ATP Sofia Open betting preview and best bet

Play starts 10am Wednesday

Mirza Basic's Sofia Open title defence may be short-lived and it's not surprising to see that Martin Klizan has already been supported to defeat the Bosnian.

Basic defeated Marius Copil to lift his first ATP main-tour trophy in Bulgaria last year, but this year's gathering is a lot stronger than the one that convened in the capital city 12 months ago.

Klizan is a talented performer – he's an under­achiever given his innate ability – and Basic's serve may not be enough to counter the Slovak's slick all-round game.

Klizan, Hamburg champion in 2016, has won six of the seven sets he has contested against Basic, whom he leads 3-0 in their personal series, and triumphed 7-5 6-2 in their only previous hard-court clash.

The favourite is 1-2 to win but it may be worth backing Klizan at 8-13 to win at least two more games than his opponent.

Denis Kudla could trouble Pierre-Hugues Herbert in Mont­pellier (live on Amazon Prime from 10am) but Frenchmen have an excellent record in homeland events.

Recommendation
M Klizan -1.5 games
1pt 8-13 Coral, Ladbrokes

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