Tennis
2025-11-09 - Alexander Zverev vs Ben Shelton
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: ATP Finals Group Stage
Sunday 9th November 2025 - Scheduled 8:30pm
7:30pm (British Time)
Preview
Being in the same Group as Jannik Sinner means this opens as a pivotal match in the section when Alexander Zverev faces Ben Shelton.
Both players have not played as well as they would have liked when facing top ten Ranked opponents on the hard courts this season and that is something that will need to change significantly in 2026 if Alexander Zverev and Ben Shelton have real ambitions of winning a Grand Slam title. The tennis draw format means the likelihood is that they would have to beat both Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz if they were to win a Grand Slam title and they both had runs ended by the Italian at the Australian Open.
They will have to face Jannik Sinner later in the Group, but the focus here will be on one another Alexander Zverev has found a way to get the better of Ben Shelton in meetings on the Tour.
All four have been won by the World Number 3 and Alexander Zverev has beaten Ben Shelton on all three surfaces in 2025.
This has to give him confidence, although facing the Shelton serve on an indoor hard court is going to be a huge challenge for every opponent that steps across the net from the American in Turin.
An injury forced Ben Shelton out of the US Open, which hurt massively, and the worry for his fans is that he has not shown a lot of form since then.
Early losses in Shanghai, Basel and Paris means Ben Shelton comes into this one with little match time and confidence and he may struggle to stick with Alexander Zverev at key moments.
Alexander Zverev reached the Final in Vienna and the Semi Final in Paris and he should be able to largely handle the potential scoreboard pressure with his own serve being very effective. The numbers have not been quite as strong as 2024 in the hard court matches played over the last eleven months, but Alexander Zverev will be confident he can contain the Ben Shelton return having held almost 98% of service games played against this opponent.
Tie-breakers are likely going to be needed, but Alexander Zverev should have enough to earn a victory to cover this handicap line set.
He is a two time previous winner at the ATP Finals, including the first played here in Turin and Alexander Zverev can maintain his edge over Ben Shelton.
Prediction
Lay the games with the higher Ranked player in this Group match.
The Pick :
Alexander Zverev 2-0 Ben Shelton
