Rafael Nadal vs Alexander Zverev Prediction & Betting Tips - Rolex Paris Masters

Prediction published on 06/11/2020, 07:28  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 07/11/2020 at 08:28 in Tennis Predictions

 Could this be the year that Rafael Nadal finally wins the Paris Masters. Almost every year the Spaniard heads to the French capital and wins the title at Roland Garros. However, it's a totally different story at the Paris Masters. He doesn't play every year but when he does, the title is not won. He takes on Alexander Zverev hoping to reach his first final since 2007. It's his fourth semi-final appearance since then but he hasn't had the easiest of routes to the last four. He's played three games and dropped sets in two of them. Feliciano Lopez and quarter final opponent Pablo Carreno Busta have both taken sets off him. In fact, they both won the first set meaning Nadal had to fight back to get the win. Nadal has won two of his last three tournaments, the only one he didn't win was the Rome Masters, where despite that being played on clay, he lost in the last eight. He has a good record against Zverev, winning five of their six meetings. The first five were won but Zverev beat him in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals last year.

Alexander Zverev is seeded fourth in this tournament and like his opponent has never won this title. This is his first semi-final and he's continued his strong recent form. Zverev won both of the tournaments held in Cologne and previous to that had made it to the final of the US Open. He has had wins over Miomir Kecmanovic and a three-set win over Adrian Mannarino before beating Stan Wawrinka in the quarter final.  Zverev has only dropped one set on his way to this semi-final. There have been plenty of close fought sets though with three tie-breaks in his last two matches. Nadal has had two tie-breaks and a 7-5 set in his three matches. Nadal is the favourite here but isn't at his very best. A bet on over 22.5 games looks appealing and hopefully profitable too.