Djokovic, Murray land in Aussie quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

01/23/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who lost in the last two finals in Melbourne, were a pair of fourth-round winners Monday at the Australian Open.

The world No. 1 Djokovic was tested in a 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Aussie hero and former top-ranked star Lleyton Hewitt in a match that ended just after 1:00 a.m. at Rod Laver Arena.

Djokovic moved on in just under three hours by smacking 15 aces among his 55 winners and he broke Hewitt eight times, compared to four breaks for the 30- year-old Aussie loser.

The 24-year-old Djokovic is now 5-1 lifetime against Hewitt. The Serb also topped the Aussie in the fourth round here in 2008 and is 3-1 all-time against Hewitt in Grand Slam action.

Hewitt is a two-time major champion and was the 2005 Aussie Open runner-up to retired Russian Marat Safin.

The reigning Aussie Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist Djokovic has now won 36 of his last 38 Grand Slam matches and is seeking a third straight major title and a third Aussie crown. A title this week would put Djokovic in select company, as only four players -- Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- have captured three straight Grand Slam championships in the Open era (since 1968).

Djokovic's quarterfinal opponent on Wednesday will be fifth-seeded Spanish star David Ferrer. The powerful Serb is 6-5 lifetime against Ferrer.

The hot Ferrer, who titled in Auckland two weeks ago, easily beat 17th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 to reach his third Aussie Open quarterfinal.

The world No. 4 Murray, meanwhile, improved to 16-2 in Melbourne over the last three years with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 victory over injured Mikhail Kukushkin, as the overmatched Kazakhstani retired from the match with a hip injury.

"It wasn't until I went up 3-0 (that) pretty quickly I realized, you know, he wasn't really moving," Murray said of Kukushkin.

"It's obviously good for me, I get to conserve some energy. Tough for him, first time in the fourth-round of a Slam," Murray added.

Murray, who titled in Brisbane three weeks ago, lost to Djokovic in last year's Aussie finale and was the runner-up to Federer here two years ago.

Up next for Murray will be 24th-seeded Kei Nishikori, who posted a big Day-8 upset by ousting sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to become the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995 (Wimbledon).

Nishikori is 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.

"Is feeling unbelievable. My first quarterfinal and beating Tsonga, makes me really happy," Nishikori said. "I hope it's big in Japan. A lot of people messaged me a couple of days ago about the round of 16 and now the quarterfinals. It's really exciting."

Tsonga, who lost to Djokovic in the 2008 Aussie finale, piled up 70 unforced errors, compared to just 30 for the elated Nishikori.

The popular Tsonga was fresh off his season-opening title in Doha three weeks ago.

The men's quarterfinals will get underway Tuesday, as a second-seeded Nadal will take on seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in a rematch of the 2010 Wimbledon final and a third-seeded Federer will battle 11th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in a rematch of the 2009 U.S. Open final. Nadal beat Berdych at Wimbledon two years ago, while del Potro stunned Federer in New York in '09.

The former No. 1 Nadal owns 10 major titles, including last year's French Open and the 2009 Aussie Open, as be beat his great rival Federer in the championship match in Melbourne three years ago. The former top-ranked great Federer is the holder of a men's record 16 major titles, including four Aussie Open crowns.

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Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game

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A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.

Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.

The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).

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To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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