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Match details
Fixture: Alexander Zverev vs Adrian Mannarino
Date: 23 October 2020
Tournament: Bett1Hulks Championship 2020
Round: Quarterfinal
Venue: Cologne, Germany
Category: ATP 250
Surface: Indoor hardcourt
Prize money: €325,610
Match timing: Not before 6 pm CEST, 9.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel
Alexander Zverev vs Adrian Mannarino preview
Top seed and home favorite Alexander Zverev takes on Adrian Mannarino in the quarterfinal of the Bett1Hulks Indoors 2020 on Friday.
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Zverev comes into the second ATP 250 level tournament in Cologne as one of the form players on the men’s tour. He won his first title of the year at the first edition of the tournament last week.
Prior to that, the German reached the final of the US Open (and coming within inches of beating Dominic Thiem) and the fourth round of Roland Garros (where he bowed out in a sickness-ridden loss to teenage sensation Jannik Sinner).
After receiving a bye in the first round this week, the 23-year-old defeated John Millman in an encounter which was anything but simple. Zverev won the first set 6-0 but then dropped the second, before recovering to win in three.
Meanwhile France’s Adrian Mannarino came into the tournament in dismal form, having lost four back-to-back first-round matches. The 32-year-old had also courted controversy at the US Open, where he was in contact with the COVID-stricken Benoit Paire just before his third-round match against Zverev himself.
But in Cologne so far Mannarino has looked much more like his wily self of old. The Frenchman has decisively beaten his early round opponents - Alexei Popyrin and Miomir Kecmanovic - in straight sets, to set up the quarterfinal encounter.
Alexander Zverev vs Adrian Mannarino head-to-head
The meeting in Cologne is the fourth between the two players, and Alexander Zverev currently leads the head-to-head 3-0 over Adrian Mannarino.
Their last match came at this year’s US Open. After dropping the first set of that delayed third-rounder, Zverev took the match in four.
Before that, the pair had met in 's-Hertogenbosch - where Zverev won in straight sets. The German also won the only match on indoor hardcourt between the two, at Stockholm in 2016.
Alexander Zverev vs Adrian Mannarino prediction
Having won the tournament last week, coupled with his superior pedigree and ranking, Alexander Zverev comes into the match against Adrian Mannarino as the overwhelming favorite.
But while Zverev has been solid over the last 10 days, he hasn't exactly been flawless. His tendency to have lapses in concentration (just as he did in his quarterfinal against Lloyd Harris last week) was on full display against Millman on Wednesday.
If Mannarino is to stand a chance, he will have to take advantage of any slip-ups on the part of the German.
Having said that, if Zverev can produce the tennis he has shown for large parts of the last few months - studded with massive first serves as well as deep, flat and accurate groundstrokes - he should get past the finish line against Mannarino.
Prediction: Alexander Zverev to win in three sets.
