11/08/2008 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Vera Zvonareva and American Venus Williams both won their semifinal matches on Saturday at the season-ending $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships.
Williams, the seventh seed, downed top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 at Khalifa Tennis Complex.
Williams improved to 4-5 in her career against Jankovic and avenged losses in Rome and Stuttgart earlier this year.
Jankovic will finish this year as the No. 1 player in the world.
Williams will next face eighth-seed Zvonareva, who beat compatriot and No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3. Neither Russian hit a single ace in the two hour 20-minute battle.
It was the sixth time that Dementieva and Zvonareva faced each other, with Dementieva leading their all-time series, 4-2.
Williams is 5-1 lifetime against Zvonareva and has won five straight matches after dropping her first match against Zvonareva in 2003 in the French Open.
The winner of this week's event will collect $1.34 million.
<< Hoffenheim signs defender Jaissle to new contract
Hoffenheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim has secured the future of
highly-rated defender Matthias Jaissle until 2011 with a new contract.
The 20-year-old stopper has featured in eight of the 11 Bundesliga games played
by the sur
<< Hamlin takes pole for Nationwide race at Phoenix
Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin won the pole for Saturday's Hefty
Odor Block 200 Nationwide Series race at the Phoenix International Raceway.
Hamlin, who went out 38th in the 50-driver qualifying order, turned in a lap
around
<< Nasri's double leads Arsenal over United
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samir Nasri scored a pair of goals to help
Arsenal down Manchester United, 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Frenchman put Arsenal ahead midway through the opening half
with a
<< Bayern's Klinsmann searching for another striker
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann has
confirmed that his club are on the lookout for a new striker in the January
transfer window.
Bayern Munich already have Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Lukas
Wells and Ohio State pound Northwestern >>
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wells ran for 140 yards and two
touchdowns, and Terrelle Pryor threw for three scores and 197 yards as the
12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Northwestern, 45-10, at Ryan Field.
Brian
Ringer leads 18th-ranked Spartans over Purdue >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javon Ringer ran for 121 yards and a pair
of scores to lead 18th-ranked Michigan State to a 21-7 victory over Purdue at
Spartan Stadium.
Ringer carried the ball 32 times and kept the Boilermakers on th
Stull leads Panthers in rout of Cardinals >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Stull threw for 216 yards and a
touchdown, leading the 25th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers to a 41-7 victory over
the Louisville Cardinals.
The win marked Pittsburgh's (7-2, 3-1 Big East) first vi
McCoy, Longhorns crush Baylor >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colt McCoy threw five touchdown passes, as
fifth-ranked Texas bounced back from last week's loss with a 45-21 blowout of
Baylor at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
McCoy went 26-for-37 with 300 yards and
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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