07/03/2008 - Wimbledon, England (Tennis Betting) - For the third time in seven years the mighty Williams sisters -- sixth-seeded Serena and seventh-seeded Venus -- will square off in an all-sister, all-American final on the Wimbledon grass.
The former world No. 1 Serena got past Chinese wild card Jie Zheng 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), while the former top-ranked Venus handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) on the famed Centre Court at the All England Club. Serena was forced to wait out a pair of rain delays on Day 10.
The powerful sisters battled in finals here in 2002 and 2003, with Serena winning both matchups.
Serena is 8-7 lifetime against her older sister, including 2-1 at Wimbledon. Venus topped her younger sister in the semifinals here eight years ago. Serena has won five of their nine Grand Slam meetings, with all five wins coming in finals. The only major final won by Venus between the two came at the 2001 U.S. Open.
The eight-time major titlist Serena beat Venus at a hardcourt event in India earlier this season.
"She's a tough opponent," Serena said of Venus. "I think she'll be the toughest person I've played. I'm excited."
"It's every Williams for themself," Venus replied.
On Thursday, Serena topped Zheng in 1 hour, 25 minutes by blasting 14 aces, compared to zero for the Chinese, and breaking Zheng three times, compared to only one break for the surprising wild card. Rain delayed action twice, with Serena leading 5-2 in the first set, and again, with Serena up 6-2, 4-5.
In the second-set tiebreak, Zheng dumped a second serve into the net on match point to send Serena on her way.
"She definitely pushed me," Serena said of Zheng. "Unbelievable, and not only that she played a great game. She played like she had nothing to lose and she didn't."
Serena is now 2-0 lifetime against Zheng, having also beaten her in the opening round here at Wimbledon four years ago. The hard-hitting American is also now 4-1 in her career Wimbledon semis.
Zheng, who will turn 25 on Saturday, is the first-ever Chinese, male or female, to reach the final four at a Grand Slam and is also the first wild card to land in the semis at the All England Club.
The Venus-Dementieva match was never in doubt, as Venus pounced on Dementieva for a 4-0 lead in the first set, and wound up winning eight of the first nine games for a commanding 6-1, 2-0 advantage. She converted on her first match point when Dementieva netted one final weak forehand.
The former top-ranked Venus moved on in 1 hour, 42 minutes, as she broke Dementieva's suspect serve four times while only being broken once.
The now seven-time Wimbledon finalist Venus is 6-2 lifetime against Dementieva, including a victory in the gold medal match at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The 26-year-old Dementieva is a two-time major runner-up and was appearing in her first-ever Wimbledon semifinal and her fifth career major semi (2-3).
The six-time Grand Slam champion Venus is now 7-0 in her Wimbledon semis and 57-7 overall in 12 trips to the All England Club. She defeated France's Marion Bartoli in last year's finale and also titled here in 2000, 2001 and 2005.
The 28-year-old Venus is 6-6 in her career Grand Slam finals, including 4-2 at Wimbledon. She owns 36 titles in 58 career finals and will perform in her first final of 2008 on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Serena owns 31 career titles, including three already this year, and is 8-2 in her previous Grand Slam finals. In addition to her back- to-back Wimbledon titles in 2002 and 2003, she was the 2004 runner-up here to Maria Sharapova.
<< Lightning sign C Smith
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning signed free agent
center Wyatt Smith to a one-year, two-way contract on Thursday.
The 31-year-old Smith split his time between the Avalanche and Lake Erie of
the American Hocke
<< Leafs acquire Grabovski from Habs
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired center
Mikhail Grabovski from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for the rights to
2008 draft pick Greg Pateryn and a second-round choice in the 2010 draft.
Grabovski
<< PSG suspends midfielder Digard
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paris St. Germain has suspended midfielder
Didier Digard, who is holding out for a move to England to join Middlesbrough
this summer.
The 21-year-old had slammed PSG over delays to the switch, claimi
<< Golf Tidbits: Youth is served on the LPGA Tour
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Unlike on the PGA Tour, where it seems
every winner is in his late 20s or 30s, the LPGA Tour seems to be getting
younger and younger every year. Currently, the average age of the top-20
players in the women's
Coyotes sign D Hale >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes signed defenseman David
Hale to a two-year contract on Thursday. Per club policy, terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
The 27-year-old Hale had two assists and 46 penalty minute
Report: United assistant Queiroz to coach Portugal >>
Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz
is set for his second stint as a Portugal national team coach, according to
newspaper reports.
He is expected to sign a four-year contract with Portugal,
Domenech will remain coach of France >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raymond Domenech will remain coach of France's
national team it was announced Thursday, despite the country's recent failure
at Euro 2008.
Domenech's future was in doubt after France failed to advance out
Hossa takes the easy way out >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing the role of the popular high
school quarterback, Marian Hossa decided to go to the prom with the prettiest
girl. And, like said attention-getter ready to go off and be a big man on
campus after his ma
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.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6
The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.
Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com. "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis. It's like Week 1 of the NFL. Pre-season means nada!
We do know the 24 finalists however.
Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24. He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway. He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien.
Brandon Rogers - Who?
Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition. He should go a good distance.
Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was. And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition. He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice! People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way.
"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks. He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes. But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.
A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”
Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes.
"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate. "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past. He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far. Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."
Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts)
And the others:
Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter
The girls
"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis. "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has. The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive. I think she will go far."
Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.
"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams. Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth. "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.
Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.
Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.
Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan
MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with).
Last two contestants will be?
1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)
2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)
2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)
MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines.
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