Nitto ATP Finals Turin Group B
Zverev – Ruud: 13.11.2024 Time TBA
H2H: 4-2
Alexander Zverev has won five straight matches. Last week in Paris, Alexander won the Masters 1000 title, winning against Ugo Humbert in the final, in straight sets. Sascha was dominant throughout the whole tournament, playing his best tennis. This was also his first hard-court title of the season. Here in Turin, Sascha won his opening match against Rublev in straight sets as we predicted. Zverev started this season very well, reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open. However, he failed there against Medvedev, after being 2-0 up. Once again, Sascha crumbled under pressure when it was most important. Zverev was consistent throughout the whole season, which granted him a top-2 status in the rankings. However, he still has not achieved his biggest goal, which is winning the Grand Slam title. His biggest chance was in the French Open, where he finished as a runner-up, losing against Alcaraz in the final. Sascha was 2-1 up, and was playing really well. However, Zverev crumbled once again under pressure, and lost the fourth and fifth sets 1-6 2-6. Last year in the ATP Finals, Sascha underperformed in Group B with Rublev, Medvedev and Alcaraz. He ended up being third in the group with the exact same number of points as Medvedev and Alcaraz as well. Sascha had his biggest result here in 2021, when he ended up winning the title, winning against Medvedev in the final.
Casper Ruud has lost four of his last five matches. Last week in Metz, Casper lost his opening match against Bonzi in straight sets. Casper loves to play on the slower clay courts, where he had his biggest results as well. Here in Turin, Casper upset Alcaraz in his opening match in straight sets. We have to say that Alcaraz was not feeling well, but it was still a solid performance from Casper. Ruud started the season very well, playing back-to-back finals in Los Cabos and Acapulco. Other than that, Casper had a disappointing hard-court season. Since the US Open, Casper has just won two of his last ten matches. Ruud needed some solid results recently to qualify for the ATP Finals. However, he crumbled under pressure, and could not deliver his best tennis. Ruud still managed to qualify for the ATP Finals, because several players ranked below him also crumbled under pressure. With Novak Djokovic withdrawing from the tournament, Casper secured himself a spot in the ATP Finals. Even though Ruud never had any big results on the indoor courts, he had his biggest indoor hard court results in the ATP Finals. In his debut campaign in 2021, Ruud reached the semifinals, and just a year later, Ruud reached the final, when he was stopped by Djokovic.
Best Bet to Make
According to the bookies, Zverev is the big favorite in this matchup. Both players played solidly in their opening matches. Casper already had decent success in the ATP Finals, and we believe that he will have his chance against Zverev tomorrow. We expect him to at least keep this match tight.
That being said, Ruud covering the games handicap is a value bet.
Value bet/ the best odds: Casper Ruud +4.5 games handicap @1.80 @bet365
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
