Djokovic, Nadal roll into quarters; Murray exits Rome
Tennis Betting Lines
04/29/2010 -
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four-time winner Rafael Nadal and 2008
champion Novak Djokovic highlighted Thursday's third-round winners at the
$2.97 million Italian Masters, the fourth of nine Masters events on the ATP
World Tour this year. Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray was not as
fortunate as Djokovic and Nadal on Day 5.
The third-seeded Nadal won his seventh straight match with a 6-3, 6-2
handling of Romanian Victor Hanescu on the red clay at Foro Italico. Nadal
needed 1 hour, 22 minutes to dismiss Hanescu, who was unable to break his
powerful Spanish counterpart in the predictable setback.
Nadal, who's now 23-4 for the year, is fresh off his title at the Monte Carlo
Masters, where the four-time French Open champ drubbed fellow Spaniard
Fernando Verdasco in the final two weeks ago.
The former No. 1 Nadal beat Djokovic in last year's Rome title tilt for his
fourth championship here.
Nadal's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be dangerous Swiss Stanislas
Wawrinka, who upended fifth-seeded 2009 French Open runner-up Robin Soderling
6-3, 6-2. Soderling, who was last week's Barcelona runner-up to Verdasco,
spoiled Nadal's perfect record at the French Open last year by shocking the
powerful Spaniard in the fourth round at Roland Garros.
A second-seeded Djokovic continued his fine play at this Italian French Open
tune-up with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over rising Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci on
Thursday. Djokovic is seeking his third straight trip into the Italian Masters
finale.
Up next for the talented Serb will be a red-hot Verdasco.
Another Day-5 upset came when 13th-seeded Spanish clay-court specialist David
Ferrer took out a fourth-seeded Murray 6-3, 6-4. Murray does not play his best
tennis on red clay.
Ferrer leads the ATP with 21 clay-court wins so far this season.
A sixth-seeded Verdasco is trying to reach his third straight final on the
tour, as the lefthanded slugger handled fellow Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
6-4, 7-6 (7-2). The surging Verdasco is fresh off his title in Barcelona last
week and was the runner-up to his compatriot Nadal in Monaco two weeks ago.
Verdasco has won seven straight and 11-of-12 matches.
Seventh-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 beating
of Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo.
Also advancing were Spaniard Feliciano Lopez and rising Latvian Ernests
Gulbis. Lopez moved on via walkover when 11th-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic
decided against playing due to a left side strain, while Gulbis snuck past
wild card and Italian crowd favorite Filippo Volandri 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4).
The veteran Ljubicic stunned Andy Roddick in a Masters finale at Indian
Wells last month. Gulbis stunned world No. 1 superstar Roger Federer in the
second round here.
Friday's other quarters will pit Tsonga against the gritty Ferrer and Gulbis
versus Lopez.
<< Eagles give QB Kolb one-year extension
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to terms
with quarterback Kevin Kolb on a one-year contract extension on Thursday.
Financial terms were not announced.
"We're happy to have Kevin under contract f
<< Stanley Cup Playoff Preview - Pittsburgh vs. Montreal
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the last two springs were any indication, the Pittsburgh
Penguins playoff run is just getting started.
Pittsburgh entered this postseason as the defending Stanley Cup champions and
winner of the last two Eastern Confere
<< Tyreke Evans selected as NBA's top rookie
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sacramento Kings point guard Tyreke Evans
was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year on Thursday.
Selected with the fourth overall pick out of Memphis as a freshman, the 20-
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Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers chairman Alastair Johnston has
urged manager Walter Smith to pledge his future to the recently-crowned
Scottish Premier League champions.
Smith, who has been working at the cash-strapped
<< Willis, Tigers' bullpen blank Twins
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Jackson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a
run scored, and Dontrelle Willis pitched six-plus innings of four-hit ball, as
the Detroit Tigers earned a 3-0 win over the Minnesota Twins in the finale of
a three
Freese powers Cards to sweep of Braves >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Freese supplied the offense with a
three-run homer and a career-high six RBI, as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated
the spiraling Braves, 10-4, to complete a four-game sweep at Busch Stadium.
Freese
Portsmouth hopes to be at full strength for Cup >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth is keeping its fingers
crossed that four key players will recover from injury in time for next
month's FA Cup Final.
Pompey face Chelsea at Wembley on May 15 with their already
Safina, Henin move into quarters; Wozniacki falls in Stuttgart >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-ranked stars Dinara
Safina and Justine Henin posted second-round wins, while top-seeded Dane
Caroline Wozniacki failed to reach the quarterfinals at the $700,000 Porsche
Tennis
Schalke signs Jendrisek from Kaiserslautern >>
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke signed Slovakia striker Erik
Jendrisek from Kaiserslautern to a three-year deal Thursday.
Jendrisek will join the Royal Blues this summer on a free transfer. He scored
33 goals in 88 matches
Birmingham's Carr suspended one game >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Football Association have handed
Birmingham defender Stephen Carr a one-match suspension for his behavior after
Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
The former Tottenham and Newcastle United de
Pacific-10 Conference odds
Teams that should be in: Stanford
 Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State
 It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do:
Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.
Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.
Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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