Alexander Zverev vs Francisco Cerundolo Tips, Prediction & Live Stream - Cerundolo looks to improve to 2-0 vs Zverev

Zverev is coming off a runner-up finish at the Australian Open and has made the somewhat interesting decision to play the Golden Swing in South America (no doubt helped by the lofty appearance fees). I'm just not sure what the motivation levels are like for Zverev here - especially with the more lucrative ATP 500 event in Rio coming up next week, where there's more points and prize money on offer with practically an identical field. Cerundolo on the other hand is playing in front of his home fans in Buenos Aires and he's reached the final at this event once before. Additionally, Cerundolo won their only previous meeting on the clay of Madrid last year as a $4.50 outsider - think the Argentine offers the value in this quarter-final showdown.

As mentioned, Cerundolo leads 1-0, prevailing 6-3 6-4 in their 2024 Madrid Masters encounter.

Zverev has leapfrogged Carlos Alcaraz into the No. 2 ranking, but he's still searching for that elusive maiden Grand Slam title after suffering another heartbreaking final defeat, this time in straight sets to Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open.

Those are the tournaments Zverev is aiming to peak for, so you've got to wonder where his level will be for the remainder of this Golden Swing in South America, which doesn't really lead to anything with Indian Wells and Miami coming up on hardcourt next month.

Nevertheless, Zverev was able to register a straightforward 6-4 6-4 victory over Dusan Lajovic in his Buenos Aires opener, which was also his first ever match in the Golden Swing.

Cerundolo meanwhile lives for outdoor clay, with two of his three ATP titles coming on this surface - including in Umag last year.

The Argentine had a decent Australian Open, reaching the third round before going down to Alex de Minaur in four sets.

Back at home, Cerundolo began his Argentina Open campaign with a straight sets victory over Luciano Darderi before prevailing in a tricky encounter with his brother Juan Manuel in the second round, registering a 6-2 6-3 triumph.

Cerundolo made the final in Buenos Aires back in 2021 as a qualifier, going down to Diego Schwartzman - who incidentally retired this week at the tournament.