ATP Rio de Janeiro 500 1/8-Finals
Diaz Acosta – Baez: 22.02.2024 Time TBA
H2H: 1-1
Diaz Acosta is living his dream. He managed to win his first ATP title last week at home in Buenos Aires. He played great tennis, and he did not even drop a single set throughout the tournament. Here, in Rio de Janeiro, he won his first round against Wawrinka, also in straight sets. He looked really good yet again on the court, but the question remains if he is physically ready for another tough match against Baez. Baez is a great young clay court player. People often compare him with Schwartzman because of his height and playing style. He also won in straight sets in the first round, where he played really well. Baez is the fifth seed here in Rio and with Alcaraz leaving the tournament with an injury. He might be one of the top favorites to win the whole tournament. We believe that even though Diaz Acosta is playing his best tennis, That his body will not keep up with Baez and that Baez will win here as he is a more rested and experienced player!
Value bet/ the best odds: Baez to win @1.50 @bet365
Monteiro – Meligeni Alves: 22.02.2024 Time TBA
H2H: 1-0
Thiago Monteiro got lucky in the first round due to Alcaraz retiring in the match because of an ankle injury. The Brazilian was mostly on the challenger tour this year when he has collected a couple of wins already on the clay courts. Monteiro is not in his best form, but he is always dangerous on the clay courts. He played half of his matches this year in three sets and his matches are usually long matches with many games played. His opponent, Meligeni Alves, is in a similar position. Most of his matches were played on the challenger tour, but not so many on the clay court. Meligeni Alves has also played many long matches this year, and we believe that this matchup will also be hard to predict. We believe that serve will not play a big factor in this match and that both guys will fight it out and play a long match with many games!
Value bet/ the best odds: over 22.5 games @1.80 @bet365
Navone – Hanfmann: 22.02.2024 Time TBA
H2H: first meeting
Mariano Navone is a young Argentinian who has stepped up his game this year. This year he is trying to break into the top 100 rankings. He is a classic clay court specialist. Here, in Rio, he has already played three matches where he only dropped one set. He looks comfortable and his ground strokes are really solid. If he can keep up this level, he might go deep this week! His opponent, Hanfmann, has not played many matches this year. He is coming back from an injury, and he’s still nowhere near his best level. He has only played five matches this year, winning three of them! All three wins came in three sets. We believe that he is still not 100 percent ready and that he will have big problems against Navone. With all being said, we do not believe that Navone should be an underdog in this matchup and Navone winning is definitely a big value bet!
Value bet/ the best odds: Navone to win @2.10 @bet365
