08/27/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion and last year's runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova and Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva were a pair of second-round winners Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
The third-seeded Kuznetsova was tested in the first set before cruising to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 decision against Romanian Sorana Cirstea on Day 3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The three-time major finalist Kuznetsova captured her lone major title here in Flushing four years ago and lost to Belgian Justine Henin in last year's Big Apple finale.
Kuznetsova will meet Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in the third round.
A fifth-seeded Dementieva ran her current winning streak to eight matches with a 6-2, 6-1 pasting of France's Pauline Parmentier. Dementieva, who lost to Kuznetsova in the 2004 all-Russian U.S. Open finale, is fresh off her gold medal-winning performance in Beijing two weeks ago.
Up next for the two-time major runner-up Dementieva will be Britain's Anne Keothavong.
A big surprise came when Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis ousted eighth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. The Top-10 star Zvonareva was a bronze medalist in Beijing earlier this month.
Fifteenth-seeded Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder cruised into the round of 32 with a 6-3, 6-3 pasting of 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
An upset came when the aforementioned Keothavong took out 25th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while a 28th-seeded Srebotnik advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Austrian Yvonne Meusburger.
Additional second-round wins came for Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, Chinese Na Li and Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
<< Instant Replay: Yay or Nay?
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball joined its other major sport
contemporaries on Tuesday by implementing instant replay on a limited basis
for the rest of the season and the playoffs.
And I, for one, applaud it. It is something that s
<< Hayes, Humphrey selected as senior nominees for Pro Football Hall
Canton, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bob Hayes and Claude Humphrey have been selected
as the senior nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2009.
Hayes and Humphrey will join 15 still-to-be-named modern-era candidates on the
list of
<< D'Backs take a note from music industry
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Singer/songwriter James Taylor recommends it, and the
Beatles explain how reluctant they were at one point in reaching out for it.
Right now, the Arizona Diamondbacks are getting a lot of it to maintain their
lead
<< Red Sox pick up Kotsay from Braves
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox bolstered their outfield on
Wednesday by landing veteran Mark Kotsay from the Atlanta Braves in exchange
for minor league outfielder Luis Sumoza.
Just a day after sending outfielder J.D. D
Senderos joins AC Milan on loan >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arsenal have confirmed that Switzerland
international Philippe Senderos has joined AC Milan on a season-long loan
deal.
A brief statement on the Gunners' official website read: "Everyone at Arsena
Power outage has Marlins falling back >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In baseball's first half, the Marlins were the biggest fish
in the sea when it came to blasting home runs. However, since the break they
have become mere minnows in a pond.
Florida led the majors with 135 home runs in 95 g
Marquis, Cubs complete sweep of Pirates >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Marquis threw seven scoreless innings
and combined with two relievers on a five-hit shutout, as the Chicago Cubs
completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 2-0 victory at
PNC Par
Sharks sign D Vlasic to four-year extension >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks signed defenseman Marc-
Edouard Vlasic to a four-year contract extension, the team announced on
Wednesday. Per club policy, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Vlasic,
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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