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01/24/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will do battle in the semifinals Friday at the 2012 Australian Open.
The second-seeded Nadal snuck past seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in four sets, while a third-seeded Federer whipped 11th-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro in straights in a rematch of the 2009 U.S. Open final, which was won by the towering del Potro. Nadal beat Berdych in the 2010 Wimbledon championship match.
The 30-year-old Federer played in his 1,000th ATP-pevel match on Tuesday and secured a berth in his 30th Grand Slam semifinal.
"It's a lot of matches and a lot tennis," Federer said. "Either I have been around for a long time or I'm extremely fit. You decide which way you want to describe it. But I'm happy."
The 10-time major champion and reigning French Open titlist Nadal was tested mightily in a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Berdych at Rod Laver Arena, where the legendary Aussie Laver was on hand to watch on Day 9. The 16- time Grand Slam titlist Federer dismantled del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 earlier Tuesday in quarterfinal action at Laver.
Nadal needed a whopping 4 hours, 16 minutes to stave off a game Berdych, who finally succumbed on Nadal's first match point by framing one final forehand into the court, as the mighty Spaniard broke to close out the quality bout.
Berdych fired 17 aces, but also piled up 56 unforced errors and had his serve broken five times, compared to only two breaks he tallied against the Spanish strongman.
"Happy with how I finished match physically, I was able to keep running with high intensity," Nadal said.
The four-time Aussie Open champion Federer, meanwhile, handled del Potro in just 1 hour, 59 minutes, as the super Swiss recorded 38 winners to send the Argentine home after he reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the '09 U.S. Open.
"We have played some big matches against each other, so just knowing how well he's been playing as of late, I was just hoping that I would get off a good start," Federer said. "I was able to mix it up well and control the ball, and right away sort of felt confident."
Federer, who hasn't won a Grand Slam event since titling here in Melbourne two years ago, has yet to drop a set at this latest Aussie fortnight.
The 25-year-old Nadal and Federer will meet for a 27th time, with the Spaniard leading the all-time series 17-9. Nadal is 7-2 in their Grand Slam meetings, including wins in their last four matchups. The two stalwarts have met in a record eight major finals, with Nadal winning six of them.
Nadal topped Federer in a compelling 2009 Aussie Open finale.
The other quarterfinals will be staged on Wednesday, as current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will face fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and fourth-seeded Andy Murray will take on 24th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori.
Djokovic is 6-5 lifetime against Ferrer, who titled in Auckland two weeks ago and is a perfect 8-0 this season.
The high-flying Djokovic beat Murray in last year's Aussie final to capture his second title here in four years. The four-time major champion is also the reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist.
Murray, who titled in Brisbane three weeks ago, is a three-time major runner- up, including a loss to Federer in the 2010 Aussie Open finale.
Djokovic has won 36 of his last 38 Grand Slam matches and is seeking a third straight major title. A title this week would put him in select company, as only four players -- Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal -- have captured three straight Grand Slam championships in the Open Era (since 1968).
Nishikori is the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995 (Wimbledon) and he's also the first Japanese man in 80 years to advance to the Aussie Open quarters, since Ryosuki Nunoi and Jiro Satoh turned the trick way back in 1932.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have combined to win seven of the last eight Aussie Open titles.
<< Gay, Grizzlies rally to beat Warriors
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Gay scored 23 points and the Memphis
Grizzlies erased an 18-point point deficit in the fourth quarter to extend
their winning streak to seven with a 91-90 comeback victory over the Warriors.
Memp
<< Oilers top Sharks in shootout
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Taylor Hall scored in the fourth round of the
shootout to lift the Edmonton Oilers to a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.
In the fourth round, Hall faked to the backhand and was able to lift the puck
past Th
<< Kings chase Anderson, beat Senators
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Clifford had a goal and an assist
while Jonathan Quick turned aside 27 shots to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a
4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
Jack Johnson, Trevor Lewis and Willie Mitchell
<< Crawford helps Portland get past Sacramento
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford had 26 points off the bench,
Gerald Wallace scored 20 and the Portland Trail Blazers continued to win
against the Sacramento Kings, beating them 101-89 on Monday night.
The Trail Blaze
Murray State's moment in the spotlight >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky has always been a state shaped by
its basketball. The wide fields serving as the outer boundaries to hardwood
sandlots carved on God's ground, where games have been played dawn to dusk.
It's n
Bryans reach Aussie semis >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world No. 1 twin Bryan brothers,
Bob and Mike, were hard-fought doubles quarterfinal winners Tuesday at the
Australian Open.
The Bryans snuck past a sixth-seeded Polish team of Mariusz Fyr
Aztecs collide with Cowboys in MWC affair >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of the top teams in the Mountain West
Conference collide in Laramie this evening, as the 13th-ranked San Diego State
Aztecs take on the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena-Auditorium.
Steve Fisher's Aztecs are sitting
Top-ranked Kentucky takes act on the road against Georgia >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back at the top of the national polls, the
Kentucky Wildcats put an 11-game win streak on the line this evening, as they
take on the Georgia Bulldogs in SEC action at Stegeman Coliseum.
The Wildcats moved to 5-0
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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