Wozniacki cruises into second round at U.S. Open

Tennis Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki had no trouble advancing through to the second round at the 2010 U.S. Open, while former world No. 1s Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova were also among Tuesday's first-round winners.

Wozniacki, who can become the top player in the world with a win in this tournament, needed just 61 minutes to breeze past American Chelsey Gullickson 6-1, 6-1.

Fresh off a title in New Haven, Wozniacki is looking to build off last year's runner-up finish at the U.S. Open to Kim Clijsters. She will next face Kai- Chen Chang, who beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-4.

The fourth-seeded Jankovic went the distance to sneak past Romanian Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Jankovic moved on in 2 hours, 20 minutes, despite piling up 48 unforced errors in a sloppy match on a very hot day in New York. On-court temperatures soared well over 100 degrees. The promising 18-year-old Halep actually served for the match.

"It was a tough match," Jankovic said. "It was, you know, my first match here. For me, those first matches are always the toughest. It was really hot and windy."

Jankovic, who was the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up to American great Serena Williams, will face Croat Mirjana Lucic in the second round.

Sharapova, the 14th seed, avoided the upset with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jarmila Groth. The three-time major champion and 2006 U.S. Open titlist has not advanced past the third round here since her win and has failed to make a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam event since the 2009 French Open.

"(Groth) came out there today and really swung and didn't give me much time to do anything out there," Sharapova said. "She served really well in the first set, and I wasn't returning that well. She was quite difficult to get a rhythm in the beginning, but I just hung in there. In tennis, you have three sets to play."

Former U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia joined Jankovic and Sharapova in the second round with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 decision against 39-year- old Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm. Kuznetsova prevailed in just under two hours on the Grandstand Court.

The two-time major champion Kuznetsova, seeded 11th at this particular fortnight, titled here in Flushing in 2004.

Also advancing was seventh-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, who rolled over Zuzana Kucova 6-2, 6-1. Zvonareva is coming off her best performance at Grand Slam, finishing as runner-up to the injured Serena Williams at this year's Wimbledon. She has never advanced past the fourth round here.

A big upset came when Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko upended eighth-seeded Chinese Li Na 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The big-hitting Li was an Australian Open semifinalist back in January.

Another upset was recorded when Andrea Petkovic toppled 17th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4). Petrova was coming off a runner-up finish to Wozniacki in last week's Pilot Pen Tennis event at New Haven.

Ninth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska rolled past Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-4, 6-3, while 15th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer mauled Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-2. Wickmayer was a surprise semifinalist here a year ago.

Eighteenth-seeded Aravane Rezai of France advanced with a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (9-7) victory over Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova.

Other seeded winners on Day 2 were No. 22 Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, No. 23 Maria Kirilenko, No. 25 Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru and No. 31 Kaia Kanepi.

A mild upset came when once-promising Austrian Tamira Paszek overcame 26th- seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. Another mild upset came in the form of Lourdes Dominguez Lino, who beat 30th-seeded Yaroslava Shvedova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Also reaching the round of 64 were the aforementioned Lucic, Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder, Chinese Peng Shuai, Austrian Yvonne Meusburger, Poland's Urszula Radwanska, German Julia Goerges, Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan, Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, American Beatrice Capra, Czech Iveta Benesova, and Swede Sofia Arvidsson.

Other winners on Tuesday included Akgul Amanmuradova, Dominika Cibulkova, Sabine Lisicki and Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

The 2010 U.S. Open champion will earn at least $1.7 million.

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.