tennis | Tuesday, October 25, 2022 9:19 AM (Revised at: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 9:20 AM)

Tuesday Tennis Bonus Best Bet: ATP Challenger Brest, Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar

Jon Reid

Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar Best Bet: Tuesday, October 25th

After missing the women’s selection last Friday, we’re going to double up with a pair of men’s selections from a treasure trove of matches that are displaying some value in the betting markets for Tuesday’s action.

For our second selection of the day, we head to the Brest Challenger in the northwestern part of France to preview the match between Luca van Assche and Zdenek Kolar.

In this article:

Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar Preview
Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar Best Bet

Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar Preview

October 25th, 10:00 UK Time

In what could be the match featuring the greatest form discrepancy across both the ATP and Challenger tours for Tuesday, the young van Assche will take on the struggling Kolar in one of the first matches of the day in Brest.

We may have been burned on a match that had a heavily form-based handicap on Monday, but Brandon Nakashima did end up coming through, just after an incredibly poor first set. Besides, one bad experience should not impact future bet assessments.

Not only did van Assche reach the final of a Challenger event as a qualifier a few weeks ago (though that was on clay), he was relatively impressive in his appearance in Antwerp at the main tour level, having qualified on quick indoor courts, before pushing established tour-level pro Yoshihito Nishioka to a third set tiebreak as an underdog priced at over 4.50.

Now he takes on Kolar, who 4-11 since Wimbledon on tour (he also dropped a pair of Bundesliga club matches since then), with two of those wins having come a week ago, against a lesser-known David Poljak 7-5 in the third and an also out-of-form Gianluca Mager, before being dismantled by Mattia Bellucci.

Which brings me to my next point. Van Assche may not have the success on hard courts that Bellucci has had, but he plays a very similar defensive, grinding baseline style that should see him generate his fair share of break point opportunities. He’s also adopted a slightly more aggressive style in recent weeks on hard courts, as his typically topspin-heavy clay-court game has proven less successful in these conditions in the past.

Luca van Assche vs Zdenek Kolar Best Bet

Considering his form of late, and the adjustments he’s made in recent weeks to adapt to hard courts, while still maintaining his strong defensive skills and abilities on return, I’m happy to back him here against a fellow clay courter who simply hasn’t been good for months.

I have this handicap at a minimum of 3.5 games, and much closer to -4 (in other words, a -3.5 at more expensive 1.83 odds, rather than 1.90). To me, getting -3 games here represents value and is worth backing.