ATP Western & Southern Open Betting: Dodig and Gulbis set for tough battle in Cincy heat

Can Gulbis get his first win over Dodig today?

Sean Calvert is finding the going tough on the ATP Tour right now, but he's looking to bounce back at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday...

When your luck is out it tends to stay out for a while and even seemingly certain winning positions somehow end up as losers.

Jack Sock's performance against Tommy Robredo was another case in point yesterday when the American lost five straight points from 5-2 up in the first set tie break against Tommy Robredo.

Even if he'd won that breaker I doubt he'd have won the match as he went on to have treatment on an arm injury and then became ill and sank to his haunches on several occasions before playing out the match with one shot rallies and no movement.

Then, even more gallingly, John Isner and Kevin Anderson stubbornly refused to have a tie break in their match, which was a shock to say the least, but clutching at straws at least it was good news for my outright on Isner this week.

Ernests Gulbis let me down last week when limply losing to Julien Benneteau in Toronto and he could have a tough opener here against another opponent he's never beaten in Ivan Dodig.

The flaky Latvian will be looking for better this week and he has another decent draw on paper, but he needs to win this first and that may not be easy, as Dodig looked fit and in good touch last week.

Indeed, he should have beaten David Ferrer in Toronto but didn't take his chances and I fancy this match to go long.

Dodig created 14 break point chances against Ferrer, but took only two, and that was key to that loss, but he served well and even a good returner like Ferrer found it hard to break the Croatian.

Gulbis is hardly a world class returner and this could be another one for a set one tie break wager, but the way they've been going lately I'll pass and opt for the over 22.5 total games instead at 1.824/5 instead.

Looking at today's underdogs and trying to find some value is tough, with Robby Ginepri perhaps the best option for odds-against backers if he has one of his throwback days against a tired-looking Dominic Thiem.

Feli Lopez has chances against Marin Cilic and James Ward is interesting against the out of form Guillermo Garcia Lopez.

The Brit qualified here, but I'm not his biggest fan and much depends on which GGL arrives on court today. The good one should win, but it doesn't appeal to me at all as a betting heat.

Favourite backers and multiples punters will look to Benneteau and Roberto Bautista-Agut, who look to be the most certain of the short prices on a tough-looking day for betting.

Recommended Bet
Back over 22.5 total games in Dodig/Gulbis at 1.824/5