Nadal eases, Djokovic fights into third round in Cincinnati
Tennis Betting Lines
07/30/2008 -
Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 2 Rafael Nadal and world No. 3 Novak
Djokovic won second round matches Wednesday at the $2.615 million Western &
Southern Financial Group Masters tennis event.
The Spaniard Nadal dropped just one game to Frenchman Florent Serra, taking
just 46 minutes to record a 6-0, 6-1 victory. It was the 30th consecutive
victory for the second-seeded Nadal, who is coming off a title this past
weekend in Toronto.
Meanwhile, the Serbian third seed Djokovic also won in straight sets -- but
needed a tiebreak in each to do so. He beat Italian Simone Bolelli in
identical sets, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2).
In his third-round match, Nadal will face German Tommy Haas, who was leading
Gael Monfils 5-1 when the Frenchman retired due to a stomach illness. Djokovic
will take on Italian Andreas Seppi, who beat the Czech Republic's Tomas
Berdych 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.
The day's action was scheduled to conclude with a match between fourth-seeded
Russian Nikolay Davydenko and Spaniard Carlos Moya. But rain suspended play
for the night with Moya ahead 7-6 (10-8), 1-0.
Last year's Cincinnati runner-up James Blake was a routine winner, while
Tennis Masters Cup finalist David Ferrer suffered a second-round setback.
The seventh-seeded Blake dropped France's Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3 on the
hardcourts at Lindner Family Tennis Center. Simon shocked world No. 1 Roger
Federer in the second round at last week's Masters Series event in Toronto.
Blake, who succumbed to Federer in last year's Cincinnati finale, could have
his hands full with rising 19-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the third
round Thursday. The French Open quarterfinalist Gulbis drove out Wimbledon
quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement of France, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5). The
lucky-loser Clement entered the draw as a wild card this week when
ninth-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka pulled out with a right knee injury.
The fifth-seeded Ferrer was upended by Ecuadorian veteran Nicolas Lapentti 7-6
(7-2), 3-6, 6-3, while eighth-seeded Brit Andy Murray avoided an upset by
handling American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
Among other seeded players to advance was No. 10 Fernando Verdasco. The
Spaniard needed a pair of tiebreaks to beat qualifying Australian Chris
Guccione 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4). Additionally, 11th-seeded Frenchman Richard
Gasquet fell out of the tournament after losing to Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7-6
(10-8), 6-0.
Tursunov's countryman Igor Andreev advanced with a come-from-behind win over
American wild card John Isner. Andreev fought off two match points to win 3-6,
7-6 (10-8), 7-5.
The 2008 titlist here will pocket $420,000.
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sweep the three-game series with the Athletics.
Guillen finished with one hit and t
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<< FAU extends Schnellenberger through 2010
Boca Raton, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Atlantic extended the contract of
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Report: Broncos to release S Lynch >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Broncos are expected to release
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Wednesday.
The Rocky Mountain News reported that the Broncos have given Lynch, who
Cards take Carpenter off DL >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter
was reinstated from the disabled list on Wednesday.
The Former Cy Young Award winner and postseason hero returned to the mound
for the first time in more tha
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London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA and Euroleague Basketball
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2008 Euroleague champion CSKA Moscow, FC Bar
Young's late RBI pushes Rangers past M's >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michael Young's sacrifice fly drove in the
go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Texas Rangers clipped
the Seattle Mariners, 4-3, in the third installment of a four-game set.
Josh Hamil
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Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Mather hit a two-run home run and Chris
Carpenter allowed a run over four innings in his first start in nearly 16
months as the St. Louis Cardinals topped the free-falling Atlanta Braves, 7-2,
in the
Big East Conference odds
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
 Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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