Federer, Djokovic move into third round at the Open

Tennis Betting Lines

09/03/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer and third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia were among Thursday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.

The second-seeded former top-ranked Federer cruised past German Andreas Beck 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The super Swiss moved on in 1 hour, 41 minutes by ripping 15 aces, while Beck piled up 11 double faults and 36 unforced errors.

Federer captured U.S. Open titles from 2004-08 and was stunned by big Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in last year's finale here. The Swiss great is a brilliant 53-5 lifetime here in Flushing.

The amazing 16-time major champ Federer, who will face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the round of 32, is the reigning Australian Open titlist.

"No, it's the perfect start, sure. I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I'm completely in the tournament," Federer said. "I got a sense for how the court speed is again. I got the sense of the crowd and the wind now as well. I played one night, one day. I have all the answers after two matches. Obviously they weren't the most difficult matches, you know."

Djokovic got past German Philipp Petzschner 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) during the night session. Former Aussie Open champ Djokovic lost to Federer in the 2007 U.S. Open final.

Next up for Djokovic is American James Blake, who took down Peter Polansky of Canada, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling subdued oft-injured veteran American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. The fifth-seeded Soderling cruised in just over an hour-and-a-half, as the Swedish slugger uncorked 14 aces and held his serve throughout.

Talented former top-10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet posted an upset by blasting sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko off the Grandstand Court, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. The top-10 fixture Davydenko was a back-to-back U.S. Open semifinalist in 2006 and 2007.

Another upset came when Japanese Kei Nishikori outlasted 11th-seeded Aussie Open semifinalist Marin Cilic, of Croatia, in a five-hour marathon, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Jurgen Melzer, the 13th seed, of Austria outlasted Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

Surging American Mardy Fish was also an easy second-round winner on Day 4. The 19th-seeded Fish recorded his 18th win in 20 matches with a comprehensive 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 two-hour victory over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas at Armstrong Stadium. The Minnesota native popped 14 aces and broke Cuevas' serve a whopping seven times in 13 tries.

Fish owns a pair of titles this summer and was the Cincinnati Masters runner- up to the great Federer last month.

"This is the spot that I want to be in," Fish said. "You know, you want to be the favorite and winning a lot."

Up next for Fish will be former Aussie Open runner-up Arnaud Clement. The French Clement was leading Eduardo Schwank 6-3, 5-5 when the Argentine retired at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 22nd seed, defeated Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Former French Open champion Ferrero was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2003.

Kevin Anderson of South Africa upset 26th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Spain's Albert Montanes, seeded 21st, drilled Aussie Carsten Ball 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, while Mathieu bested fellow Frenchman Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3 on another very-hot day.

Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands was beating Croat Ivan Dodig, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3, 3-2, when Dodig retired from the match.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

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