Zverev is younger than Youzhny. He’s also probably hungrier for success, as the 19-year-old German has yet to reach past the second round of the Wimbledon, albeit in just two participations thus far in his nascent career. Intangibles aside, Zverev has grown better playing on grass courts, as evidenced by his 4-1 record on that surface this year.
Prior to that he had a 5-4 grass court record in 2015. Zverev, who defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets (6-3, 6-4, 6-2) in the first round of Wimbledon, reached the finals of the ATP Gerry Weber Open but lost to Florian Mayer in the finals. He did beat Roger Federer in the semis, however, with an astounding 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3 victory over the Swiss legend.
Unlike Zverev, Youzhny had a tougher time taking care of his first round opponent, needing four sets to finally dispatch of Horacio Zeballos, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Nevertheless, the Russian managed to surpass his disappointing first-round exit a year ago. Speaking of past performances, Youzhny is the more experienced player in this matchup. Youzhny began participating at Wimbledon in 2001, when Zverev was only beginning to learn his ABC’s. He also knows what it’s like to go deep in the tournament with Youzhny managing to reach the quarterfinals in 2012.
