Kvitova, Sharapova, Serena reach 3rd round in Oz

Tennis Betting Lines

01/19/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Petra Kvitova and former Australian Open champions and former world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams posted second-round wins Thursday at the Australian Open.

The Wimbledon and WTA Championships titlist Kvitova advanced, but only after withstanding a test from Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. The Czech left- hander lost the second set and was down 2-0 in the third before pulling out a hard-fought 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory at Melbourne Park.

Kvitova, who will battle Russian Maria Kirilenko on Saturday, advanced despite piling up 48 unforced errors on Day 4.

"In the beginning it was OK, but I made many, many, many mistakes," Kvitova said. "It's part of my game but it's too many. It was very tough to get back in the third set."

Meanwhile, the fourth-seeded three-time major champion Sharapova, who captured her lone Aussie Open title in 2008, won her second straight match by a lopsided 6-0, 6-1 score, this time by besting American Jamie Hampton in just 64 minutes.

Sharapova did not play in any of the Aussie Open tuneup events the last two weeks.

"It was more about getting my feet going," Sharapova said. "Yeah, started my preparations in the offseason a little late, took a bit of extra time in practice instead of rushing into a tournament."

Up next for the Russian bomber will be German Angelique Kerber.

Williams, seeded 12th and seeking a sixth Aussie Open title, cruised in a 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova at Laver Arena for her 500th career WTA victory.

The powerful Williams' older sister Venus has also captured 500 wins on the circuit (589-147).

"I knew I had to get there too, because I do everything she does," Williams said of her seven-time Grand Slam champion sister. "It's great, it's like the ultimate."

Serena pulled out of an event in Brisbane two weeks ago due to an ankle injury.

"It's totally fine. It was my good ankle, so I'm good," she said.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams has won her last 16 matches in Melbourne, having titled back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 before missing last year's Aussie because of health issues.

Williams will face Hungarian Greta Arn on Saturday.

Seventh-seeded former Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva was also a straight-set winner in second-round action, downing Czech Lucie Hradecka 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), while ninth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France leveled long-time Aussie favorite Jelena Dokic 6-3, 6-2.

Zvonareva will play fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova, while Bartoli will face Chinese Zheng Jie in the round of 32.

Fourteenth-seeded German Sabine Lisicki whipped Israeli Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-2, while Arn outlasted 17th-seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 3-6, 10-8, and 18th-seeded two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova snuck past promising American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. Lisicki will meet the former top-five Russian star Kuznetsova in the third round.

Some other seeds to advance were No. 21 and former Aussie Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic, who handled Dutchwoman Michaella Krajicek 6-2, 6-3, a No. 27 Kirilenko, who held off Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, and a No. 30 Kerber, a 7-5, 6-1 winner over Canadian Stephanie Dubois. The Serbian Ivanovic, a former French Open champ, will meet American Vania King in her next outing.

Some seeds bowed out here on Thursday, as King took out No. 15 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5-7, 6-3, 6-4; Zheng defeated No. 23 Italian Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-2; Makarova ousted No. 25 Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 7-5; and Italian Sara Errani eliminated No. 29 Russian Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2.

Also advancing on Day 4 was Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who survived Pole Urszula Radwanska, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Cirstea stunned U.S. Open champion and heavy Aussie favorite Sam Stosur on Tuesday.

The third round will commence Friday, including matches for world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, fifth-seeded French Open champion and 2011 Aussie Open runner-up Li Na, and 11th-seeded former No. 1 and reigning Aussie titlist Kim Clijsters. The former U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki will take on 31st-seeded Romanian Monica Niculescu; Azarenka will battle surging German Mona Barthel, who captured her first-ever WTA title in Hobart last week; Li will meet 26th-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues; and the four-time major champion Clijsters will be opposed by 20th-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova.

Clijsters topped Li in last year's Melbourne finale.

Also on Friday, eighth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska and 13th-seeded former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic will take to the courts. The former U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic will battle rising American teenager Christina McHale.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.

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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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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.