08/26/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and former top-ranked star Serena Williams were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The Serbian Ivanovic, who's battled a thumb injury in recent weeks, snuck past Russian Vera Dushevina 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on a beautiful sunny day at this Big Apple fortnight. A fourth-seeded Serena, meanwhile, subdued Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-4.
Ivanovic appeared to be cruising on Day 2, up a set and leading 4-2 in the second, but some sloppy play allowed her Russian counterpart to sneak into the match.
Dushevina fought back to claim the second set and was leading 3-2 in the third before Ivanovic righted the ship. The Serbian star went on to capture the third by converting on a third match point after 2 hours, 3 minutes of uneventful tennis.
Ivanovic is the reigning French Open champ and was this year's runner-up at the Australian Open. She's played in three of the last six major finals.
Up next for Ivanovic will be little-known Frenchwoman Julie Coin.
The eight-time major titlist Serena handled Bondarenko in a mere 57 minutes, capping the win with a second match point. The powerful American captured the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2002 and was the runner-up here in 2001.
Ivanovic and Serena were joined in the second round by surging Russian star Dinara Safina, who handled American teenager Kristie Ahn 6-3, 6-4 on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The sixth-seeded Safina was the French Open runner-up to Ivanovic and the runner-up at the Olympic tennis tournament two weeks ago.
Safina, the younger sister of 2000 men's U.S. Open champion Marat Safin, will face Italian Roberta Vinci in the round of 64.
Ninth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland cruised with a 6-4, 6-2 pasting of Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova, while an upset came when former Top-20 German Anna-Lena Groenefeld grounded 11th-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2. The former Top-10 Hantuchova has now dropped eight of her last 12 matches and hasn't won back-to-back matches since March.
In other action involving Top-16 seeds, No. 13 Hungarian Agnes Szavay topped American Gail Brodsky 7-5, 6-3 and No. 16 Italian Flavia Pennetta overcame Swiss Stefanie Vogele 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.
No. 18 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia bested American Jill Craybas 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) and 19th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova brushed aside France's Olivia Sanchez 6-2, 6-4 at the fourth and final major of the year.
Additional seeded victors were No. 20 Czech Nicole Vaidisova and No. 30 Japanese Ai Sugiyama, while Swiss Timea Bacsinszky upended 31st-seeded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano 6-4, 6-1.
Other first-round winners were the aforementioned Coin, Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru, Taipei's Su-Wei Hsieh, Chinese Shuai Peng, Italians Vinci and Tathiana Garbin, Belarusian Olga Govortsova and Colombian Mariana Duque Marino.
<< Marlins activate Waechter from DL
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins activated pitcher Doug
Waechter from the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.
Waechter was put on the shelf on August 11 with inflammation in his rotator
cuff.
In 39 games this season
<< Nationals' Kearns headed back to DL
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed
right fielder Austin Kearns on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday for the
second time this season. Kearns has a stress fracture in his left foot.
Kearns mis
<< Bears part ways with Manning
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears terminated the
contract of veteran cornerback Ricky Manning, Jr. on Tuesday.
Manning came to the Bears in 2006 as a free agent and in 31 games, he has
posted 106 tackles,
<< Edmonton's Harris highlights CFL weekly awards
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Harris and Dario Romero of the Edmonton
Eskimos were among the top players for the CFL for Week 9.
Harris earned offensive honors after running for a CFL season-high 189 yards
and a score, plus 30
Detroit calls up Lambert to make debut >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers purchased the contract of
pitcher Chris Lambert from Triple-A Toledo to make his major league debut
Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians.
Lambert, 25, was 12-8 with a 3.50 earned r
Panthers sign WR Parker >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers signed wide receiver
Samie Parker on Tuesday.
Parker, who was signed by Denver as an unrestricted free agent on April 15 and
released on Monday, spent the first four seasons of hi
Report: Strahan to stay retired >>
East Rutherford, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former New York Giants defensive end
Michael Strahan will reportedly remain retired, turning down an offer to come
back and play for the Super Bowl champions.
According to a report on FoxSports.c
Cadillac in the shop; Bucs place RB Williams on PUP list >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers placed oft-injured
running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams on the physically unable to perform
list, assuring he will be out of action for the regular season's first six
weeks.
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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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.
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