Murray, Roddick roll; Hewitt ousts del Potro at Wimbledon
Tennis Betting Lines
06/25/2009 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray and two-time Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick moved on, while former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt posted a big second-round upset by leveling fifth- seeded Argentine Juan Martin del Potro at The Championships.
A third-seeded Murray, the highest-seeded Brit here in 36 years, blew past talented but underachieving Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
The sixth-seeded Roddick handled Russian Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 on another beautiful day at the storied All England Club. The American star lost to the great Roger Federer in a pair of finals here in 2004 and 2005.
The 26-year-old Roddick's win on Thursday marked the 100th Grand Slam victory of his career.
The former world No. 1 Roddick's third-round opponent will be Austrian lefthander Jurgen Melzer.
Meanwhile, the 2002 titlist Hewitt, unseeded this year, stunned the rising del Potro in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.
Del Potro tried to make things interesting by breaking Hewitt while the Aussie was serving for the match. But after the 6-foot-6 Argentine leveled the third set at 5-all, the fiery Hewitt broke right back for a 6-5 edge and then served out the match with his second match point to advance. Hewitt wasted his first match point via double fault.
The former top-ranked Hewitt moved on in 2 hours, 32 minutes with the help of 14 aces and four service breaks. The Aussie also committed only 14 unforced errors, compared to 24 for del Potro, who could manage only one break on a sunny Day 4.
The resurgent Hewitt had dropped 14 straight matches against top-10 competition before Thursday.
The 28-year-old Hewitt has reached at least the quarterfinals here on four occasions and is a two-time major champ.
Eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon came from behind to beat Brazilian Thiago Alves 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, while 10th-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez overcame Argentine Leonardo Mayer 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and No. 12 Russian Nikolay Davydenko drubbed Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The former Aussie Open runner-up Gonzalez was a French Open semifinalist three weeks ago.
Sixteenth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer doused Italian Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, while 19th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka waltzed past Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
In other action involving seeds, No. 20 Czech Tomas Berdych handled France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, a No. 26 Melzer topped last week's grass- court champion in The Netherlands, Benjamin Becker of Germany, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), and No. 31 Romanian Victor Hanescu humbled Frenchman Nicolas Devilder 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
Additional second-round wins came for Italian Andreas Seppi, Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero and German Philipp Petzschner. The former world No. 1 Ferrero dismissed 36-year-old Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. Santoro was appearing in his final Wimbledon, as he will retire at the end of this season.
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Online Sportsbook Football Betting
Colts give the ‘D’ its due
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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