Jakub Mensik vs. Alexander Zverev Prediction, Pick & Odds

Alexander Zverev will be hoping to reach his second French Open final, and a fourth Grand Slam final of his career, when he takes on Jakub Mensik in the semifinal on Friday.

Zverev has long been the bridesmaid when it comes to Grand Slam singles tournaments, but he will surely never get a better chance to cross the line in a major after coming up short in three previous finals.

However, the 29-year-old German’s wait for a first of the ‘big four’ events may go on as he takes on one of the sport’s best young players in Mensik.

Jakub Mensik vs. Alexander Zverev betting picks and predictions

Jakub Mensik to win at least two sets (+137.5)

It was just over a month ago that Zverev and Mensik played each other for the first time and here they are preparing for their second encounter barely five weeks later.

Zverev was a pretty comfortable victor in the clay-court Madrid Masters, coming through 6-4 6-7 6-3, and because of results like that Mensik was unfancied by many ante-post punters going into the French Open, the second of the tennis season’s Grand Slam tournaments.

But while Zverev has ploughed on and has dropped only one set on his path to the last four on the Paris clay, Mensik has since clicked into form and he can be seriously difficult to dislodge when he hits his peak.

There was no panic from Mensik when he lost the opening set of his third-round clash with Alex de Minaur 6-0 and he went on to dismiss the Australian in four sets. Incidentally, that was the only time one of these semifinalists had lost the opening set in a singles match in this year’s French Open.

Backing Mensik to upset the odds big-time with a straight-sets victory over Zverev can definitely be considered, but perhaps the more sensible punt is to support the outsider to win two of the first four sets contested.

Mensik won one of the three played in Madrid, but given his recent form hike, that may not prove too big a challenge, even against a player of Zverev’s standing.

Mensik will also be acutely aware of the need to start well, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise should he win one or both of the first two sets.

After doing that against Andrey Rublev in round four, Mensik then took his foot off the gas as he allowed Rublev, a seriously difficult player to beat on clay, back into the game and it wasn’t long before the pair were level again at two sets apiece. Credit to Mensik, though, as he found more in the decider to thwart the 11th seed’s hopes.

Zverev, of course, notoriously lost from two sets up in a US Open final clash with Dominic Thiem. But Mensik is unlikely to be able to afford the German such a luxurious start in their Paris semi.

Jakub Mensik to win match (+300)

Mensik should expect a potentially tough battle on Friday, but he is one of the best young players in tennis right now.

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are the ones who have been doing it and hogging the finals, of course, but Mensik is a coming force, as he showed when upending Sinner in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in February.

It wasn’t that long ago that the French Open was considered a tournament that suited youth more than experience. That idea lost weight thanks to the heroic title triumphs of Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka in the Indian summers of their careers, but Mensik gets an opportunity to strike a blow for the younger element on this occasion.

Hence, punters should not think too long before backing Mensik on the Money Line. They may well find themselves in a position to trade out should they wish to, but the feeling prevails that the 26th seed is good enough to overturn his more fancied opponent anyway.

Jakub Mensik +5.5 games handicap (-137.5)

Finally, for a third interest, punters can consider backing Mensik with a start of 5.5 games on the handicap. This punt pretty much equates to supporting the outsider to win at least two sets, but that option is preferred, principally because sets-handicap betting fluctuates a lot less than games handicaps.

If the match pans out as expected, then Mensik could win at least one of the first two sets, and maybe both, after which games-handicap punters may find themselves in a reasonably strong position going into set three.

Of course, that would largely dictate the players’ courses of action in sets three and four, but by that time the tough going might even be felt by Zverev, who aged 29 is probably past his physical prime.

Jakub Mensik vs. Alexander Zverev odds

Jakub Mensik	+300
Alexander Zverev	-400

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.