Alexander Zverev vs Lucas Pouille Prediction Australian Open Tennis Picks 1/12/25

Alexander Zverev started his 2025 season at the United Cup as part of the Germany team looking to defend its title. Zverev won all three matches he played in, winning singles matches against Thiago Monteiro of Brazil and Zhizhen Zhang of China.

His other win was in mixed doubles while partnering Laura Siegemund. Unfortuately, Zverev did not compete in the quarterfinal where Germany's campaign hit a roadblock against Kazakhtan.

Zverev sustained a biceps strain before his match against Alexander Shevchenko and did not feature in the tie which Germany lost But the injury is not too serious and he will play in his ninth Australian Open main draw.

He comes into this year's tournament in Melbourne seeded as the No. 2 player. He is a two-time semifinalist of the Australian Open and was a few games away from reaching last year's final, but lost to Daniil Medvedev from two sets up.

Lucas Pouille Preview

Lucas Pouille is a former Top 10 player but is currently outside the top 100. He will be competing in his first Australian Open in three years.

The winner of five ATP titles has been to the semifinals of the Australian Open before, most memorably in 2019. That remains his best-ever showing at a Grand Slam.

Pouille was expected to be the next big thing in French men's tennis, a big burden inflicted on youngsters emerging through the ranks, but he struggled with injuries at the peak of his powers and hasn't returned to his glory days.

He played 22 matches in 2022, and 31 matches in 2023. It was only in the last 12 months when he was able to sustain a lengthy period of good health, playing a total of 60 matches and winning two Challenger titles.

Pouille started his 2025 season in Brisbane in the opening week of January where he lost in qualifying to American teenager Nishesh Basavareddy.

Alexander Zverev vs Lucas Pouille Head-To-Head

• Zverev and Pouille's only previous meeting was on Australian soil.

• The German won that encounter in three sets at the 2019 Hopman Cup.

Alexander Zverev vs Lucas Pouille Prediction

Lucas Pouille has the wildest of results at the Australian Open. His best result was a semifinal back in 2019 when he received the kindest of draws. That is sandwiched between six first-round defeats. He hasn't competed at the Australian Open since 2022, largely because of injuries and his massive ranking slide.

Zverev is considered one of the tournament favorites and the million-dollar question is could this be the year he finally wins a major title? It's more of a mental barrier at this point and if the German can clear his mind and play nerveless tennis, which he is capable of, then there is no reason why he cannot. This should be a routine win for him to start that journey.