Federer, Djokovic move on to third round at Open

Tennis Betting Lines

08/30/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning four-time champion Roger Federer extended his U.S. Open winning streak to 29 straight matches with a second-round victory Friday, while Novak Djokovic cruised in his match at the fourth and final major of the year.

The second-seeded Federer handled Brazilian qualifier Thiago Alves 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 at Ashe Stadium. The 12-time major champion from Switzerland hasn't lost here since the fourth round back in 2003.

Federer fired 19 aces at a game Alves, who was able to keep things relatively close while the Swiss scattered an uncharacteristic 46 unforced errors in a 2- hour, 14-minute affair.

The Wimbledon and French Open runner-up Federer beat reigning Australian Open titlist Djokovic in last year's U.S. Open finale.

Federer had been ranked No. 1 in the world since February 2004 before being supplanted at the top by reigning Wimbledon, four-time French Open and Olympic titlist Rafael Nadal on August 18.

Djokovic, looking to redeem last year's runner-up finish in Flushing, didn't need much time to send Robert Kendrick packing, as the No. 3 seed blitzed the American 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, 6-4.

Former Open champ Marat Safin was shown the door by 15th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo. The Russian took the first set and battled to a tiebreak in the second, but ultimately ran out of gas in a 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-0 defeat.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko doused Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on Day 5 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The steady Davydenko, seeking a third straight trip into the U.S. Open semifinals, will meet fellow Russian Dmitry Tursunov in the round of 32. A 26th-seeded Tursunov came from behind to beat capable Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Former Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez also moved on, as the Chilean slugger handled American Bobby Reynolds 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-4. The 11th- seeded "Gonzo" was an Olympic silver medalist in Beijing earlier this month.

Fiery Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France ousted Carlos Moya of Spain, as the No. 19 seed and runner-up in this year's Australian Open, moved on with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win.

In a four-hour, 10-minute marathon of a match, Spain's No. 13 seed Fernando Verdasco outlasted Portugal's Rui Machado 6-7 (5-7),7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-0.

Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic and Italy's Andreas Seppi needed four sets to dispose of their second-round opponents. The 28th-seeded Stepanek topped Australian Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, while Seppi, sporting the 31st ranking, ended Guillermo Garcia-Lopez's tournament by winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Eighteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro cruised past American Sam Warburg 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, while 23rd-seeded Russian Igor Andreev erased Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3 and American Robby Ginepri lost to 30th-seeded 6- foot-5 Croatian teenager Marin Cilic 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5. Ginepri was a semifinalist here three years ago.

A pair of unseeded gentlemen overcame two-set deficits on Friday, as Luxembourg's Gilles Muller came all the way back to stun former top-five star Tommy Haas of Germany 2-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3 and Finn Jarkko Nieminen fought his way past Czech Ivo Minar 6-7 (2-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. The talented but oft-injured Haas reached the quarterfinals here the last two years and is still seeking that elusive first-ever trip into a Grand Slam final.

Wwwstarluck Tennis Betting News

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.