Analysis for Zverev-Starace (ATP French Open)

Head-to-head record 0:0

The pure clay-courter Potito Starace will battle for the second round spot in Paris against German Mischa Zverev. Starace excels on clay courts but don’t perform to the same standard on hard courts, grass courts, or other surfaces. He is known for employing long, winding groundstrokes that generate heavy topspin, strokes which are much less effective when the surface is faster and the balls don't bounce as high. We expect many slow and long rallies from the baseline and we think that anything can happen today. In our eyes, both players are currently at the same level and it should be a very tight match. On the 19th January 2009 Potito suffered one of the biggest humiliations in tennis history when he lost 6-7, 6-1, 6-7, 6-7 to Bernard Tomic, a 16 year old ranked 751st in the world. However, this match was played on hard court and is not of a big relevance for us today. His German opponent is just a mediocre player with solid serve but we don’t think he has anything to bother Starace on clay. He would definitely appreciate faster conditions today and Italian player is a slight favourite in our eyes.