Clijsters, Venus win U.S. openers

Tennis Betting Lines

08/30/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams were both straight-set opening-round winners Monday at the U.S. Open.

The second-seeded former world No. 1 Clijsters got past Hungarian Greta Arn 6-0, 7-5 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Clijsters steamrolled Arn in 18 minutes in the bagel first set, but the Belgian then fell behind 0-4 in the second before rebounding to avoid a three- set afternoon. Clijsters won seven of the last eight games to advance and capture her 26th straight first-round match at a major.

"I'm happy with the way I served, Clijsters said. "That's obviously been a stroke that I've been paying a bit more attention to during my practicing the past few weeks. Today I felt like I was hitting the ball well."

The 27-year-old Clijsters is seeking her third U.S. Open championship, She beat Dane Caroline Wozniacki in last year's finale here and has now won her last 15 matches in Flushing. She also titled here in 2005 and skipped the 2006-08 editions due to either injury or retirement. Clijsters came out of retirement last summer and captured the U.S. Open in only her third tournament back.

Clijsters, who was also the U.S. Open runner-up in 2003, will meet Aussie Sally Peers in the second round in New York.

The third-seeded Williams, meanwhile, was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Italian Roberta Vinci. The American fired 10 aces and won 83 percent of first-serve points.

Williams, 30, is also after her third career U.S. Open title. She won this event in 2000 and 2001, but bowed out in the fourth round last year and hasn't reached the semifinals since 2007. The former world No. 1 will face Canadian Rebecca Marino in the second round.

Fifth-seeded French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur fought back to beat Russian Elena Vesnina 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, while sixth-seeded French Open champion Francesca Schiavone cruised with a 6-1, 6-0 dismantling of Japan's Ayumi Morita and former U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva drubbed Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-2. Schiavone upset Stosur in June's Roland Garros finale. Dementieva reached the U.S. Open final in 2004.

Belarus' Victoria Azarenka, seeded 10th, got into the second round with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Romanian Monica Niculescu. Former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli, seeded 13th at this particular fortnight, moved on with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Romanian Edina Gallovits.

Sixteenth-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer handled Croat Jelena Kostanic Tosic 6-4, 7-5, while 19th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta cruised past American Irina Falconi, 6-2, 6-1. Pennetta reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2008 and 2009.

Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 20th, doused German Kristina Barrois 6-4, 6-1 and 21st-seeded Zheng Jie of China straight-setted Timea Bacsinszky in double-tiebreak fashion, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-1).

The 24th seed, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, humbled struggling former top- ranked star Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4. The three-time major runner-up Safina, of Russia, was the top seed here a year ago, but has plummeted in the rankings ever since, mostly due to problems with a back injury.

Another former world No. 1, Serbian Ana Ivanovic, took an easy 6-3, 6-2 win over Ekaterina Makarova. Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, had lost in the first round at last year's U.S. Open.

Other seeded victors on Day 1 were No. 27 Czech Petra Kvitova, No. 28 Russian Alisa Kleybanova, No. 29 Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko and No. 32 Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who was a surprise Wimbledon semifinalist last month.

Last year's U.S. Open darling, American Melanie Oudin, advanced with a 6-3, 6-0 throttling of Ukrainian Olga Savchuk. The teenage Oudin reached the quarterfinals here a year ago, including huge upset victories over the two- time Grand Slam runner-up Dementieva and former U.S. Open champ Maria Sharapova.

Oudin was first up at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Day 1.

"It's a real honor to get to start the U.S. Open off on Ashe, first match." the 18-year-old Oudin said. "I thought it was pretty cool. I didn't expect that."

Additional Monday wins came for the aforementioned Peers and Marino, Hungarian Agnes Szavay, Frenchwomen Virginie Razzano and Pauline Parmentier, India's Sania Mirza, Austrian Sybille Bammer, Aussie Anastasia Rodionova, Italians Sara Errani and Maria Elena Camerin, Brit Elena Baltacha, Luxembourg's Mandy Minella, Argentine Gisela Dulko, and American Vania King.

The 2010 U.S. Open champion will earn at least $1.7 million.

Cbsspirtsline Tennis Betting News

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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