Alexander Zverev made a winning start at the 2024 Indian Wells Open, but it won't be quite as easy against Tallon Griekspoor.
The first match wasn't particularly easy for Zverev either, as he faced Christopher O'Connell, who is playing rather well right now. Griekspoor will be a trickier challenge because the Dutch player is better than the Australian player, even though he can go up and down quite a bit.
The best thing for Griekspoor is his serve, which rarely lets him down. You kind of need your serve to create any kind of advantage on a tennis court that doesn't really allow you to create much separation, if at all. He has the power to hurt the German, but he'll need to find consistency, which he can lack at times.
Zverev and Griekspoor played a couple of times, and both were able to score a win. They only played once on an outdoor hard court, and the German player won that match. The indoor hard court meeting was won by Griekspoor, though, and that's the court that kind of resembles Indian Wells.
| Alexander Zverev | Tallon Griekspoor | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | H2H | 1 |
| 6 | Rank | 27 |
| 26 | Age | 27 |
| 11-4 | 2024 W/L | 8-5 |
| 405-181 | Career W/L | 68-69 |
There are reasons why Zverev could be in trouble here, but it doesn't mean that he'll actually be. He can do some things to counter Griekspoor, and it's mostly to send many balls back. Eventually, he can frustrate his opponent into mistakes, which the Dutchman is not immune to.
I think Zverev has played well this year, even though he's been struggling a bit lately. He had some really decent matches here in the past, and I think he'll do well in this match. Griekspoor is a solid player, but Zverev is on another level, and I don't see him finding a way to beat him on these courts.
Preview: Alexander Zverev to win in two sets.