The ATP Tour heads to Rio de Janeiro this week for a 500-level event in the second-largest city in Brazil. The Golden Triangle continues at ATP Rio, featuring some of the best players in the world, including No. 2 seed Cameron Norrie. The top-ranked Brit squares off against veteran Bolivian Hugo Dellien. We at LWOT have the preview and predictions for all matches in Rio. But who will advance?
ATP Rio Day 1 Predictions
Alejandro Tabilo vs Thiago Seyboth Wild
Head-to-Head: Tabilo 2-1 Seyboth Wild
Alejandro Tabilo is 25-4 since November 2023. He has won three titles over that time frame (two Challenger), including his first career ATP Title in Auckland. The 26-year-old Chilean is playing with supreme confidence and is a dark horse to make a deep run at ATP Rio. On the other side of the night, Thiago Seyboth Wild will be motivated to play well in front of his home crowd, but I struggle to see him breaking through Tabilo on the clay.
Prediction: Tabilo in 3
Sebastian Ofner vs Jaume Munar
Head-to-Head: Ofner 0-2 Munar
No. 6 seed Sebastian Ofner looks to get his first win over Jaume Munar in the first round of ATP Rio. The 27-year-old Austrian reached the Hong Kong semifinals in the first week of the year but holds just a 2-4 since then. Munar has always favored clay as his best surface and had a nice run to the Cordoba quarters earlier this month. That said, Ofner’s serve and powerful forehand should be able to blast through the Spaniard.
Prediction: Ofner in 2
Albert Ramos-Vinolas vs Juan Pablo Varillas
Head-to-Head: Ramos-Vinolas 5-1 Varillas
Veteran Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas has nearly dropped outside the top 100 and has struggled with his consistency over the past few years. That said, he is always a threat on the clay and holds a dominant 5-1 head-to-head record over Juan Pablo Varillas. These two played three competitive matches last year, and I expect another tight battle in Rio. I’ll give the slight advantage to Varillas to notch his first victory of the year.
Prediction: Varillas in 3
Cameron Norrie vs Hugo Dellien
Head-to-Head: Norrie 1-0 Dellien
Cameron Norrie was bounced in his first match of ATP Buenos Aires last week. I expect him to come out ready to go in order to not waste his trip down to South America. Norrie has always been a great clay court player and should be able to push Hugo Dellien around the court. Dellien has only won three ATP matches over the last 52 weeks and does not have the weapons to control Norrie.
Prediction: Norrie in 2
Main Photo Credit: Geoff Burke – USA TODAY Sports
