Novak Djokovic vs Alexander Zverev Tips - Sascha to stun Djokovic in 4 sets

Defending champion and eight times winner Novak Djokovic takes on Alexander “Sascha” Zverev in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Tuesday. The 33-year old world no.1 has had a tough tournament thus far, and claims to have torn a muscle in his abdomen during his 5-set win over Taylor Fritz last week.

Djokovic showed no sign that he is seriously impaired during yesterday’s 4-set win over Milos Raonic, although he later claimed he would quit the event if it wasn’t a slam. 

6th seed Zverev dropped the first set of his opening match, and has won all twelve sets since, looking increasingly formidable. The 6’6” 23-year old reached the US Open final last year and led by 2 sets before succumbing to Dominic Thiem in five. 

On a similar surface, Zverev is hoping to go all the way this time, and I think he takes a step closer to that objective by eliminating Djokovic in either four sets or even straights sets. 

Novak Djokovic leads the head to head with Alexander Zverev by 5 wins to 2. Zverev won their first meeting back in 2017 when he was a fearless 18-year old.  That was the final of the Rome Masters on clay, and he won is straights sets. Zverev repeated the trick the following year, this time in the final of the ATP Finals, and again in straight sets. 

Since then Djokovic has handled Zverev with relative ease – until their most recent meeting at the ATP Cup in January. Djokovic had to play at his very best to defeat a much improved Zverev 6-7 6-2 7-5. Will the opening set of Tuesday’s match carry on where their previous battle left off? 

Djokovic began this tournament with many experts like Mats Wilander stating he looked as good as ever. However, by the second round Djokovic was struggling against Frances Tiafoe of the US, eventually coming through 6-3 6-7 7-6 6-3. 

If he thought Tiafoe was tough, his third round tie against another 23-year old American – Taylor Fritz – proved a nightmare. Djokovic survived a spirited comeback from 2 sets down by Fritz to take it to the fifth, finally winning 7-6 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2. However, it would appear that Djokovic suffered a slight abdominal tear during that match. 

Although there were no clear signs of an injury during his 4-set victory over Milos Raonic on Sunday, Djokovic later claimed he considered quitting the tournament: 

"As I said on the court, if I'm part of any other tournament other than a grand slam, I definitely wouldn't be playing. But it's a grand slam. It matters a lot to me at this stage of my career, of course.”

6th seed Zverev began his campaign by dropping the opening set against his first round opponent American Marcos Giron. From then on he has won all twelve sets he has played, climaxing with his 6-4 7-6 6-3 fourth round win over the no.23 seed Dujan Lajovic of Serbia. 

The only issue with Zverev’s progress thus far is that he hasn’t faced anyone who could have truly tested him. The German’s only real test came with Lajovic, a 30-year old who is more comfortable on a clay court that Zverev has beaten twice before. 

However, while Djokovic has faced Tiafoe, Fritz and Raonic, all excellent players who could have given Zverev a good workout – those three tough matches may have layed the groundwork for the champion's demise.