Roddick reaches semis; Nadal bows out in London

Tennis Betting Lines

06/15/2007 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time champion Andy Roddick was among Friday's quarterfinal winners, while French Open champ Rafael Nadal was shown the exit at the grass-court Artois Championships, a Wimbledon tune-up.

The top-seeded Nadal saw double duty on Day 5 and was not able to advance in his latter bout.

Earlier in the day, the 2006 Wimbledon runner-up Nadal completed a 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 victory over Belarusian Max Mirnyi. The Spaniard was leading 5-3 in the second set when that match was suspended because of rain here on Thursday.

In his second bout on Friday, Nadal was ousted by Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-6 (7-0) at The Queen's Club. Nadal was fresh off his third straight title at the French Open, where he, of course, excels on the red clay at Roland Garros.

Mahut started his day Friday by stunning fifth-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 in the third round. Rain forced the suspension of that match here on Day 4.

The 106th-ranked Mahut will appear in his first-ever ATP semi.

The second-seeded Roddick, meanwhile, avoided an upset by handling Croatian wild card Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). The former world No. 1 Roddick captured this London event back-to-back-to-back from 2003-05.

Another quarterfinal upset came when seventh-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov tripped up third-seeded Aussie Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.

One other quarter saw 14th-seeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement dismiss 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-4. Earlier in the day, Clement stunned fourth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in third-round action. Djokovic was a semifinal loser at the hands of Nadal last week in Paris. Karlovic lost to Roddick in the 2005 Queen's Club finale.

Saturday's semis will pit Roddick against Tursunov and Clement versus his fellow Frenchman Mahut. Tursunov bested Roddick in an epic Davis Cup rubber last year, as he propelled the Russians into the final with a five-set victory over the American, including a 32-game (17-15) fifth set win.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson

JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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