Can't eat, can't see: Dellien's bizarre path to a Challenger Tour hat-trick!

The pain was sudden. There was a pounding in his head. Hugo Dellien was awake in the middle of the night. To make matters more frustrating, the Bolivian was competing that week in qualifying for Roland Garros, the clay-court major where in 2022 he beat two-time finalist Dominic Thiem in the opening round.

But this year’s trip to the Parisian clay for Dellien was the beginning of a difficult period for the 31-year-old, who has since turned around his misfortune for three ATP Challenger Tour titles in the past month. Dellien fell in the first round of Roland Garros qualifying and quickly returned home to South America to address the immense pain in his mouth that pain pills could not subside.

“It was a tough time because I had a lot of things with my wisdom teeth. I took out three wisdom teeth,” Dellien told ATPTour.com. “So much pain in my head. I couldn’t eat anything, just ice cream. If you take out just one wisdom tooth, you can eat. But not with three.

“I chose to get the three out because it’s one time and then no more. It was a hard moment.”

Two days after competing in France, Dellien underwent wisdom tooth extraction. And in his first tournament back, the Santa Fe Challenger, adversity hit once again in a freak accident.

In his second-round match, Dellien was struck in the eye with the ball, which deflected off his racquet frame while he was at net.

“I didn’t see anything in my right eye. No inflammation or anything, but I could not continue because I couldn’t see good and I had a lot of pain in my head and in my eyes too,” Dellien recalled. “Bad luck this time.”

In a raw moment, Dellien visibly grew frustrated as he tried to continue the match. His hard work was being crushed by events out of his control. He retired shortly after suffering the eye injury and proceeded to see a doctor in Buenos Aires, where he has lived since moving from Bolivia at age 17.

“The doctor said to me, ‘You have to close your eyes 20 hours [a day], because the eye will get better alone. You don’t need a pill or medical treatment, it will get better naturally. But you have to close them as much time as you can. Because when you open them, it’s not recovering’.

“He said it, but of course I cannot do it. I tried to do it the most time that I could, but not 20 hours!” Dellien said.

After two weeks away from tournament action, it did not take long for Dellien to find his best form. He has won 17 of his past 19 Challenger-level matches, including three titles: Iasi, Romania; Liberec, Czech Republic; and in Bonn, Germany this past Sunday. Dellien is close to returning to the Top 100, which he has not been a part of since March 2023.

^{Hugo Dellien wins the Challenger 75 event in Bonn, Germany. Credit: Bonn Open}

Currently World No. 107 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Dellien, who has been as high as No. 64, is reaping rewards for his dedication and perseverance.

“I’m very happy because for the last six, eight months I wasn’t playing good. I didn’t have good results. I worked a lot and the results weren’t coming,” Dellien said. “But I think the support of my family, my team, all the people that follow me, gave me the power to change the moment. I think now I’m playing a little bit better. I won tough matches, got some confidence to play better. I won Iasi and it changed.”

Dellien lifted the Iasi Challenger title one week removed from his brother Murkel Dellien claiming his maiden trophy at that level in Romania. “This is so special for us,” said Hugo, whose nickname is, ‘La Pantera’, translated as ‘The Panther’.

A 12-time Challenger champion, Dellien credits his family and team for their support in helping him regain confidence. His wife Camila gave birth to twin girls in January, making them a family of five. Their first child, Mila, was born in 2020.

“My wife knows the life of tennis because she was a professional tennis player too. She knows how the work is,” Dellien said. “She said to me, ‘You can do it, just take it easy and work hard.’ The support of my family is the most important thing in my life. If I don’t have this support, I cannot do anything.”