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Bedene back to winning ways, plays Alexander Zverev in Montpellier

Jake Davies
Tennis

 

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By Jake Davies

  • The tennis continues in the 250 level event in Montpellier this week with one Brit in action
  • Aljaz Bedene vs Alexander Zverev [4] in the second round of Montpellier
MONTPELLIER, FRANCE – Aljaz Bedene set up a second round clash with the wildcard fouth seed Alexander Zverev.

 

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Aljaz Bedene vs Alexander Zverev [4]  H2H: First meeting

At the second round phase of Montpellier, Great Britain’s Aljaz Bedene will rally against the World No.21 Alexander Zverev for a place in the Quarter-Finals.

Bedene is in a difficult period at the moment. He is struggling to keep the wins coming on the ATP tour, so was forced to play a lot of the Challenger events at the end of last season. He is now ranked just outside the World’s Top 100, which can be a tough position to be in. A few more losses and a continuation of bad results could prevent Bedene from being a regular feature in the Grand Slam main draws, which is exactly where every player wants to be both professionally and financially.

The win over Croatia’s Borna Coric is a great starting point for Bedene to work with having lost the first round of the Australian Open to Victor Estrella Burgos.

His second round opponent is flying up the rankings and has separated himself from the rest of the next generation of promising players his age. At the age of just 21, Zverev has already won his first ATP title in St.Petersburg, broke into the World’s Top 20 and continues to get better and better. His playing style is pleasing on the eye. He is a strong, aggressive baseliner that can really blast his opponent off the court with a flat double-handed backhand and he also delivers a massive first and second serve. The main areas of weakness that Bedene will have to exploit – if he is to win this match and score the upset – is to attack the forehand wing of the German. It is a shot that has gotten better inside the last twelve months, but technically it is not as sound as the backhand.

In addition to this, Zverev’s net game is a work in progress. The German has lost a lot of matches because of his fragility at the net, but again, his volleying is in a better place than it was before his major breakthrough. The more experienced that Zverev gets the better he will become. Many ex-pro’s still believe Zverev is a future World No.1 player in the making.

Bedene will find it tough to get an upset win tomorrow in Montpellier. Bedene does not have any real weapons to hurt Zverev and I expect the German to be the aggressor in the majority of the rallies. I think this could be a long day at the office for the Brit.

Prediction: Zverev in two sets.

 

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