David Goffin vs Alexander Zverev Tennis Prediction
David Goffin leads the H2H 2-1, but Alexander Zverev won their only previous meeting on clay which came in the quarterfinal of ATP Munich in 2016. The German #1 is in exceptional form at the moment and being the defending champion is also an additional motivation for him, which makes him the favorite in this contest. If Goffin manages to stuck in and takes it to three sets, he has the better chances of seeing it through as Zverev doesn’t have much left in the tank.
David Goffin News
David Goffin was looking pretty comfortable for the most part of his round of 16 match. Just when Juan Martin Del Potro made inroads on the Belgian’s serve, he was forced to retired due to a groin injury, 6-2 *4-5.
The win against Del Potro gives David Goffin his fifth quarterfinal of the season, and he managed to win the previous three, with the only loss coming against Grigor Dimitrov in Monte Carlo (only QF in Masters this season).
In his previous three appearances here at the Rome Masters, the Belgian #1 made the quarterfinal twice but ended up on the losing side on both occasions, against Andy Murray (Murray was seeded #2 as his next opponent Zverev) in 2016 and David Ferrer in 2015.
This is an excellent start to the clay season for the world #10, having won nine matches from the possible 12 (9/3). This run includes a semifinal at Barcelona and quarterfinal at Monte Carlo.
Alexander Zverev News
Alexander Zverev lost his service game for the first time in six matches, but it did not do much damage as the German still managed to secure the progression in straight sets, defeated Kyle Edmund 7-5 7-6.
World #3 Zverev, who played four matches in Munich (W) and five matches in Madrid (W) over the last two weeks, is understandably not playing at his best level this week. He nearly threw away a comfortable lead in the second set against Kyle Edmund and needed eight match points to close out the match in the tiebreaker.
Entering as the 16th seed in Rome last season (seeded #2 this week), Alexander Zverev defeated the likes of Fognini, Raonic, Isner, and Djokovic to lift the maiden Masters 1000 title of his career. Since then, he has added two more Masters titles to his tally, at Montreal and Madrid.
Tennis Prediction: Alexander Zverev
Odds: 1.55
