Hugo Dellien vs Cameron Norrie Prediction & Betting Tips - ATP Rio Open

Prediction published on 18/02/2024, 03:55  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 18/02/2024 at 04:56 in Tennis Predictions

Defending champion Cameron Norrie is seeded second in this year's Rio Open. He takes on unseeded Hugo Dellien in the first round of this outdoor clay court tournmanent. For the winner there's a second round match against either wild card Gustavo Heide or unseeded Tomas Barrios Vera. Norrie won this title in 2023 beating Carlos Alcaraz and the Spaniard is the top seed in this year's event. The British player began this South American clay court season with a disappointing three-set second round exit to Federico Coria in the Argentine Open. He's at 23rd in the live rankings and of course has all the points won here last year to defend. In the Live ATP Race he's in 25th position after winning five of his eight matches played this year. The 28-year-old has only reached one quarter final this year. That was in Auckland but he only had to win one match to reach that stage. On clay last year he had a 72% success record but has lost his only match on this surface in 2024.

Hugo Dellien has only played Norrie once and that was in this tournament last year. The pair met in the quarter finals with Norrie getting a three set win after losing the first. Dellien is at 135th in the rankings and two places lower than that in the ATP Live Race. He's played six matches this year with three wins and the same number of defeats. His best performance has come in the clay court tournament held in Cordoba where he made it to round two. He failed to qualify for the Australian Open and last week's Argentina Open. He's 2-2 on clay so far this year and had a 36-23 record in 2023  He won one Challenger Tour event in Santiago last year on clay. We tip Norrie to get the win in this match.