Sascha Zverev chances at Wimbledon

albertobra

albertobra

Hall of Fame
I feel Sascha can go long in Wimby, though there are some up and downs on his game in relation to the grass srface.

Ups:

- Serve. A true weapon, and probably the one that can allow him to have serveral wins and go far. No good volley though, but can stick to a following groundstroke, if doesn't get point with serve.

- Backhand. Zvev can fire a excelent and pretty flat BH from any part of the court. I wan't to include here the BH dropshot, that Zvev does really well. Players on grass don't stand to far from the line, still a well done dropshot can bring opponent to the net and then get easely passed.

-ROS. I am not sure what are the statistics on Zvev's ROS, but he pretty much good at return winners.

Downs:

- Volley. Sascha is absolutely unconfortable from the T to the net. Even if other players have done well in Wimbledon without a master volley (Djoko and Murray), Zvev really needs to catch up here.

- Movement. Granted, Sascha moves well for being a tall guy. But he doesn´t like to bent his knees, that meens that he can have problemes during rallies with opponents that hit flatter, and have good slice backhands. On grass ball doesn't bounce at all and when backspinned, skids. To hit back a sliced BH, you gotta go down on your knees thing not too natural for Zverev.

All in all, being the grass court game pretty a one to three shot play Zvev can do well, being a good server, and a decent returner.

What do you think?
 
A QF appearance would be a good result for him and I don't expect him to get past that.

His movement on grass can be exposed by several players, as well as his complete lack of variety. Ball bashing from 40 feet behind the baseline works on grass for one player in the history of the sport (Nadal), and Rafa hasn't made it to the second week in many years. Zverev also has limited ability to deal with slice, though w/o Murray in the draw, that's one less slice specialist to deal with. Players like Feli or even Kohli could beat him, not just a grass master like Roger (and yes, before someone chimes in, "Zverev beat Fed on grass!") be reminded Fed was struggling mightily in 2016 with knee and back issues when that match was played. A healthy Roger decimated him last year 6-1, 6-3.
 
BeatlesFan said:
A QF appearance would be a good result for him and I don't expect him to get past that.

His movement on grass can be exposed by several players, as well as his complete lack of variety. Ball bashing from 40 feet behind the baseline works on grass for one player in the history of the sport (Nadal), and Rafa hasn't made it to the second week in many years. Zverev also has limited ability to deal with slice, though w/o Murray in the draw, that's one less slice specialist to deal with. Players like Feli or even Kohli could beat him, not just a grass master like Roger (and yes, before someone chimes in, "Zverev beat Fed on grass!") be reminded Fed was struggling mightily in 2016 with knee and back issues when that match was played. A healthy Roger decimated him last year 6-1, 6-3.
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Yes, but this is a new year and Zverev has improved and Roger is one year older. I think Zverev could be a handful for Federer so hopefully, Federer comes prepared and in wicked form.
 
Zed will always be vulnerable to a player who can effectively deploy the slice - so a healthy Fed, Rafa and Murray should definitely take him out. But if he is able to make it to a SF or F where those guys are not around, then yeah, he has a very good shot. A side point, but important one, is that the three guys I mentioned are all on the wrong side of 30, which says a lot because I can't think of anyone else at the moment who would be favored over Zed on grass given how well he's been serving. If his serve comes back to earth, there are a good half dozen players who can beat him on grass on the day.
 
wangs78 said:
Zed will always be vulnerable to a player who can effectively deploy the slice - so a healthy Fed, Rafa and Murray should definitely take him out. But if he is able to make it to a SF or F where those guys are not around, then yeah, he has a very good shot. A side point, but important one, is that the three guys I mentioned are all on the wrong side of 30, which says a lot because I can't think of anyone else at the moment who would be favored over Zed on grass given how well he's been serving. If his serve comes back to earth, there are a good half dozen players who can beat him on grass on the day.
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LMAO!
Wimbledon is on a grass court, were you aware of that? Zverev could absolutely take out Nadal there. Heck, if Fed isn't sharp, Zverev could possibly take him out there. Let's just see the draw.
 
wangs78 said:
Zed will always be vulnerable to a player who can effectively deploy the slice - so a healthy Fed, Rafa and Murray should definitely take him out. But if he is able to make it to a SF or F where those guys are not around, then yeah, he has a very good shot. A side point, but important one, is that the three guys I mentioned are all on the wrong side of 30, which says a lot because I can't think of anyone else at the moment who would be favored over Zed on grass given how well he's been serving. If his serve comes back to earth, there are a good half dozen players who can beat him on grass on the day.
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I agree, and I would also consider a few players out of the "legends lot" as BeatleFan said. I would add Muller, Delpo, Anderson, Querrey, Raonic and even Gasquet and his brother(!) that can expose Zvev's problems on grass.

And yes I pretty much believe that Sascha would buy a Wimby QF, at least for this year.
 
wangs78 said:
Zed will always be vulnerable to a player who can effectively deploy the slice - so a healthy Fed, Rafa and Murray should definitely take him out. But if he is able to make it to a SF or F where those guys are not around, then yeah, he has a very good shot. A side point, but important one, is that the three guys I mentioned are all on the wrong side of 30, which says a lot because I can't think of anyone else at the moment who would be favored over Zed on grass given how well he's been serving. If his serve comes back to earth, there are a good half dozen players who can beat him on grass on the day.
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Disagree on Rafa. He's lost to many players at Wimbledon much worse than Zverev. Not that Rafa couldn't beat him but I don't think Z would be vulnerable. He might even be the favourite over Rafa on grass. Rafa's only advantage would be that it would happen late in the tournament, but Rafa did actually make the 2nd week last year and lost (IMO the whole 2nd week thing re: Rafa is a bit overplayed). Agree on the other two, but Murray won't be healthy which only leaves Federer. Ultimately, Zverev could beat him, but Federer is the favourite over anyone else, even if a fragile one.
 
Steve0904 said:
Disagree on Rafa. He's lost to many players at Wimbledon much worse than Zverev. Not that Rafa couldn't beat him but I don't think Z would be vulnerable. He might even be the favourite over Rafa on grass. Rafa's only advantage would be that it would happen late in the tournament, but Rafa did actually make the 2nd week last year and lost (IMO the whole 2nd week thing re: Rafa is a bit overplayed). Agree on the other two, but Murray won't be healthy which only leaves Federer. Ultimately, Zverev could beat him, but Federer is the favourite over anyone else, even if a fragile one.
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That's true, I gave Rafa a bit too much credit on grass. But if he bulldozes through RG he could start grass with a ton of momentum/confidence. Let's not underestimate what an in-form Rafa is capable of on grass when opponents still have the memory of a withering loss to him on clay fresh in their minds. We've seen it too many times.
 
wangs78 said:
That's true, I gave Rafa a bit too much credit on grass. But if he bulldozes through RG he could start grass with a ton of momentum/confidence. Let's not underestimate what an in-form Rafa is capable of on grass when opponents still have the memory of a withering loss to him on clay fresh in their minds. We've seen it too many times.
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Nah. You're mixing up Nadal's clay aura with his Wimbledon one which has been non-existent for years. I think Zverev would be the slight favorite in a Zverev-Nadal Wimbledon match but Zverev has to get to Nadal or Fed first and prove he can make it far in a slam.
 
cc0509 said:
Nah. You're mixing up Nadal's clay aura with his Wimbledon one which has been non-existent for years. I think Zverev would be the slight favorite in a Zverev-Nadal Wimbledon match but Zverev has to get to Nadal or Fed first and prove he can make it far in a slam.
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Both have to prove it really. Nadal hasn't made a QF since 2011.
 
cc0509 said:
Nah. You're mixing up Nadal's clay aura with his Wimbledon one which has been non-existent for years. I think Zverev would be the slight favorite in a Zverev-Nadal Wimbledon match but Zverev has to get to Nadal or Fed first and prove he can make it far in a slam.
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On paper, yes, Zverev has the weapons that "should" beat Rafa on grass. But c'mon, let's say they were to meet in the SF at Wimby. That means Rafa's in form. The grass will have turned to clay by then as well. Zverev's got the memory of 5-set losses in Slams over the last year or two. Rafa is a 16-Slam winner. If I had to bet money, I would put it on Rafa. With that said, let's see how Rafa does at RG. Anything short of winning it will cost him the aura he will need to go deep on the grass. Rafa's always been a momentum player. The momentum from la Decima has brought him 5 titles at Wimby and the USO (in total). AO when the momentum has faded after the year-end break? Just one.
 
wangs78 said:
On paper, yes, Zverev has the weapons that "should" beat Rafa on grass. But c'mon, let's say they were to meet in the SF at Wimby. That means Rafa's in form. The grass will have turned to clay by then as well. Zverev's got the memory of 5-set losses in Slams over the last year or two. Rafa is a 16-Slam winner. If I had to bet money, I would put it on Rafa. With that said, let's see how Rafa does at RG. Anything short of winning it will cost him the aura he will need to go deep on the grass. Rafa's always been a momentum player. The momentum from la Decima has brought him 5 titles at Wimby and the USO (in total). AO when the momentum has faded after the year-end break? Just one.
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Grass never turns to clay. A SF would be very interesting no doubt, but I wouldn't make Nadal the favourite if Zverev made the SFs either. 50/50 match basically.
 
You don't need to be that good a volleyer at Wimbledon anymore, anyway, the decent putaway volley is enough.

Zverev should do well on grass. He definitely has the weapons to do so.
 
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wangs78 said:
On paper, yes, Zverev has the weapons that "should" beat Rafa on grass. But c'mon, let's say they were to meet in the SF at Wimby. That means Rafa's in form. The grass will have turned to clay by then as well. Zverev's got the memory of 5-set losses in Slams over the last year or two. Rafa is a 16-Slam winner. If I had to bet money, I would put it on Rafa. With that said, let's see how Rafa does at RG. Anything short of winning it will cost him the aura he will need to go deep on the grass. Rafa's always been a momentum player. The momentum from la Decima has brought him 5 titles at Wimby and the USO (in total). AO when the momentum has faded after the year-end break? Just one.
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The truth is, I thought Nadal would make it far at Wimbledon last year and he only made it to the 4R. That's six years of Nadal crashing out early at Wimbledon. It's a long time. If he wins the 2018 FO (which I believe he will) or he doesn't, I think his chances are the same at Wimbledon. He just doesn't seem to have the belief there anymore. But as always, the draw will be super important. If he gets a reasonable draw and other people crash out(Fed), who knows? Man, I'd love to see a Fed-Nadal Wimbledon rematch.
 
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albertobra said:
I feel Sascha can go long in Wimby, though there are some up and downs on his game in relation to the grass srface.

Ups:

- Serve. A true weapon, and probably the one that can allow him to have serveral wins and go far. No good volley though, but can stick to a following groundstroke, if doesn't get point with serve.

- Backhand. Zvev can fire a excelent and pretty flat BH from any part of the court. I wan't to include here the BH dropshot, that Zvev does really well. Players on grass don't stand to far from the line, still a well done dropshot can bring opponent to the net and then get easely passed.

-ROS. I am not sure what are the statistics on Zvev's ROS, but he pretty much good at return winners.

Downs:

- Volley. Sascha is absolutely unconfortable from the T to the net. Even if other players have done well in Wimbledon without a master volley (Djoko and Murray), Zvev really needs to catch up here.

- Movement. Granted, Sascha moves well for being a tall guy. But he doesn´t like to bent his knees, that meens that he can have problemes during rallies with opponents that hit flatter, and have good slice backhands. On grass ball doesn't bounce at all and when backspinned, skids. To hit back a sliced BH, you gotta go down on your knees thing not too natural for Zverev.

All in all, being the grass court game pretty a one to three shot play Zvev can do well, being a good server, and a decent returner.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
He may not need to play the Qualy.
 
More players can upset him on grass.

His chances at this French Open are quite good .He will start as favorite against most guys except Nadal.
 
Federer and Del Potro said:
Zverev's serve has been a real weapon as of late. If it stays that good he could be a real problem there.
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Not really, his serve is inconsistent didnt hold against Rafa.

Its his baseline rallies real weapon. But an experienced player will slice and dropshot him to death on grass courts.

Didnt' see ball bashers dominate on grass yet..its difficult to bash on grass due to the low bounce.
 
Julian Houston said:
Not really, his serve is inconsistent didnt hold against Rafa.

Its his baseline rallies real weapon. But an experienced player will slice and dropshot him to death on grass courts.

Didnt' see ball bashers dominate on grass yet..its difficult to bash on grass due to the low bounce.
Click to expand...


That's Rafa on clay, and before the delay, he was GOATing on serve
 
Zverev will play Halle this year if I am not mistaken.Hopefully there will be match with Federer so we can see on what level Zverev is on grass and what chances he have for Wimby.The last year it was pretty easy match for Fed there.
 
Hawaiian grip said:
You don't need to be that good a volleyer at Wimbledon anymore, anyway, the decent putaway volley is enough.

Zverev should do well on grass. He definitely has the weapons to do so.
Click to expand...

Zverev barely has that, if he does. I agree that he has the weapons to go far at Wimbledon though. It could be a case of him just being better than basically everyone else until he runs into someone like Cilic or Federer or Berdych, and none of them are guarantees to beat him anyway.
 
Wouldn’t it be funny if Big Brother took out Nadal before Sasha got a chance.

The fact that Sasha beat Fed in Halle (yeah, only BO3) means he won’t be beaten against anyone before the match starts like so many in the field are.

I agree with most; barring a completely cake draw he’ll make the QF and lose. But watch out at the USO.
 
albertobra said:
I feel Sascha can go long in Wimby, though there are some up and downs on his game in relation to the grass srface.

Ups:

- Serve. A true weapon, and probably the one that can allow him to have serveral wins and go far. No good volley though, but can stick to a following groundstroke, if doesn't get point with serve.

- Backhand. Zvev can fire a excelent and pretty flat BH from any part of the court. I wan't to include here the BH dropshot, that Zvev does really well. Players on grass don't stand to far from the line, still a well done dropshot can bring opponent to the net and then get easely passed.

-ROS. I am not sure what are the statistics on Zvev's ROS, but he pretty much good at return winners.

Downs:

- Volley. Sascha is absolutely unconfortable from the T to the net. Even if other players have done well in Wimbledon without a master volley (Djoko and Murray), Zvev really needs to catch up here.

- Movement. Granted, Sascha moves well for being a tall guy. But he doesn´t like to bent his knees, that meens that he can have problemes during rallies with opponents that hit flatter, and have good slice backhands. On grass ball doesn't bounce at all and when backspinned, skids. To hit back a sliced BH, you gotta go down on your knees thing not too natural for Zverev.

All in all, being the grass court game pretty a one to three shot play Zvev can do well, being a good server, and a decent returner.

What do you think?
Click to expand...
What would happen if Sasha plays Federer in the final of Wimbledon ? Would the occasion be too much for him ?
 
Thomas195 said:
Roddick 2004 - a classic ball basher? Not dominate but gave Fed tough time.
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Roddick had a vastly better serve and FH than Zverev. His volley (and willingness to come in, especially under Stefanki) was way better than Z as well. The only thing Z does better right now than A-Rod is the BH. Since he's 21, the comparison is skewed, since Roddick was a much better player at 26 than 21. Their movement is both atrocious compared to the greatest players.
 
I have no doubt in my mind that Zverev can be a great player on all surfaces, but in my opinion grass is where he will struggle the most. The reason for that is he has a big and lagging swing on the forehand side, struggles mightily with low slicing shots and has one of the worst volleys I have seen for a professional tennis player. Also, the transition game is poor right now and needs to be worked on. If he can shorten up the swing on the forehand side, become better at volleys and learn how to play closer to the baseline to develop a solid transition game than he will do great at Wimbledon, but until than I think he will struggle. I think clay is his best surface followed by hard courts and than lastly grass. There is no reason for a guy with that serve and that much power from the ground to be running around behind the baseline like a grinder. He played the first set that way against Nadal and got hammered. In the second set he stepped up inside the court and took his shots on the rise and blasted them back with depth and Rafa was helpless. Yes I know Rafa played bad in the second set, but still some of that had to do with Sacha changing his game plan. If I'm his dad and other coach than I would sit him down every day this week before the French Open starts and make him watch that second set and early part of the third set before the rain delay. That's his key to victory on every surface.
 
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Zev may never be competitive at Wimbledon. His only chance is continued improvement on his serve.
And taking a basic volley lesson would help too.
 
Grass:

70% serve
20% return
10% the rest

So yes, Zverev has a good chance.
 
The way he's serving right now certainly makes you think he'll have a pretty good shot. I think the schooling he got in the Halle final last year may detract a little bit from the fact that he's made the final there now two years in a row, and for all the talk of how much he sucks over best of 5 we shouldn't ignore that his Wimbledon run last year is (maybe not saying much) by far the best major run of his career so far with 3 very assured wins followed by a match he reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally should have won, but totally choked away. He was breaking Milos' serve for fun in that match, he just couldn't hold his own. He's looking much better in that regard right now obviously.
 
ibbi said:
he sucks over best of 5 we shouldn't ignore that his Wimbledon run last year is (maybe not saying much) by far the best major run of his career so far with 3 very assured wins followed by a match he reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally should have won, but totally choked away. He was breaking Milos' serve for fun in that match, he just couldn't hold his own. He's looking much better in that regard right now obviously.
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The way he was destroyed in the fifth in both Wimbledon 2017 (breadstick) and AO 2018 (bagel) proved that he sucked in BO5 and the only thing his opponents have to do to beat him is to play good enough to drag the match to the 5th set. Z may play great early but by the 5th he can no longer carry on.

Mind you, a 5-set match on clay would be far far far physically tougher than anything Z had ever experienced.
 
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