Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini will be featured in the first night session of the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday.
Their round-robin showdown in Milan marks their fifth career meeting and second of the season. Zverev improved to 3-1 lifetime in the head-to-head series with a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-3 victory in the final of the Madrid Masters this spring. Berrettini’s lone success at the German’s expense has come via a 7-5, 7-5 decision at the 2019 Rome Masters.
The Italian once again has home-court advantage, and it should serve him well. This prestigious eight-man event finds itself in Milan for the first time following 12 years in London, so you can be sure the crowd will be raucous. Zverev is not exactly a fan favorite these days, too, which will only enhance the support for Berrettini.
With or without fans behind him, Berrettini is dangerous. The world No. 7 is an outstanding 41-11 for his 2021 campaign with titles at the Belgrade Open and Queen’s Club plus runner-up results at the Madrid Masters and Wimbledon.
Zverev is a former champion of this tournament (2018), but in four appearances he has failed to make it out of round-robin competition twice and he lost to Dominic Thiem in the 2019 semifinals. The world No. 3 has been up and down since the U.S. Open, with a title in Vienna plus losses to Taylor Fritz (in the Indian Wells quarterfinals) and Daniil Medvedev (6-2, 6-2 in the Paris Masters semis).
With Zverev having cooled off a bit since a hot summer, Berrettini has a real chance to treat his home crowd to an upset.
Pick: Berrettini in 3
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