United Cup 2023: Taylor Fritz vs Alexander Zverev Tennis Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2023 United Cup as Taylor Fritz takes on Alexander Zverev in the group stages on Monday, January 2, 2023.

After a winning start to their United Cup campaign, Taylor Fritz and USA will look to pile on more misery towards the German team who lost their opening tie to the Czech Republic. Will Alexander Zverev thwart them or will he succumb to a second singles defeat?

Taylor Fritz played a near-flawless match to defeat Jiri Lehecka in the opening match of the 2023 United Cup. He needed just 66 minutes to brush aside the Czech Next Gen star 6-3 6-4. He served five aces and won 78% first-serve points. He also saved both break points that he faced during the match. Fritz was also instrumental in the mixed doubles match in which he was paired alongside Jessica Pegula and won in three sets. Now he has his first major test of the tournament when he faces a fellow Top 10 player in Alexander Zverev.

Alexander Zverev, meanwhile, did not have the best of starts for his country at the United Cup. Zverev fell to a shock 6-4 6-2 defeat at the hands of Jiri Lehecka, whom Fritz beat so convincingly a few days earlier. While that results went against the grain, it was clear that the German star was short on match sharpness. His serve, which is inarguably his biggest weapon, was particularly woeful. Zverev served just one ace and manufactured a whopping eight double faults. His break points conversion was also poor, just one in seven. Those numbers will need to improve considerably to stand a chance of upsetting the in-form Fritz.

Alexander Zverev leads Taylor Fritz 4-2 in their head-to-head. They last played on Australian soil at the 2022 ATP Cup in which Zverev won in straight sets. Fritz has since been a transformed man, rising to a career-high ranking of World No. 8 and winning a Masters 1000 tournament. Zverev will need his general body coordination to work to perfection. While he is so reliant on his serve we tend to forget he does move extremely well for a man of his size. But coming off that horrible ankle injury has clearly impacted his preparations for this tournament. Fritz has to be favored to ease to another comfortable win.