Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray reach third round in Cincy

Tennis Betting Lines

08/18/2010 - Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top seeds Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and last week's Canadian Masters titlist Andy Murray were a trio of second-round winners Wednesday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.

Roger Federer, a 16-time major titlist and reigning champ here, also advanced when Denis Istomin of Russia retired due to a right foot and ankle injury with the Swiss superstar leading 5-2 in the first set. Federer, seeded third, also won this event in 2005 and 2007.

The world No. 1 Nadal handled oft-injured American qualifier Taylor Dent, 6-2, 7-5, while the second-seeded, but world No. 3, Djokovic doused Serb Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 7-5 on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Nadal is now 27-3 in ATP Masters 1000 events this year.

Djokovic, who captured his 100th Masters 1000 victory on Wednesday, has lost in the last two finals here, with Federer getting the best of him last year.

The Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal will face France's Julien Benneteau in the third round here on Thursday, while Djokovic will battle Argentine star David Nalbandian, a titlist in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago. Nalbandian was trailing John Isner 4-5 in the first set on Wednesday when the 6-foot-9 American retired from their match. The hot Nalbandian has now won 13 of his last 14 matches.

A fourth-seeded Murray held off Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2 in 2 hours, 9 minutes on Day 4 here. January's Aussie Open runner-up to Federer, Murray beat Federer in last week's marquee finale in Toronto and was the Cincy champ in 2008.

Murray will be opposed by talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis on Thursday.

Ninth-seeded Andy Roddick, who titled here in 2003 and 2006 and was the runner-up in 2005, straight-setted Thiemo De Bakker, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. while Nikolay Davydenko, seeded sixth, defeated Robby Ginepri, 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.

Lleyton Hewitt, a former top-ranked player and runner-up at this event in 2002 and 2004, was ousted by fifth-seeded Robin Soderling, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a little under two hours.

Upsets came when the wild card/surging American Mardy Fish dismissed eighth- seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, and Gulbis knocked out 13th-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Fish, who has won 13 of his last 14 matches, including titles in Newport and Atlanta, was the Cincinnati runner-up back in 2003. He beat Verdasco in two sets, both tiebreakers.

Tenth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer avoided an upset by handling American Sam Querrey, 7-5, 6-2. Querrey is a four-time champion on the ATP World Tour this season.

In other second-round play, France's Richard Gasquet grounded German Michael Berrer, 6-4, 6-2, German Philipp Kohlschreiber got past Colombian qualifier Alejandro Falla, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3, and Benneteau blitzed Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4, 6-2.

The 2010 Cincinnati titlist will claim $443,500.

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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%.

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