Federer, Murray, Roddick victorious at BNP Paribas Open

Tennis Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time champion Roger Federer won his second-round match Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event.

Federer captured his fifth lifetime matchup without a loss against Romanian Victor Hanescu, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1. The top-ranked Swiss Federer, who won the title from 2004-06, played his first match since capturing his 16th career Grand Slam crown at the Australian Open on January 31.

Fourth-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray also went through to the third round with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian Andreas Seppi. Murray is last year's runner-up, losing to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Sixth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan's Evgeny Korolev, while American Andy Roddick, the seventh seed, topped Chinese Taipei qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu, 6-4, 6-4.

Ninth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France defeated Australian Marinko Matosevic, 6-1, 6-3, but seeds 12 through 14 were all upset victims. Germany's Simon Greul upended 12th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; American James Blake stopped 13th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer, 6-1, 6-4; and Israeli Dudi Sela downed 14th-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2.

Tommy Robredo, the 18th seed, topped Sergiy Stakhovsky, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Jurgen Melzer, seeded No. 22, defeated David Nalbandian, 6-4, 6-1.

Three other seeded players fell on Sunday. No. 23 Ivo Karlovic was beaten by Nicolas Almagro, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). Janko Tipsarevic, the 30th seed, was down 3-2 in the first set against Thiemo De Bakker when he retired due to an abdominal strain. Igor Andreev, the 32nd seed, lost 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to Michael Russell.

Other second-round winners on Sunday were No. 24 seed Albert Montanes, No. 27 Marcos Baghdatis and No. 28 Feliciano Lopez.

Fifth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko withdrew from the tournament due to a broken left wrist. Davydenko is expected to be sidelined the next four weeks. Because of the withdrawal, Serbian Viktor Troicki will get a walkover into the fourth round of the tournament.

This week's winner will collect $605,500.

Wwwwhat2bet Tennis Betting News

<< George Mason, Harvard to play in postseason tournament
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - George Mason and Harvard are part of the 16-team field selected to play in the second annual College Insider.com postseason tournament. The Patriots, who reached the NCAA Final Four in 2006, will host Fairf

<< Suns down free-falling Hornets
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire scored 36 points, pulled down 12 rebounds and sank all 14 of his free throw attempts, as Phoenix ran past the New Orleans Hornets, 120-106, at US Airways Center. Jason Richardson had 20 p

<< Oregon State part of CBI
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oregon State has been chosen to return to defend its title in the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, which starts Tuesday night. Oregon State, with head coach Craig Robinson, the brother-in-la

<< Sedin twins lead Canucks past Flames
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Twin brothers of Daniel and Henrik Sedin each registered a goal and an assist, as the Canucks scored three times in the opening period and turned back the Calgary Flames, 3-1, for their sixth win in eight g

<< Report: Blackhawks D Campbell out for regular season after Ovie hit
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brian Campbell will reportedly miss the remainder of the regular season after suffering a broken collarbone when Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin hit him from behind in Sund

Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team >>
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons. Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season and averag

Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event. Wozniacki

Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed >>
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks

NCAA Capsules-South Regional >>
Durham, N.C., 29-5.Nickname: Blue Devils. Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.Conference: Atlantic Coast. Bid: ACC champion.Region: South. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 88-30, 33 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (78.4); Jon Scheyer 18.7; Kyle Singler

NCAA Capsules-East Regional >>
Lexington, 32-2.Nickname: Wildcats. Coach: John Calipari.Conference: Southeastern. Bid: SEC champion.Region: East. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 100-45, 50 years. Last appearance: 2008.Scoring: Team (79.2); John Wall 16.9; DeMarcus Cousins 15.3; Pa

Best Horse Betting Online

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.