Italian Open 2021: Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien preview, head-to-head & prediction
Match details
Fixture: (6) Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien
Date: 12 May 2021
Tournament: Internazionali BNL d'italia 2021
Round: Second round (Round of 32)
Venue: Rome, Italy
Category: ATP Masters 1000
Surface: Red clay
Prize money: €2,082,960
Match timing: Approx. 2 pm local time, 5.30 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien preview
Newly-crowned Madrid Open champion Alexander Zverev will face Bolivian qualifier Hugo Dellien in the second round of the 2021 Italian Open on Wednesday.
A little over 48 hours after capturing his fourth ATP Masters 1000 title, Zverev will attempt to join an exclusive club - that features Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal - by completing the Madrid-Rome double-header.
The World No. 6 was a serving machine at Caja Magica, beating three top 10 players en route to his second title of the season. A debilitating elbow injury had derailed Zverev's progress at the start of the European clay swing, but the German seems well and truly past that now.
Hugo Dellien, on the other hand, had a fine run in qualifying, where he beat Jaume Munar and Aljaz Bedene in straight sets.
In his decade-long career, Dellien has lived on the margins of the tennis map, painstakingly building up his ranking on the Challenger Tour. He will relish the opportunity to spring an upset in his second-round match against Zverev on Wednesday.
Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien head-to-head
This second-round encounter will be the second career meeting between Alexander Zverev and Hugo Dellien, with the German currently leading 1-0 in the head-to-head.
Zverev's victory came in the 2019 season on the red clay of Geneva, where he beat Dellien in a three-set quarterfinal en route to the title.
Alexander Zverev vs Hugo Dellien prediction
Alexander Zverev delivered a real statement of intent in Madrid, extinguishing any fleeting doubts regarding his injury issues and motivation. Zverev will now attempt to win back-to-back titles in Madrid and Rome - a feat achieved only by Djokovic and Nadal in recent years.
Hugo Dellien - an unheralded Bolivian claycourter - hovers outside the top 100, but is still comfortably his country's finest player.
Dellien arrived at the Italian Open without a single ATP main draw win in over a year. But he has managed to turn things around in style, engineering a fine comeback victory over Adrian Mannarino on Monday to advance.
Dellien pushed Zverev in their only previous meeting at Geneva, but the German's personal struggles in the 2019 season were well-documented. Add the fact that Dellien has struggled to string together wins at any level in recent months, and his task starts sounding like a seriously difficult one.
Assuming Zverev doesn't suffer from any sort of complacency on Wednesday, he might not need to get out of first gear to get his desired result.
Prediction: Alexander Zverev to win in straight sets.