AUSTRALIAN OPEN MENS SEMI FINAL THIEM V ZVEREV

Ask yourself ‘who is better? Thiem or Zverev?’. I think that 90% will say Thiem is the better player. He has more experience of Major semi finals and finals. Mentally, he is one of the toughest out there. And his win against Nadal was stunning.

None of this is to suggest, even for a moment, that Zverev is not a top top player. This match is hopefully one of 30-40 times that we will see these cross swords on the big stage. Zverev has had an unbelievable Australian Open so far but Thiem is a step ahead right now. The head to head is 6-2 in Thiem’s favour and that’s not all on clay. Thiem’s latest victory against Zverev was last November on the hard courts of London. Combining this with probably Thiem’s biggest win on hard courts against Nadal, I think Thiem’s confidence will be high.

Prediction: Thiem 3-1