Max Dahlin will get one of the biggest tests of his young career on Monday when he faces Tomas Etcheverry at Stockholm Open. The Swedish player goes in as the underdog against a man ranked number 29 in the world, but he arrives with enough recent form to make the match more competitive than the ranking gap suggests.
That is why Dahlin’s name is drawing attention now. He spent almost 1.5 years dealing with a back injury, then won an ITF tournament in early October and added a semifinal run in a Challenger, signs that he has started to rebuild momentum after a long layoff. He also pushed Sebastian Baez in ATP tournament play in Båstad, another reminder that he can hang for stretches against stronger opposition.
Etcheverry, though, comes in with a far more established record. Before Monday, he beat Andrey Rublev and Alex de Minaur in Paris before losing to Rinky Hijikata in the round of 16, results that underline the level Dahlin is walking into. That is why the suggested bet of Dahlin +3.5 games at odds of 2.04 with Bethard has attracted interest: it does not ask him to win, only to stay close enough to keep the margin tight.
There is also a simple reason this match matters in Sweden. Stockholm Open is the only ATP tournament being played this week, and Dahlin is one of the country’s most interesting players. He won the junior US Open doubles title in 2023 with Oliver Ojakaar, but he has spent much of the intervening period studying and playing college tennis in the USA, so appearances like this have been rare.
That combination gives Monday’s match its edge. Etcheverry should still be the clear favorite, yet Dahlin has already shown he can absorb pressure and stretch better players for enough games to keep the crowd involved. If he carries the same level he found in early October, the gap on paper may be wider than the one on the court.
