MercedesCup: Matchtipp of the day: Zverev wants to find the gap against Federer – presented by LeoVegas Sport

One year late, Mischa Zverev will face Roger Federer on Wednesday at Weissenhof in Stuttgart. Above all, one fact gives him hope – but Zverev also knows that not everything is in his power against the Swiss lawn king.

Listening to Mischa Zverev talk about the Swiss champion, one experiences a healthy mixture of admirer and opponent. And as is usually the case with the great Zverev brother, a Federer analysis includes the objective assessment of opportunities without exaggerated and unrealistic dreaming. “It’s fun to watch him – and to play against him. The longer he plays well, the more special it is for tennis,” Zverev said on Monday. “And if he shows his best tennis and wins against me – wonderful. If I have a few chances and it’s a close match, all the better. You never know.”

Last year Zverev already had a Federer duel in Stuttgart in mind, but then Tommy Haas proved to be a spoilsport. “After a long break it wasn’t his best match,” Zverev looked back at Federer’s performance a year ago – and takes exactly this thought with him into Wednesday. “I’ll see how he feels, how he plays, how he moves. Of course you have more chances in such a match than in a semi-final of Wimbledon, if he has already played a few games”.

Federer himself is also aware of the danger of his long time-out; on Monday he spoke of a “cold start”, which he had to make – after 81 days without a match. He comes to Stuttgart with a turf winning series of 12 matches and 30 sets in a row – after his victories in Halle and Wimbledon in 2017.

Outsider chances pay off Zverev, he doesn’t want to put pressure on himself – despite Federer’s match break. Zverev Federer-Bilanz is interesting anyway: Five times the two met, crazy three times on grass. Federer always won, once, in Hall 2013, 6:0, 6:0.

Despite the absence of the Stuttgart match in 2017, there were three encounters – which were tighter, even though Zverev was still waiting for a set win. “Last year I lost to him in Halle, at the Australian Open, in Wimbledon… but in time I’ll get closer.” Zverev hopes that “I might win a set, last year there were a few tiebreaks, that was already good”.

On his way to the net, Zverev also wants to score against Federer, looking at how and where he can serve. “There are also a few places at Federer from which he returns very well – and others from which I have more chances.” At Federers Service, on the other hand… “No matter how well you try to read your serve, it’s very hard. He has so many variations and combinations he uses in the match.”

And as tricky as many things are in tennis – one thing seems to be extremely simple to explain. “A lot depends on Roger. “If he plays his best tennis, you have less chance.”

LeoVegas Sport, one of the leading sports betting providers, sees Federer as a clear favourite: 1.12 is the rate for the sevenfold Wimbledonchamp, 6.5 for Zverev.

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