Alexander Zverev is taking on Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the R16 of the Mutua Madrid Open. Tennis runs in the blood of both of these tennis stars. Francisco Cerundolo is the elder brother of fellow tennis player, Juan Manuel Cerundolo. In 2021, the Cerundolos became the first brothers to reach consecutive finals on the ATP Tour since Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev in 2017. A year later, they became the first brothers to be ranked inside the Top 100 in singles since the German brothers in 2019.

So, there is a lot of history between these two tennis families. But can Francisco Cerundolo outclass the world number 5 in Madrid? Zverev has already reached three semifinals and two quarterfinals in the tournaments he has played this season. While Cerundolo’s best performance this year came at the Rio Open, where he reached the SF, who’s ahead in this enticing contest at the Madrid Open?

Alexander Zverev vs Francisco Cerundolo: Preview

Despite having made some deep runs into the tournaments this year, Alexander Zverev has failed to make it count when it mattered the most! He faced a shocking exit from his home tournament (Bavarian International) by losing in the QF to Chile’s Cristian Garin. Can he bring his fortunes back to the clay courts of Madrid? Well, Zverev won his first two matches in this tournament. He defeated Canada’s Denis Shapovalov by 6-4,7-5 in his previous match. With that victory, Alexander Zverev is now 17-0 against lefties since Roland Garros.

Zverev hit ten aces and committed just a single double fault in the entire match against Shapovalov. His first serve win percentage was 79% but it dropped to 58% on the second serve. However, the German could only manage to convert three out of his fourteen breakpoints against the Canadian. Alexander Zverev has always had that X-factor in his serves and he has won ten of his service games in the R32 match.

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Francisco Cerundolo, on the other hand, “loves everything with numbers”, but how are his numbers compared to Zverev if we look at his previous matches? Cerundolo loves playing on clay. He got off to a winning start in Madrid and defeated America’s Tommy Paul in his second match at the Spanish capital. The 25-year-old Argentinian defeated Paul by 6(7)-7,6-4,6-2 in the R32 clash. Cerundolo hit a total of three aces and committed five double faults against the American.

His first serve win percentage was around 74% and it was only 53% on the second serve against Tommy Paul. Cerundolo converted five of his eleven breakpoints in that match and won thirteen of his service games. But how many matches has he won against Zverev in the past?

Zverev vs Cerundolo: Head-to-Head

Zero. These tennis stars haven’t met each other on the tour before. This will be their first meeting and this is exactly the reason why this clash is more exciting. Looking at their numbers for the 2024 season, Alexander Zverev has been acing his aces so far this season. He has hit a staggering 230 aces and committed only 38 double faults this year. While Francisco Cerundolo has managed to hit only 61 aces and committed 51 double faults so far.

The most interesting number from Zverev’s records for this season has been his win percentage on service games (90%). The Argentinian has managed to win 73% of his service games on the other hand. So, the one with the most number of aces wins the race?

Prediction: Zverev to win the race in Madrid against the Argentinian

Alexander Zverev has already won this tournament twice in his career, while Francisco Cerundolo made an R64 appearance in Madrid last year. If we look at the German’s record on the clay, the most highlighting portion of his career would be his three times appearances at the SF of the French Open. Zverev currently has a win-loss record of 20-8 this year and he hasn’t yet dropped a set in this tournament so far. Francisco Cerundolo has a win-loss record of 9-12 in this season. 

Zverev is an aggressive baseliner and he often stands way back behind the baseline with an aim to hit powerful groundstrokes either for winners or to wear down his opponent. The German has an incredible ability to generate enormous power with both his backhands and forehands. But his biggest concern over the years has been the number of double faults. Alexander Zverev hit the most number of double faults on the tour in 2016 and 2020. So, looking at the experience on this surface and current form, Zverev looks clearly ahead of Cerundolo.