Alexander Zverev vs Juan Pablo Varillas preview, prediction | Australian Open 2023

Alexander Zverev will play against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas in the first round of the Australian Open. The match will take place on January 17, starting at 03:30 GMT.
See also – Novak Djokovic vs Roberto Carballes Baena preview, prediction | Australian Open 2023
Australian Open 2023
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Match Details
Date: 17 January 2023
Tournament: Australian Open 2023.
Round: First round (Round of 128).
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia.
Surface: Hard.
Prize Money: A$76,500,000.
Alexander Zverev continues to get back in shape after a serious ankle injury that forced him to miss the second half of last season. In December, the German played several exhibition matches, and in one of them he even beat Novak Djokovic.
A little later, it became clear that the Serb was just tensing up in that match. In full force, Djokovic played in Adelaide, where he took another title. And the meeting with Zverev was just a warm-up for him.
The tennis player from Germany played the first matches of the new season at the United Cup. They obviously did not add success: first, the former second racket of the world lost to Jirze Legechka, and then to Taylor Fritz.

Juan Pablo Varillas entered the main draw of the Australian Major as a lucky loser. As in the previous season, the Peruvian again failed to qualify, but this time he was lucky.
In the decisive round of selection, Juan Pablo lost to Japanese Yosuke Watanuki. Last season, Varillas played just five matches on hard. At the same time, there is not a single one at the level of the main ATP grid.
Like most tennis players, Varillas played on clay most of the time. And here Varijals had several results. In Gstaad, the 27-year-old tennis player won against Lorenzo Sonego and Roberto Bautista-Aguta, and at the end of May, at Roland Garros, the tennis player from Peru almost stopped Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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Head to Head
Both tennis players have not yet played each other, and this meeting will be the first for them. Overall score (0-0).

Prediction
Alexander Zverev win 1.09 | Juan Pablo Varillas win 8.00 |
Varillas, who prefers clay courts to faster courts, will likely find it difficult to handle.
Zverev has good experience and should cope with the upcoming opponents and advance to the next round of the Australian Open 2023.
Prediction: Total sets over 3.5.