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Sebastian Ofner and local favorite Gonzalo Lama will square off Monday night in the first round at the Santiago challenger, played on clay.
The 140th ranked Ofner had a poor start of the season on hard courts, and was riding a 5 match losing streak before entering the ATP event in Sao Paolo last week. In his first clay court tournament of the year, Ofner suddenly managed to regain his form and had a great showing, passing the qualies and reaching the second round. He played some good tennis against good players, beating Cecchinato 6-3 6-3 and losing a tight two setter in the second round against Cuevas (4-6 6-7).
Gonzalo Lama played just two matches this year, losing both of them against poor opposition. He was defeated by Quiroz in the Davis Cup at the start of February, and also lost to the 797th ranked Villanueva last week in the qualifications at the Punta Del Este challenger. Lama is currently ranked outside of the Top 400 and is on the main draw here in Santiago due to a wildcard.
Bet on Ofner v Lama and get your 100% (100 Eur) welcome bonus at Ohmbet now!The two players never met before on tour. Ofner is an all rounder with a good clay court game, while Lama is a natural clay courter.
Ofner looked pretty good last week in Sao Paolo, going toe to toe with a couple of Top 100 players. His level of play against Cecchinato and Cuevas was actually really solid. He had a very good start to the clay court season and will surely try to build on that this week in Santiago, as he is chasing a spot in the top 100 players in the world.
The meeting against Lama in the first round is surely one which Ofner will feel he should win.
Lama is not a good player at the moment, he has been struggling with injuries for some time and didn`t play much tennis this year. When he did play, he was dreadful, and losing to a player barely ranked in the Top 800 last week says it all.
Lama will need some time to fix his game and try to return in the Top 200, where he was a couple of years ago, but his potential resurgence might have to wait. Ofner is a superior player in good form and should win this one rather easily.
While it`s true that Lama is at home and a player like him could raise his game a bit in such circumstances, Ofner himself is well adjusted to the South American conditions having played well last week in Brazil – so that limits the risk of home court advantage having an impact.
My tip is Ofner to win. Odds of 1.40 on this bet might feel low to some, but I think they are higher than they should be, and are going down as we speak. I reckon Ofner shouldn`t pe priced above 1.30 here. Prediction: Sebastian Ofner – Gonzalo Lama 6-4 6-2.
Pick: Ofner
Odds: 1.40 @ Unibet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 3.20
Event date: 5 March
