Nadal wins in straight sets in New York
Tennis Betting Lines
08/31/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal was a straight-set winner over Teymuraz Gabashvili in the opening round of the U.S. Open, while former runner-up Novak Djokovic and surging American Mardy Fish were a pair of hard-fought winners.
Nadal, the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion who is seeking his third straight Grand Slam title and first-ever trip into the U.S. Open final, needed just under three hours to advance into the second round to set up a match with Denis Istomin, who beat Maximo Gonzalez, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1.
The eight-time major champion Nadal was able to dominate Gabashvili's second serve, winning 51 percent of the points on his opponent's lesser serve. He fired 30 winners and seven aces in the 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory.
Djokovic outlasted fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Djokovic, as he has in the past, struggled mightily amid some very hot conditions here on Day 2, as on-court temperatures soared well over 100 degrees.
But the third seed held on and prevailed in 3 hours, 40 minutes, despite a 23- ace barrage from the capable Troicki.
This marked Djokovic's 11th career five-set win.
The former Australian Open champion Djokovic was the 2007 U.S. Open runner- up to Roger Federer.
Up next for Djokovic will be talented German Philipp Petzschner.
The 19th-seeded Fish needed all five sets to get past game Czech Jan Hajek 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Minnesota native Fish moved on in 2 hours, 36 minutes on the Grandstand Court.
"I was lucky to turn it around and play a little more aggressive," Fish said. "I was playing a little too defensive."
Fish has now won 17 of his last 19 matches, including a pair of titles and a runner-up finish against the great Federer in Cincinnati.
Other top-10 seeds who advanced were eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco, who topped Fabio Fognini 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, and 10th-seeded David Ferrer, who beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
The first eye-catching upset of the fortnight came when French veteran Arnaud Clement cut down 16th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in five sets, 6-3, 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Clement advanced in 3 hours, 27 minutes against his fellow former Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis. who swatted 22 aces, but also tallied 48 unforced errors in a losing effort.
Baghdatis reached a U.S. Open Series final in Washington, D.C. several weeks ago.
Also advancing was American James Blake, who has made it to the third round in each of the last seven times he's participated in this tournament. Blake beat Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Canadian Peter Polansky knocked out 30th-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Additionally Julien Benneteau defeated 28th-seeded Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
In other action involving seeds, No. 23 Feliciano Lopez of Spain handled Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and France's Jeremy Chardy took out No. 24 Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4. No. 31 David Nalbandian beat Rik De Voest 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.
Argentine Eduardo Schwank dismissed former U.S. Open semifinalist Robby Ginepri of the United States 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3.
Additional first-round wins came for Petzschner, Spaniard Tommy Robredo, Pablo Cuevas, Benoit Paire, Florent Serra, Adrian Mannarino, Benjamin Becker, Istomin and Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.
The 2010 U.S. Open champion will collect at least $1.7 million.
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Bautista's 43rd home run of the season highlighted a 10-run sixth inning as Toronto hammered the Rays, 13-5, at Tropicana Field. Bautista leads the league in homers with his three-run blast
<< Walker, Tabata help Pirates rout Cubs
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neil Walker finished 4-for-5 with a two-run
homer and four RBI while Jose Tabata contributed three hits, two RBI and three
runs scored, as the Pittsburgh Pirates scored early and often in a 14-7
drubbin
<< Reds activate Harang from DL, recall Chapman
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds made several roster
moves on Tuesday, among them reinstating right-hander Aaron Harang from the
15-day disabled list in time to start the second of a three-game series
against
<< Mets recall Mejia from minors
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following a loss to Atlanta on Tuesday, the New
York Mets recalled pitching prospect Jenrry Mejia from Triple-A Buffalo.
Mejia, 20, began the season with the big league club in the bullpen, but will
likely be
<< Yanks take over first place with rout of A's
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Teixeira hit his 30th home run of the
season -- a three-run shot -- as the Yankees lit up Oakland pitching for three
home runs for the second straight game in a 9-3 victory that netted New York
sole po
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist scored the game-winning run on Alexi Ogando's wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth, as the Kansas City Royals snuck past the Texas Rangers, 10-9, in the second test of a th
Twins rally to down Detroit >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Delmon Young's RBI single in the seventh
put Minnesota ahead for good, and the Twins rallied with two two-run innings
to down Detroit, 4-3, and maintain a four-game lead in the AL Central.
Young finis
Moore helps Mariners top Angels in Seattle >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adam Moore's two-out RBI single in the eighth
lifted the Seattle Mariners to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim in the second of three games at Safeco Field.
Moore finished the game wit
Kennedy, Diamondbacks beat reeling Padres >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ian Kennedy pitched seven solid innings and the
Diamondbacks used a balanced offensive attack to defeat the reeling San Diego
Padres, 7-4, in the second of three games at Chase Field.
Kennedy (9-9) allowed t
Giants top Rockies with late rally, inch closer in NL West race >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres sparked a three-run eighth
inning with a solo homer, as the San Francisco Giants defeated the
Colorado Rockies, 5-2, in the second test of a three-game series at AT&T Park.
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.