The coronavirus pandemic has had an adverse effect on sporting events around the globe. Tennis fans may argue that the epidemic affected their sport the most since many ATP and WTA tournaments had to be suspended or canceled altogether. However, the successful resumption of the US and French Opens breathed new life into the sport, and fans can look forward to an action-packed week as several tournaments are set to kick off. In an unprecedented move, the bett1HULKS Indoors championship will be played in back to back weeks in Cologne, and Alexander Zverev will have to prove his endurance by winning the tournament twice. Apart from that European Open in Antwerp and Ostrava Open will be the highlight of the upcoming week.
Jannik Sinner and Denis Shapovalov will join Zverev in week 2 of the Cologne Open
Zverev will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in Sunday’s final, but the match-winner will have no time to rest since he will have to defend the title immediately in the second week of the tournament. The competition will be more intense as several high ranked players will enter the tournament in its second week. Jannik Sinner and Denis Shapovalov will pose a bigger test for Zverev if he wins Sunday’s final. Sinner had an impressive run at the French Open, where he reached the quarterfinals before bowing out to the eventual winner, Rafael Nadal. After skipping the St. Petersburg Open because of a stomach illness, the reigning Next Gen champion has been tipped to have a deep run in the second week of the bett1HULKS Indoors championship. Shapovalov reached the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open, and he may have to face Zverev in the semifinals in Cologne in what promises to be an entertaining match.
Grigor Dimitrov is the early favorite to win the European Open
In addition to the bett1HULKS Indoors championship, fans will also be following the European Open in Antwerp in the upcoming week. Grigor Dimitrov is the early favorite to win the event, which will crown a new winner since Andy Murray will be playing in Cologne. Dimitrov is currently 19th on the ATP world rankings, and he had a decent run at the French Open before he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round.
Ostrava Open
To round up the week’s tennis action, fans will get to watch some of their favorite female players at the Ostrava Open. The WTA sanctioned the tournament after the Asian swing of its WTA tour failed to materialize because of the coronavirus pandemic. Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova will headline the tournament, while Coco Gauff is a dark horse to win the event after she qualified as a wild card.
How to live stream for free
Fans can subscribe to Tennis TV to watch Sunday’s matches. For tennis fanatics living outside the United States, Bet365 will be live streaming the matches on its site. However, fans must have a fully funded account so that they can enjoy the action. The betting site will also stream selected matches from the upcoming European Open in Antwerp. 18+ BeGambleAware.
Zverev in Cologne, ranking, and results in 2020
Currently the world no.7, Alexander has an overall 18-8 match record in 2020. The German is playing in Cologne where he toppled Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-1, Lloyd Harris 6-4 3-6 6-0 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 7-5 7-63.
Alexander Zverev will come up against Auger-Aliassime in the final. The head to head is 2-0 for Zverev.
Zverev was the finalist at the U.S. Open.
The German won 11 titles in his career: 3 on hard courts, 5 on clay courts and 3 on indoor courts. (See the list of his titles)
Denis Shapovalov in 2020
Ranked no.12, Denis played his last match on the 17th of October when he was overcome by Andrey Rublev 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in St. Petersburg.
Denis Shapovalov’s best achievement of the present season was reaching the semi-finals in Rome and St. Petersburg.
Alexander Zverev and Denis Shapovalov played each other 5 times. The head to head is 3-2 for Zverev. The last time that they fought against each other, Denis Shapovalov won 6-2 6-2 in the round robin in Brisbane, Perth, Sydney (ATP Cup) on the 7th of January 2020.
In the video below you can watch the highlights.
Jannik Sinner in 2020
Currently ranked no.46 (career-high), Jannik played his last match on the 6th of October when he was overcome by Rafael Nadal 7-64 6-4 6-1 in the quarter of the French Open.
Grigor Dimitrov in 2020
Currently the world no.19, the Bulgarian played his last match on the 5th of October when he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 7-69 6-2 in the 4th round of the French Open.
Grigor Dimitrov’s best result of the present season was getting to the semi-finals in Acapulco.
Jannik Sinner and Grigor Dimitrov played each other once. The head to head is 1-0 for Dimitrov. When they played, Grigor Dimitrov won 4-6 6-4 6-4 in the 3rd round in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia) on the 18th of September 2020.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.