Federer rolls into another U.S. Open final; Hanna stops Nadal/Murray

Tennis Betting Lines

09/06/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer continued his dominance at the U.S. Open Saturday, as he outlasted Novak Djokovic and kept alive his chances for a fifth straight title hours before Tropical Storm Hanna hit the area and suspended the other semifinal, between top-ranked Rafael Nadal and sixth-seeded Andy Murray.

The match between Nadal and Murray was moved to Louis Armstrong court and started during the Federer/Djokovic match, but still did not finish before the rain started. Murray, who is 0-5 lifetime against the top-seeded Nadal, held a surprising 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 2-3 edge when play was suspended.

The match will be resumed at 4:00 p.m. (et) on Sunday. The men's final will be pushed back a day, to Monday at 5:00 p.m. (et).

The Spaniard Nadal, who topped the Scotsman Murray in Hamburg, Wimbledon and Toronto earlier in the season, is 3-0 versus the 21-year-old Murray on hardcourts over the last two years. Murray is appearing in his first-ever major semifinal, while Nadal is performing in his first career U.S. Open semi at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The five-time major titlist Nadal is a brilliant 75-8 this season, including a tour-high eight titles, while Murray is 40-13 with three championships.

The 22-year-old Nadal is the reigning Wimbledon, four-time French Open and Olympic champion. He's trying to become only the fourth man in the Open Era (since 1968) to win three straight Grand Slam events, joining Rod Laver, Pete Sampras and Federer, who has done it twice.

Before Hanna and its rain stopped play, the second-seeded and reigning four- time champion Federer downed the third-seeded Djokovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 in a semifinal that was moved up an hour to 11 a.m. (et) to beat the inclement weather.

The win, in a rematch of last year's U.S. Open final, was Federer's 33rd straight at Flushing Meadows, and gave him a chance to pick up his 13th Grand Slam title on Sunday. The 27-year-old Swiss didn't seem to mind the earlier start, as he ripped through the first set in a little more than 20 minutes.

"I think the way I played the first set was the key moment, you know, get the first set. I had a feeling he was looking a little weary, a little bit tired," said Federer, who had 20 aces to six by Djokovic. "I think I broke his will as well when I got the third set. I think he let his head hang a little bit."

The 21-year-old Serbian Djokovic made a match of it when he took the second set, and had his chances in the third set. Federer, though, rallied back to win the third set. Djokovic hung tight, but after knotting the fourth set at 2-2, he watched as Federer rolled off four unanswered points to clinch the match, and move to 7-2 lifetime against the Australian Open champion Djokovic.

"He was playing good," said Djokovic of his opponent. "I think he deserved to win, absolutely. I was just a little disappointed from my side that I wasn't able, physically I wasn't able enough to give him a challenge.

"I think I played well that second set, and, you know, was on serve in that third one. Then I was just unlucky to lose that third set and then more or less routine in the fourth for him."

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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%.

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

MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.