Alexander Zverev disrespects rivals with bold Carlos Alcaraz French Open prediction

Week two of the French Open has begun and most of the headline players are still alive.

Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, and Novak Djokovic have all taken care of business to reach the fourth round. 

Zverev believes no matter who advances to the final, their opponent is inevitable. 

That’s because the top seed on the other side of the draw is defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.

After Zverev’s third-round victory over Flavio Cobolli, he shared some very transparent thoughts about how he sees the French Open draw.

“I honestly think Carlos will be in the final. To be very fair, I don’t think there’s anyone on that side of the draw that will challenge him too much,” Zverev said.

“All the people who can challenge him, all the contenders outside of him are on the top half of the draw. We will have to really battle it out and I’ll think he’ll enjoy watching it.”

It’s a strong take from the German. He dismissed a lot of great tennis players like Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti, and Ben Shelton. 

Rune proved he can tango with Alcaraz, beating him in the Barcelona Open Final a little over a month ago. Musetti has also defeated Alcaraz on clay, albeit at the 2022 Hamburg Open.

Is Zverev wrong? Not necessarily. Alcaraz is objectively the best clay-court player on his side of the draw. But he also beat Sinner and Zverev en route to his 2024 title at Roland-Garros.

Those players may be more of a challenge for the Spaniard, but he’s proved he can go head to head with any opponent in the world in Paris. 

All this will do is be more fuel to the fire for Alcaraz’s opponents, which is maybe was Zverev wanted all along.

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