tennis | Wednesday, February 8, 2023 10:45 AM

Wednesday Tennis Best Bet: ATP Cordoba, Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin

Jon Reid

Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin Best Bet: Wednesday, February 8th

Things started oh so well, once again, with Marc Andrea Huesler going up 6-3, then having a break point at 1-1 in the second set and getting to deuce again on return at 2-2. As per usual, however, no good start goes unpunished, and the Swiss ended up losing the second set 3-6. Thankfully, he found another 6-3 in the third to cash the larger of our two selections!

For Wednesday, we’ll look at the match between Hugo Dellien and Pedro Cachin on the clay courts in Cordoba.

In this article:

Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin Preview
Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin Best Bet

Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin Preview

February 8th, 21:30 (UK Time)

This has to be one of the matches of the opening round of action from South America this week.

Now a tour regular, Cachin is returning from a trip to Europe for the Davis Cup with Argentina – the reason this is being played Wednesday – to get back to his preferred clay surface. The Bolivian, on the other hand, is still getting back up to speed after an injury kept him out for months prior to the Australian Open.

Dellien has long been one of the best clay courters you’ll find playing consistently down at the Challenger Tour level. His point construction is one of his biggest assets, and paired with a big, heavy forehand, that open space he creates allows him to finish points by hammering those forehands right through it.

Cachin was once a typical clay court grinder, sticking almost exclusively to the red dirt. After adding a more aggressive approach on his forehand wing last season and improving his serve to be one that can succeed across surfaces, the Argentinian managed to win four Challenger titles on the surface, and reach an additional three finals. He also won many of them in Europe – where the playing fields are known to be much stronger.

The form, forehand, serve and just general quality of Cachin mean he shouldn’t be such a big underdog.

Hugo Dellien vs Pedro Cachin Best Bet

That begs the question, why is he such an underdog then? My best guess? Very similar metrics to Dellien (both their clay-court elo ratings and hold plus break percentages are very close), and the market betting Dellien thanks to the travel spot here for Cachin.

The problem with that approach is that Cachin was coming to the Americas from Europe, meaning the jet lag isn’t nearly as tough to deal with (he gained four hours on that voyage back to Argentina, as opposed to losing four). With an extra day to rest and prepare, I think the market has gone too far.

Perhaps not having gotten back to the dirt is another reason, but someone so accomplished over the past few years on the surface really shouldn’t be too thrown off by his first match on the dirt in a few months.

Finally, form-wise, he’s had a tough run, but against strong players on a tougher surface for his game. Looking at Dellien, he had a pair of tougher tests in qualifying and I’m not sold that he should be a strong favourite at the moment against this calibre of opponent.