Masters 1000 in Paris next week, and then the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite some signs of the end-of-season blues in recent weeks (including a loss to Frances Tiafoe Thursday), still leads him by more than 1,250 points in the rankings.
But Tsitsipas has his 2019 title at the ATP Finals coming up to defend.
Zverev can catch up quickly and make a statement by winning Vienna.
Félix Auger-Aliassime vs Alexander Zverev Match History
| Year | Tournament | Surface | Score | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Wimbledon (R16) | Grass | 6-4, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 |
Auger-Aliassime |
| 2020 | Cologne 1 (F) | Indoor Hard | 6-3, 6-3 | Zverev |
| 2019 | Beijing (R16) | Outdoor Hard | 6-3, 6-1 | Zverev |
| 2019 | Monte Carlo (R32) | Outdoor Clay | 6-1, 6-4 | Zverev |
Zverev Leads Head-to-Head
Until the Wimbledon grass this summer, Auger-Aliassime had never had a sniff at a win against Zverev in three previous opportunities. Only once in six sets had he managed to win more than three games.
That changed at the All-England Club where the Canadian won the first two sets, withstood a furious charge by Zverev, and somehow managed to hang on to win in five sets.
Zverev wants to make it a backhand-to-backhand contest. Auger-Aliassime wants to make it a forehand-to-forehand battle – and hope that his notoriously up-and-down forehand is on that day.
He hopes Zverev doesn’t serve him off the court, and that he doesn’t serve himself off it.
The German has 29 aces in five sets played this week; Auger-Aliassime has 25 in five sets. But he also has 12 double faults and with him, they too often come at the wrong time.
Zverev is likely to have too much for him again, as in their previous hard-court encounters.
Still, it could well be two close sets, which makes the over 22.5 games odds (+100) look interesting. And +310 for the first set to go to the tiebreak is a good play.
Best Bet: Zverev in two sets (-155)
Stephanie gets the straight dope from the tennis insiders. On court, she has represented her country internationally. A BA in journalism led to years on the MLB beat and a decade covering tennis globally. She's written for Postmedia, the Guardian, the New York Times and also publishes OpenCourt.ca.
