Alexander Zverev vs Aleksandar Kovacevic Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Kovacevic can cover against top seed

I've got to question Zverev's motivation levels this week, with the Hamburg Open shifting on the tennis calendar to one week before the French Open this season. Top players more often than not don't play the week before a major, so I can only assume Zverev is getting a lucrative appearance fee - especially when he was quoted as saying that any player with serious Roland Garros title hopes would not be playing the Hamburg final on Saturday.

I just can't see Zverev going all out at any stage this week and his form has been well below his best in any case, which opens the door for Kovacevic. The American has got some matches under his belt by qualifying for the main draw, while he is usually very competitive in most of his outings - in fact, he's won at least one set in 24 of his last 26 matches at all levels. I'm backing Kovacevic to cover a +5.5 games line in this one.

This will be the first career meeting between the pair.

It's been a difficult season for Zverev - he comes into this tournament with a 21-8 record on the season, but struggling since his third Grand Slam final defeat at the Australian Open in January.

Zverev barely made an impact throughout the Golden Swing and Indian Wells/Miami, but restored a bit of confidence by claiming his first title of the season at home in Munich.

However, Zverev hasn't really been able to push on from that result, losing in the R16 of Madrid to Francisco Cerundolo and going down in the quarter-finals of Rome to Lorenzo Musetti as the defending champion.

Zverev has won 16 of his 22 previous matches in Hamburg, including winning the title in 2023 and finishing runner-up in 2024 - but that was when the tournament was played in the weeks after Wimbledon.

Kovacevic comes into this encounter with a 6-6 record at tour-level this season, with the American also playing a bunch of Challengers to remain in the top 100.

Currently ranked No. 80 in the world, Kovacevic's best tournament of the year came in Montpellier in February, where he scored his maiden top 10 win over Andrey Rublev to reach the final, going down narrowly to Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Coming into this event on a five-match losing streak at all levels, Kovacevic got back to winning ways by qualifying for the Hamburg main draw with victories over Max Wiskandt and Vitaliy Sachko on his tournament debut.

Kovacevic has won at least a set in 24 of his last 26 matches at all levels dating back to February and will be hoping to put in a good showing against the top seed here.