Medvedev vs Zverev?

sredna42

Hall of Fame
????
Serve:
Forehand:
Backhand:
Slice:
Volleys:
Movement:
Smashes:

I find it hard to split them on all the above, but Mad Lad broke through where Zverev could not, yet Zverev leads the h2h 5-4


giphy.gif
 

sredna42

Hall of Fame
Z hasn't beaten Medvedev in about 2 years. Since Med actually became a top player, he has lost just one match to Z, which was in the worst tourney he had after his break through : the abysmal WTF 2019.

He is 4-1 since 2019.

Yeah but why? What changed? When you list their shots its still hard to split them. But when it comes to the crunch, Medvedev wins somehow.
 

Amen786

Semi-Pro
Z hasn't beaten Medvedev in about 2 years. Since Med actually became a top player, he has lost just one match to Z, which was in the worst tourney he had after his break through : the abysmal WTF 2019.

He is 4-1 since 2019.
Zverev was a set & break up in the last 2 matches, he found a way to choke
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Zverev is the best in best of 3 tournaments but Medvedev has solved the best of 5 mental game problem and Zverev hasn't done so. Like others have said Medvedev has improved his play level - the question is: can Zverev improve his and solve his mental game issues in best of 5 tournaments?
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
Zverev is not as good at returning
Zverev has lesser stamina and lesser shot tolerance, really
Zverev has a more powerful, but far less reliable, serve
Zverev has issues at the net which feeds into Medvedev's hands
Zverev doesn't have great variety
Zverev gets frustrated and misses a lot earlier than Medvedev does (this is the key to the whole match-up)
Zverev is inferior mentally to Medvedev

on the contrary

Zverev has more power than Medvedev
Zverev can take advantage of Medvedev's passiveness at times
Zverev has the ability to take the ball slightly earlier than Medvedev (doesn't use it that often)
Zverev is much better on clay than Medvedev

anyone wonder why Med is 4-0 since 2019?
 
V

Vamos Rafa Nadal

Guest
Zverev is not as good at returning
Zverev has lesser stamina and lesser shot tolerance, really
Zverev has a more powerful, but far less reliable, serve
Zverev has issues at the net which feeds into Medvedev's hands
Zverev doesn't have great variety
Zverev gets frustrated and misses a lot earlier than Medvedev does (this is the key to the whole match-up)
Zverev is inferior mentally to Medvedev

on the contrary

Zverev has more power than Medvedev
Zverev can take advantage of Medvedev's passiveness at times
Zverev has the ability to take the ball slightly earlier than Medvedev (doesn't use it that often)
Zverev is much better on clay than Medvedev

anyone wonder why Med is 4-0 since 2019?
This is exactly it! Especially: Zverev gets frustrated! He has very poor shot tolerance distress abilities. He has the game to win best of 5 tournaments (the physical game) but he does not have the mental game to do so. The question is: will he work on it diligently and solve this problem?
 

ForehandCross

G.O.A.T.
I will be honest , I have no delusions, Z at his absolute best is better than entire tour. That includes Med, Djokovic and Thiem.


However, his absolute best fortunately gets bogged down due to his pea sized brain. He manhandled Djokovic in 4th set of his semis playing powerful tennis and then retreated back to ping pong and got his behind kicked in the 5th.

As of right now he is still in the process of finding his best tennis . Let's hope that process continues for long enough time.

BUT, Med is probably the one guy who I would pick to beat Zverev even at his best, strong protected serve and ability to make Zverev hit 4-5 quality strokes to win a point.
 

DjokoLand

Hall of Fame
Worth noting that the H2H is 5-4 too Zverev but Medvedev has won the last 3 meetings. Outside of Clay Med is far superior to Zverev.
 

Antónis

Professional
Zverev is not as good at returning
Zverev has lesser stamina and lesser shot tolerance, really
Zverev has a more powerful, but far less reliable, serve
Zverev has issues at the net which feeds into Medvedev's hands
Zverev doesn't have great variety
Zverev gets frustrated and misses a lot earlier than Medvedev does (this is the key to the whole match-up)
Zverev is inferior mentally to Medvedev

on the contrary

Zverev has more power than Medvedev
Zverev can take advantage of Medvedev's passiveness at times
Zverev has the ability to take the ball slightly earlier than Medvedev (doesn't use it that often)
Zverev is much better on clay than Medvedev

anyone wonder why Med is 4-0 since 2019?
Zeverev has a less powerful and reliable serve compared to Medvedev, and it's not even comparable
Medvedev aces more times, does less double-faults, has more variety, and he doesn't "crap" his pants like Zverev does, when he's under pressure., serving at 140 km/h on second serves has I've seen him do - an double faulting.
He handles pressure way better than Zverev too

Zverev has a bigger two hander when he goes for it, if he's confident enough, but that's the only shot he hits bigger than Medvedev
 

Kralingen

Talk Tennis Guru
Zeverev has a less powerful and reliable serve compared to Medvedev, and it's not even comparable
Medvedev aces more times, does less double-faults, has more variety, and he doesn't "crap" his pants like Zverev does, when he's under pressure., serving at 140 km/h on second serves has I've seen him do - an double faulting.
He handles pressure way better than Zverev too

Zverev has a bigger two hander when he goes for it, if he's confident enough, but that's the only shot he hits bigger than Medvedev
Disagree.

Med is the overall better server but Zverev has one of the most powerful first serves in tennis. I mean he was hitting upper 130 mph regularly, I think Zverev hit a 140mph serve at Wimbledon this year. Medvedev is no slouch, he can hit 130s as well, but Zverev consistently has a faster and more powerful first serve. Placement wise, advantage Medvedev.

The 2nd serve is what makes the huge difference, as you said.

I think Zverev can really pummel his FH as big as Medevdev tbh. Medvedev doesn't really hit you off the court on neutral rally balls, Zverev can (but misses quite often). Med has the big advantage on running FHs though, and has a much better FHDTL.
 

Antónis

Professional
On a regular basis, Med hits a better serve than Zverev. You don't see Med getting tighter and crumble his body and doing a 130 k's 2.nd serve when he's tight - and even double faulting with that lame serve, like Zverev does.
Sampras had the best serve ever, but he wasn't the hardest one: it was about placement, variety and disguising, and never had doubts about it - when he needed, the big one was there.
With Medvedev, it's the same kind (not level): very short preparation, (he hits the ball to the ground like two times...) always the same toss (low, like Russians usually do), and goes for it
He's confident about that shot, Zverev has notorious doubts about it.
Just my two cents sir
 

goldengate14

Professional

sredna42

Hall of Fame
The Rock-Paper-Scissors rivalry of Zverev-Medvedev-Tsitsipas we had going for a while there is starting to feel like ancient history now.
That's it, he just keeps showing up and winning lately. Yet visually he's still the same. Goes to show that the small things/intangibles can earn or lose you slams
 

-NN-

G.O.A.T.
Zverev is not as good at returning
Zverev has lesser stamina and lesser shot tolerance, really
Zverev has a more powerful, but far less reliable, serve
Zverev has issues at the net which feeds into Medvedev's hands
Zverev doesn't have great variety
Zverev gets frustrated and misses a lot earlier than Medvedev does (this is the key to the whole match-up)
Zverev is inferior mentally to Medvedev

on the contrary

Zverev has more power than Medvedev
Zverev can take advantage of Medvedev's passiveness at times
Zverev has the ability to take the ball slightly earlier than Medvedev (doesn't use it that often)
Zverev is much better on clay than Medvedev

anyone wonder why Med is 4-0 since 2019?

Not sure on the stamina point given Med's 5-set record and how often he seems to be on the verge of cramps. I favour Zverev there. Other than that, nice work! I think that inferior mental game to Medvedev might be as much the ability to think the game as stuff like clutchness, confidence, etc. Medvedev is cerebral, and I love it.
 

Jonesy

Legend
Their game is a lot closer than people think, but what sets them apart is the fact Med mental game is a lot superior than Zed, and in tennis that makes a ton of difference.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
The Rock-Paper-Scissors rivalry of Zverev-Medvedev-Tsitsipas we had going for a while there is starting to feel like ancient history now.

Somehow I doubt it. I strongly suspect one of the 3 will be in the final of the AO (probably Zverev), and another at the FO (probably Tsitsipas). Will they actually win it? Not sure.
 

Wander

Hall of Fame
Interesting thing is that according to Medvedev himself his forehand was really bad as a junior and even in his early pro years. Supposedly it started to work some time after switching to Tecnifibre.
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
Yeah but why? What changed? When you list their shots its still hard to split them. But when it comes to the crunch, Medvedev wins somehow.
Medvedev went to another level between the ears, it's pretty simple! Listing their shots is irrelevant. You could probably put a few guys on tour in comparisons like this with Djokovic or Nadal, and they'd probably come out on top if people were being honest. Doesn't mean anything.
 

sredna42

Hall of Fame
Medvedev went to another level between the ears, it's pretty simple! Listing their shots is irrelevant. You could probably put a few guys on tour in comparisons like this with Djokovic or Nadal, and they'd probably come out on top if people were being honest. Doesn't mean anything.
That's kinda what I was trying to lead people to thinking about
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Medvedev went to another level between the ears, it's pretty simple! Listing their shots is irrelevant. You could probably put a few guys on tour in comparisons like this with Djokovic or Nadal, and they'd probably come out on top if people were being honest. Doesn't mean anything.

I definitely agree that Medvedev's mental game is second-to-none among the NextGen. In his match against Djokovic, it clearly paid dividends (and it was a big change from AO).

But would he win against Zverev in the final of Cincy coming off a high from the Olympics? He's won the last 3 times, so there's a strong possibility. But I don't think it's guaranteed. At the end of the day, Zverev still has a winning h2h.
 

ibbi

G.O.A.T.
I definitely agree that Medvedev's mental game is second-to-none among the NextGen. In his match against Djokovic, it clearly paid dividends (and it was a big change from AO).

But would he win against Zverev in the final of Cincy coming off a high from the Olympics? He's won the last 3 times, so there's a strong possibility. But I don't think it's guaranteed. At the end of the day, Zverev still has a winning h2h.
Zverev's head to head advantage is based almost entirely upon the fact that they played a bunch of times prior to Medvedev's starting down the path to becoming the player he is today, which only got going in Cincinnati 2019. Since then it's a pretty telling 4-1 to Medvedev, and Zverev's 1 has specifics attached to it that make it pretty unimpressive anyway.

Would Medvedev beat Zverev who himself seems to have gone to a new gear the past few months? I'd still guess yes based on him being the one more likely to hold up under pressure. Certainly in best of five. For Zverev to win I'd say he'd have to go into his beast mode, and Medvedev would have to be playing less than average.
 

Aabye5

G.O.A.T.
Zverev's head to head advantage is based almost entirely upon the fact that they played a bunch of times prior to Medvedev's starting down the path to becoming the player he is today, which only got going in Cincinnati 2019. Since then it's a pretty telling 4-1 to Medvedev, and Zverev's 1 has specifics attached to it that make it pretty unimpressive anyway.

Would Medvedev beat Zverev who himself seems to have gone to a new gear the past few months? I'd still guess yes based on him being the one more likely to hold up under pressure. Certainly in best of five. For Zverev to win I'd say he'd have to go into his beast mode, and Medvedev would have to be playing less than average.

I agree entirely about the h2h. But I think it speaks to how precocious Zverev was. He's had the game for a long time to hang with the top 10. He's always lacked the mental factor, though.

And yes, in best of 5, Medvedev has the mental edge, which is why I chose Cincy. But I think the draw will be pretty important in the AO, for example.

Which is why that shot-to-shot comparison is so important. Medvedev has the edge in bo5, but Zverev can certainly tire him out.
 
Idk shot for shot, but overall to me Zverev seems to have the higher ceiling, especially considering all surfaces, not just HC. His big problem is that a huge weapon he has in serve lacks consistency and variety, when he hits 'out' or net trying to serve a blistering ace on his 1st, it's mostly fingers crossed for the 2nd. And then problems on serve can screw with Zverev's head, which is another problem of his. Both issues, I feel, can be addressed.

Daniil in contrast is more grounded, very consistent, with his unusual technique maybe making him a trickier opponent. I'm not sure though if his game, apart from serving, has that gear where he would beat a redlining opponent or elite opposition on top of their game. Granted, both are rare on the ATP right now.
 
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