Road to Nitto ATP Finals: Overview of Alexander Zverev’s 2020 season, Past Performance and Prediction for ATP Finals 2020

Alexander Zverev enters the Nitto ATP Finals, 2020 as the 6th seed. He won the Nitto ATP Finals in 2018 after defeating Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets. This will be his 4th straight appearance at the year-end event in London. The German enjoyed a successful season on tour, that saw him reach the semifinals of the Australian Open, finals at the US Open and two titles in Cologne.

In this article, we will have a look at Alexander Zverev’s performance in 2020 in lead up to the Nitto ATP Finals and look at his previous performances at the ATP Finals.

Semifinal run at the Australian Open

The German started off his year at the ATP Cup, playing for Germany. He lost all his group stage matches to Denis Shapovalov, Alex De Minaur and Stefanos Tsitsipas, which could not propel Germany into the knockout stages. However, he made a good comeback at the Australian Open where he reached his first Grandslam semifinals before eventually losing to Dominic Thiem in 4 sets.

Zverev defeated the likes of Stan Wawrinka, Andrey Rublev, Fernando Verdasco on course of his semifinal run in Melbourne. He finally broke his knack of losing in the early rounds of Grandslam events after this performance. He next played at the Mexico Open 2020, where he lost in the 2nd round to Tommy Paul. This was the last tournament the German played, before the tournament was temporarily suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Heartbreak in the US Open final

Alexander Zverev resumed his season at the Cincinnati Masters where he was knocked out by Andy Murray in the first round itself. Things were looking bleak for the German heading into the US Open 2020. However, Zverev exceeded all expectations and made it to the finals of the US Open, where he lost to Dominic Thiem in a five set thriller, inspite of being 2 sets up.

Zverev had an impressive run at the Flushing Meadows, where he made a comeback victory against Pablo Carreno Busta in the semifinal, after being 2 sets down. The German would have gained immense experience on course to his final run at the US Open, in spite of his heartbreaking 5 set loss in the final to Thiem.

Alexander Zverev had a short clay court season, where he decided to directly play at the French Open 2020. He was defeated in the 4th round by Jannik Sinner in 4 sets which ended his run in Paris. He had earlier survived a scare against Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the 2nd round, who he defeated in 5 sets. The German never looked prepared for the clay court season.

Back-to-back titles in Cologne

Alexander Zverev started his indoor hard court season at the Bett1Hulks Indoors or the Cologne 1 Open where he defeated Felix Auger Aliassime to lift his first title of 2020. The German next played at the Bett1Hulks Championships or the Cologne 2 Open where he once again clinched the trophy, defeating Diego Schwartzman in the final.

Zverev was on an unbeaten streak of 8 matches, prior to entering the Paris Masters 2020. He once again carried forward his momentum, reaching the finals, extending his unbeaten streak to 12 games. However, he was defeated by Daniil Medvedev in the finals in 3 sets which ended his winning streak. Zverev played amazing tennis over the week in Paris, defeating Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals.

Tournament	Result
Australian Open	Semifinals
Mexico Open	Second Round
Cincinnati Masters	First Round
US Open	Final
French Open	Fourth Round
Bett1Hulks Indoors	Winner
Bett1Hulks Championships	Winner
Paris Masters	Final

Nitto ATP Finals: Past Performance

The German has played 3 Nitto ATP Finals in the past, winning the prestigious title in 2018. Zverev outplayed Novak Djokovic in the final in 2018 in straight sets to clinch the title. Last year, he was defeated in the semifinals by Dominic Thiem in straight sets. Zverev did well in the round robin stages winning 2 of his 3 matches against Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev

Year	Result
2017	Round-Robin
2018	Winner
2019	Semifinalist

Nitto ATP Finals: Prediction for Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev has raised injury concerns before the Nitto ATP Finals, complaining of a strange pain in his thigh. The German needs to be fully fit if he has to repeat his heroics at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals. He will be drawn in a group with either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic. Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Diego Schwartzman all come into the tournament in red hot form and it will be difficult for Zverev to match up to them provided he is not fully fit.

Predicted Finish: Round-Robin stage.

Also Read: Road to Nitto ATP Finals: Overview of Daniil Medvedev’s 2020 season, Past Performance and Prediction for ATP Finals 2020