It will be a must-win situation for either Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman–and virtually a must-win situation for both–when they collide at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday night.
Both players lost their opening round-robin matches in Group B, with Zverev going down to Daniil Medvedev and Schwartzman getting erased by Novak Djokovic. If Djokovic beats Medvedev on Wednesday afternoon, this will be a must-win for Zverev; if Medvedev beats Djokovic, this will be a must-win for Schwartzman. Either way, both men who are 0-1 almost certainly have to win since they lost their openers in straight sets.
Zverev knows a thing or two about recovering from round-robin losses. The seventh-ranked German dropped his second match in 2018 and went on to win the entire tournament; he also lost his second match last year and recovered to reach the semifinals. And despite Monday’s setback against Medvedev, Zverev should remain confident. He recently captured back-to-back titles in Cologne and also finished runner-up–to Medvedev–at the Paris Masters.
Schwartzman made his push for a first-ever London spot by reaching the Rome Masters final and the French Open semis. The ninth-ranked Argentine also advanced to the Paris quarters, a result that was preceded by a runner-up showing in Cologne.
In that Cologne final, though, Schwartzman went down in flames to Zverev via a 6-2, 6-1 decision. This should be more competitive and the underdog will likely raise his level from Monday with a match inside the O2 Arena under his belt, but Zverev is an obvious favorite.
Pick: Zverev in 3
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a close one…but Zv in 2.
On paper, Zverev should win this one. However, I think Schwartzman has a chance here since Zverev doesn’t look good at O2 though he came in with some forms.