Preview: French Open: Benjamin Bonzi vs. Alexander Zverev - prediction, form, head-to-head

Alexander Zverev begins his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title on Sunday when he takes on Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round of the French Open.

Zverev has never lost a first-round match in the French capital since 2017, and the 2024 finalist will hope to avoid a shock exit against the No. 98-ranked home player.

Match preview

On a short list of three, Bonzi is one of the men to have taken a set from Jannik Sinner during the Italian superstar’s 29-match winning streak.

The former world No. 42 gave the No. 1-ranked player on the ATP Tour a scare by taking the opening-set tie-break in Madrid last month, only to be powerless to resist as the leading player on tour mounted a comeback.

That level of performance highlights the 29-year-old’s competence against top-level opponents, and wins over Daniil Medvedev (Wimbledon 2025) and Lorenzo Musetti (Cincinnati 2025) in the last 12 months support this view.

With the majority of the home crowd likely to be on his side against the second seed, Bonzi will look to leverage that support in the hope of taking down his German opponent.

That task will be easier said than done, however, especially considering that he is 1-1 on clay this season and 2-3 overall at tour level since January, with the bulk of the Frenchman’s 18 wins coming in qualifying or Challenger events.

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Zverev will be in no mood to do any favours on Sunday as the second seed aims to put several disappointments at the hands of Sinner behind him ahead of his 11th appearance at Roland-Garros.

The 24-time ATP champion has been defeated by the world No. 1 in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid, three of which were semi-final losses before the chastening experience in the Madrid final.

A last-16 exit in Rome was unusual for the 2024 French Open finalist, who went out against Luciano Darderi after holding three match points in the second set.

Heading into the second Grand Slam of 2026, the German No. 1 will be aware that he has not gone out before the quarter-finals in the last five tournaments in Paris, highlighting his consistency at a Slam that has given him his highest number of wins (38), ahead of the Australian Open (36).

Now seeking a 39th win in the French capital, Zverev is the undeniable favourite to improve his 38-10 record at the Slam.

While facing nemesis Sinner, to whom he has lost in nine consecutive meetings, is a possible championship match-up, there are still several hurdles for the world No. 3 to overcome before even looking that far ahead.

Head To Head

Bonzi and Zverev will be facing off for the first time on Tour, with the victor taking a 1-0 lead in their head-to-head.

While the Frenchman has beaten top-10 opponents in the last year, his 0-3 record against the elite on clay is undeniably uninspiring.

However, a closer look shows that he retired after five games against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte Carlo (2023), was forced to quit right after taking Taylor Fritz to a third set in Madrid 12 months ago and pushed Sinner to a decider several weeks ago in the Spanish capital.

We say: Zverev to win in four sets

Bonzi has shown over the years that he has what it takes to ask questions of the leading players on the men’s tour, but his winless record on the dirt against such opposition leaves much to be desired.

That losing streak is not for want of trying, with the Frenchman taking a set off Tsitsipas and Sinner on the Madrid dirt in 2025 and this year.

While he is backed to make the home crowd happy to a point, Zverev is expected to seal victory in four sets and advance to the second round for the ninth straight year.