Federer rolls into another U.S. Open final; Hanna stops Nadal/Murray

Tennis Betting Lines

09/06/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer continued his dominance at the U.S. Open Saturday, as he outlasted Novak Djokovic and kept alive his chances for a fifth straight title hours before Tropical Storm Hanna hit the area and suspended the other semifinal, between top-ranked Rafael Nadal and sixth-seeded Andy Murray.

The match between Nadal and Murray was moved to Louis Armstrong court and started during the Federer/Djokovic match, but still did not finish before the rain started. Murray, who is 0-5 lifetime against the top-seeded Nadal, held a surprising 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-3 edge when play was suspended.

The match will be resumed at 4:00 p.m. (et) on Sunday. The men's final will be pushed back a day, to Monday at 5:00 p.m. (et).

The Spaniard Nadal, who topped the Scotsman Murray in Hamburg, Wimbledon and Toronto earlier in the season, is 3-0 versus the 21-year-old Murray on hardcourts over the last two years. Murray is appearing in his first-ever major semifinal, while Nadal is performing in his first career U.S. Open semi at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The five-time major titlist Nadal is a brilliant 75-8 this season, including a tour-high eight titles, while Murray is 40-13 with three championships.

The 22-year-old Nadal is the reigning Wimbledon, four-time French Open and Olympic champion. He's trying to become only the fourth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win three straight Grand Slam events, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer, who has done it twice.

Before Hanna and its rain stopped play, the second-seeded and reigning four- time champion Federer downed the third-seeded Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in a semifinal that was moved up an hour to 11 a.m. (et) to beat the inclement weather.

The win, in a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final, was Federer's 33rd straight at Flushing Meadows, and gave him a chance to pick up his 13th Grand Slam title on Sunday. The 27-year-old Swiss didn't seem to mind the earlier start, as he ripped through the first set in a little more than 20 minutes.

"I think the way I played the first set was the key moment, you know, get the first set. I had a feeling he was looking a little weary, a little bit tired," said Federer, who had 20 aces to six by Djokovic. "I think I broke his will as well when I got the third set. I think he let his head hang a little bit."

The 21-year-old Serbian Djokovic made a match of it when he took the second set, and had his chances in the third set. Federer, though, rallied back to win the third set. Djokovic hung tight, but after knotting the fourth set at 2-2, he watched as Federer rolled off four unanswered points to clinch the match, and move to 7-2 lifetime against the Australian Open champion Djokovic.

"He was playing good," said Djokovic of his opponent. "I think he deserved to win, absolutely. I was just a little disappointed from my side that I wasn't able, physically I wasn't able enough to give him a challenge.

"I think I played well that second set, and, you know, was on serve in that third one. Then I was just unlucky to lose that third set and then more or less routine in the fourth for him."

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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MySportsbook.com week 1 NFL lines


Now that the 2008 NFL schedule is finally out, it is only matter-of-course for lines on “Week 1” to follow.  Of course MySportsbook.com is the first to churn out odds for the NFL’s inaugural week for the upcoming season.   Expect a lot of fireworks the first Thursday night of the season as the defending champion Indianapolis Colts face off against the surprise of the 2008 season, the New Orleans Saints.  These teams were ranked #1 and #3 in the NFL respectively a season ago so a high scoring affair could be in order.  As of now, the Colts will be giving 6 points to the Saints; keep in mind the Saints were one of the better road teams last season going 6-3 SU and 7-2 ATS.  The first Monday night of the season will again provide a “double feature”. Coming off a disappointing season, the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to playoffs and improve their public image as they take on the AFC North favorite Baltimore Ravens.  The second game features a couple of teams that haven’t had too much success recently but each could make some noise if the NFC is as weak as it was last year as the San Francisco 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals. The most interesting game of the opening week will feature the NFC champion Bears as they hit the road to take on the NFL’s top team during last year’s regular season, the San Diego Chargers.

MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:

Saints +6 @ Colts -6

Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)

Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)

Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5

Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1

Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3

Patriots -5 @ Jets +5

Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5

Steelers -4 @ Browns +4

Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6

Bears +6 @ Chargers -6

Lions +3 @ Raiders -3

Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5

Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4

Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3

Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3

 Super Bowl line (2008)

NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5

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