Clijsters, Henin among third-round winners at Wimbledon
Tennis Betting Lines
06/25/2010 -
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were
each third-round winners on Friday at Wimbledon and will meet next Monday in
the round of 16 at the All England Club.
The eighth-seeded Clijsters rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Russia's Maria
Kirilenko, while the 17th-seeded Henin thumped another Russian, 12th-seeded
Nadia Petrova, 6-1, 6-4.
Clijsters has dropped just 14 games in her first three matches of this
fortnight. She is playing at Wimbledon for the first time since a semifinal
appearance in 2006, as her comeback from a two-year layoff to start a family
began last summer and resulted in a surprising U.S. Open title.
Henin, meanwhile, is in her comeback season after a nearly two-year hiatus.
She retired in the spring of 2008 while sitting as the top-ranked player in
women's tennis and is now trying to capture the only Grand Slam title that has
eluded her.
In seven previous Wimbledon appearances, Henin has been a runner-up twice. She
lost to Venus Williams in the 2001 final and fell to Amelie Mauresmo in the
2006 title match.
Clijsters and Henin have split 24 career meetings in a series that dates back
to 1998. The two played twice earlier this year. Clijsters won a third-set
tiebreaker in the final at the Australian Open tuneup in Brisbane and again
prevailed in another third-set tiebreak in the semifinals at Miami.
Henin won the lone previous meeting at Wimbledon in the 2006 semifinals.
Other winners Friday included fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and
11th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. Jankovic blitzed Alona Bondarenko of
the Ukraine, 6-0, 6-3, while Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up, eased past
Hungary's Greta Arn, 6-3, 6-4.
Williams, the five-time champion and this year's second seed, will play later
Friday against Russia's Alisa Kleybanova.
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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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