Lucas Pouille vs Mischa Zverev Tennis Prediction
These two players have never met in the past. Ability wise, Pouille is by far the better player, and he’s got the game to excel on all surfaces unlike Zverev, who doesn’t prefer playing on the slow surfaces (clay w/l- 137/159). Pouille will start as the big favorite, but he tends to have off days too often which should give a glimmer of hope for the German.
Mischa Zverev News
Mischa Zverev passed a tricky first-round test against Felix Auger Aliassime in Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, 6-2 6-7 6-1. The Canadian did well to force a decider after fighting back from a set and break down, but the German veteran managed to hold off the challenge.
The German has played ten tournaments and 14 matches (excluding Monte Carlo) so far in 2018 but failed to register back-to-back wins in any of them. He will be hoping to break the trend when he takes on Lucas Pouille in the second round on Tuesday.
Entering his first clay event of the season, Mischa Zverev defeated Paolo Lorenzi in the first round but lost to Malek Jaziri in the second round of ATP Marrakech last week. It was also his third second-round defeat of the season (0/3).
After failing in the qualifying stages here in his first four appearances, Zverev got a direct entry into the main draw of Monte Carlo Masters last season but suffered a first-round defeat at the hands of Jiri Vesely. Before this week, his only previous win in this tournament came against David Guez in the qualifying stages of 2010 edition.
Lucas Pouille News
Lucas Pouille continued his good start to the season by playing a vital role in sending the defending Champions France through to the Davis Cup semifinals. He won his two singles rubbers (on clay) against Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini in the World Group tie earlier this month.
The Frenchman has entered six tournaments (on tour) so far in 2018, and he either faced first-round exits (Australian Open, Rotterdam and Indian Wells) or progressed all the way to the final (Dubai, Marseille, and Montpellier).
This is Lucas Pouille’s fourth consecutive appearance at Monte Carlo, and he progressively improved his record in the previous visits. Pouille made the second round of Monte Carlo Masters in 2015, the round of 16 in 2016 and semifinal in 2017.
Pouille’s impressive start to the season helped him break into the top 10 rankings for the first time in his career (in March 2018). Considering he doesn’t have too many points to defend in the coming weeks, he has the chance to rise higher if he continues his good run of form.
Tennis Prediction: Lucas Pouille
Odds: 1.30
