Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the ATP Roland Garros match.
Alexander Zverev has reached the semi-finals of Roland-Garros in each of the past four years and comes into this year’s tournament as one of the leading contenders. The German began his campaign in Paris with a commanding straight-sets win and will now be looking to manage his energy levels in the second round. In contrast, Jesper de Jong endured a taxing five-set battle in the first round and enters this match against the World No. 3 clearly fatigued.
Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev was dominant in his opening match against World No. 67 Learner Tien, winning 6:3, 6:3, 6:4. He won 90% of points behind his first serve and was clinical at the net, converting 64% of net points compared to just 50% for his opponent. Most significantly, he imposed himself with 28 winners to 15, underlining his aggressive intent. Since the start of the clay-court season, Zverev has won 15 of his 21 matches and lifted the title in Munich. His recent opposition has been far stronger than Jesper de Jong, including matches against World No. 14 Arthur Fils, World No. 13 Ben Shelton, and World No. 29 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Jesper de Jong
The Dutchman had to dig deep to get through the opening round. Jesper de Jong overturned a two-set deficit to defeat World No. 139 Francesco Passaro by scores of 3:6, 6:7, 6:4, 7:6, 6:1, relying heavily on mental resilience. However, his opponent’s 80 unforced errors and just 30% success on return played a major role in that result. Alexander Zverev is unlikely to be so generous. A key concern for Jesper de Jong is his winless record against top-20 players — five losses from five matches. Moreover, he suffered a straight-sets defeat against Zverev in their only previous encounter at the Hamburg tournament earlier in 2024 (2:6, 2:6).
Alexander Zverev vs Jesper de Jong Prediction
The disparity in quality between the players is clear. Alexander Zverev is in top form, while Jesper de Jong is coming off a physically draining five-setter and lacks experience against elite competition. It is unlikely Jesper de Jong will take a set — a one-sided match with a winning margin of at least eight games in favour of Alexander Zverev is the most probable outcome.
