Houston Open: Garin vs Dellien Tennis Prediction, Odds & Pick

TennisSection previews the 2023 Houston Open first-round match featuring Cristian Garin vs Hugo Dellien on Monday, April 3, 2023.

Garin vs Dellien Match Preview

Cristian Garin and Hugo Dellien are natural clay-court experts. But the 2023 Houston Open draw has pitted both in an early first-rounder. Who will prevail?

Cristian Garin is a former champion at the Houston Open, winning this tournament back in his heydays in 2019. He did reach the semis last year losing to John Isner in three, but the Chilean had been out of touch in the past 18 months. Garin, however, has got his ranking moving in the right direction in recent weeks, highlighted by deep runs in both Indian Wells and Miami. He is back in top 100 again and will be expected to build on that in his most preferred surface.

Hugo Dellien, meanwhile, has played 20 matches this year, with just one of those coming outside the red clay. Dellien has recorded strong results on the dirt this year, posting a 15-4 record coming to the 2023 Houston Open. He has made the semifinals or better in three clay-court tournaments this season and recently captured the Santiago Challenger in mid-March.

Garin vs Dellien Prediction and Pick

Cristian Garin leads Hugo Dellien 2-1 in their head-to-head. All three meetings were contested on the Challenger Tour and none of those came later than 2018. So we won’t read too much into that. Garin is the odds-on favorite here. He has played well at the Houston Open on his previous two trips, winning the tournament in 2019 and losing an epic to John Isner in the semifinal last year. The bounce is slightly unnatural at this tournament which could throw Dellien off a bit. We are backing the Chilean to come out on top.