Nadal, Federer win Rome openers; Murray falls

Tennis Betting Lines

04/29/2009 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and former world No. 1 Roger Federer highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners, while U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray went by way of the upset at the $3.645 million Italian Masters tennis event.

The three-time Rome titlist Nadal whipped Italian crowd favorite Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3, while a second-seeded Federer handled towering Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 on the red clay at Foro Italico. Federer is now 8-1 all-time versus the 6-foot-10 Karlovic.

Nadal captured this event three years in a row from 2005-07, including a victory over Federer in the 2006 finale. Federer is a two-time runner-up at this French Open tune-up.

The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal is fresh off his fifth straight Barcelona and fifth consecutive Monte- Carlo clay-court championships. The super Spaniard has won his last 26 matches on red clay and is 143-4 on the surface since 2005, including 12-0 this season.

Nadal and Federer were two-of-eight seeds to receive opening-round byes this week.

Big Day-3 second-round upsets came when Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco knocked out a fourth-seeded Murray 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Austrian Jurgen Melzer toppled seventh-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). The Miami Masters champion Murray, who fell for only the fourth time all year, considers clay to be his least-favorite surface.

Fifth-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro advanced with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Serbian Viktor Troicki, while sixth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco continued his fine 2009 season with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over American Mardy Fish and eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon fought back to dismiss Italian wild card Fabio Fognini 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3.

In other second-round action involving seeds, No. 10 Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka beat Russian qualifier Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); No. 12 Chilean Fernando Gonzalez grounded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4; No. 13 Spaniard Tommy Robredo bested German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); No. 15 Croat Marin Cilic held off Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-0, 5-7, 6-2; and No. 16 Czech Radek Stepanek stifled Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-1. Wawrinka was last year's Rome runner-up to Novak Djokovic. Gonzalez was the 2007 runner-up here to Nadal.

Three other second-rounders saw Swede Robin Soderling edge out Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, German qualifier Mischa Zverev drive out Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 and Frenchman Richard Gasquet get past Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Mathieu, Gasquet and Stepanek saw double-duty here on Wednesday after rain disrupted the schedule here on Monday and Tuesday.

The first round finally concluded on Wednesday, as Gasquet upended ninth- seeded fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, Mathieu ousted 11th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 and Stepanek outlasted France's Florent Serra 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-5. Ferrer was last week's Barcelona runner-up to the high-flying Nadal.

The third round will be staged here on Thursday, including matches for Nadal, Federer and a third-seeded Djokovic. Nadal will face Soderling, while Federer takes on Stepanek and the reigning Rome champion Djokovic meets Robredo.

The 2009 Rome titlist will take home $565,000.

Ficestarcasino Tennis Betting News

<< Ten man Bordeaux rallies to beat Rennes
Rennes, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yoann Gourcuff scored two goals, including the winner in stoppage time, to lead Bordeaux to a thrilling 3-2 win over Rennes on Wednesday. Romain Danze scored the quickest goal of the Ligue 1 season a

<< O'Shea's goal provides lead for United
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John O'Shea's goal in the 17th minute gave Manchester United a 1-0 win over Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals at Old Trafford on Wednesday. O'Shea scored on a half

<< Putz blows lead, as Marlins take two-of-three in New York
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Ross' two-run single in the eighth lifted the Florida Marlins to a 4-3 win over the New York Mets in the conclusion of a three-game series at Citi Field. Jorge Cantu had a solo home run, two walks and

<< 2009 Breeders' Cup confirmed for Santa Anita
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Breeders' Cup President and CEO Greg Avioli confirmed Wednesday that this year's Breeders' Cup World Championships will be conducted at Santa Anita Park during the Oak Tree Racing meet. Avioli released a st

<< Gallardo pitches, hits Brewers past Pirates
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yovani Gallardo single-handedly carried the Brewers to their fifth consecutive sweep of the Pirates, throwing eight scoreless innings and providing the only run of the game with his fourth career

Sweden rallies in the third period to down USA at Worlds >>
Bern, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sweden rallied late and scored the game- winner at the 1:59 mark of overtime from Kristian Huselius to take a 6-5 win over the United Sates at the 2009 World Hockey Championship. Mattias Weinhandl fin

Washington acquires P Kensing >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals acquired right- hander Logan Kensing from the Florida Marlins on Wednesday. In exchange, the Nationals sent pitching prospect Kyle Gunderson to Florida. The 26-year-old Kensin

White Sox slug way to series win over Mariners >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Quentin and Jermaine Dye hit back-to- back solo home runs in the seventh inning, sending Chicago to a 6-3 victory over the Mariners in the rubber match of a three-game set. Matt Thornton (1-1) wa

Setback for Indians' Hafner >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians placed designated hitter Travis Hafner on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday due to soreness and fatigue in his right shoulder. Hafner missed three-plus months of action last

Diamondbacks crush Cubs >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad Tracy's three-hit, three-RBI effort backed a superb start from Doug Davis, as the Diamondbacks rolled to a 10-0 victory to take the rubber match of their three-game set with the Cubs. Davis (2-3), who w

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

You've come to the right place if you're searching for a great legal online sportsbook ! The sportsbooks featured on this page accept sports wagers for the NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL, NCAA, Tennis, Soccer, Auto-Racing, Golf, Boxing, Horseracing, and many more. Using the information displayed on this page, you'll be able to make a wise-decision when selecting an online sportsbook and wagering service.

If you've never wagered at an online sportsbook before, you will find the process of starting to be straightforward. First, you choose a sportsbook from the list provided below. We feature the top sportsbooks on the web, with rankings based on company size, reputation, security, web site usability, and payment options. Once you've chosen the betting site that's right for you, the next step is online registration. You'll need to provide some basic information to create your account and receive a username and password. At this time, you'll also select a payment option. The books reviewed accept Visa, Mastercard, BankWire, and several others. Once you have an account created with the Sportsbook, you're ready to start wagering. You'll want to get familiar with their website and contact their Customer Service department if you have any questions.

Also, make sure you read the terms and conditions, which is usually located at the bottom of the homepage. The terms and conditions will outline all of the rules and regulations for the sportsbook. Once you are comfortable with the website and fully understand all of the rules, you are ready to start betting on your favorite sports teams or even on some hot current events!

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.