(Tennis news) At the OWL Arena, World No. 22 Zverev defeated his close buddy Dominic Thiem in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, in his first grasscourt match in two years. The 26-year-old, who had just advanced to the semifinals at Roland Garros, was decisive against Thiem right away. A break in each set was sufficient due to Zverev’s dominance on serve and return. He also saved the lone break point and won an amazing 85% of his first-serve points. The German is currently 13-6 at Halle and 22-15 overall.

In the meantime, Lloyd Harris was defeated in straight sets by Denis Shapovalov, the 27th-ranked player, in his season debut on grass. The Canadian left-hander had fallen to Marton Fucsovics in his grass court season opening in Stuttgart a week earlier. Harris and Shapovalov battled to a 7-6(1) tiebreak win in the first set, and Shapovalov never looked back. The Canadian won the following set 6-4 to move to 10-11 on the year and make his Halle debut.

Head-to-Head

Although Zverev has prevailed in four of their seven encounters, they were defeated in straight sets in their most recent encounter at the Australian Open’s fourth round in 2016. The two will square up on grass for the first time with the German leading the overall series 4-3.

Predictions

The classic baseliners Zverev and Shapovalov share a huge serve, strong hitting from either flank, and fluid mobility in their respective game strategies. Zverev is the steadier and more reliable of the two players, though Shapovalov sticks out with his distinctive single-handed backhand. 

Zverev has a 29-16 record on grass courts, with over half of those victories coming in Halle, where he’s advanced to two finals. Although he had previously advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals, Shapovalov is only 13-17 at this point. Although it’s difficult to predict who will win, Zverev is more likely to do so because of his consistency.

Alexander Zverev to win in straight sets 2 ups.

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