Serena, Venus, Clijsters reach Wimbledon QFs

Tennis Betting Lines

06/28/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Serena Williams handled former titlist Maria Sharapova, while Kim Clijsters came from behind to defeat her fellow former world No. 1 Belgian stalwart Justine Henin in Monday's fourth-round action at Wimbledon. Five-time champion and former top- ranked star Venus Williams also joined the parade into the quarterfinals at the All England Club.

The world No. 1 Serena got past the 16th-seeded Sharapova 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 on the famed Centre Court, while the eighth-seeded U.S. Open champion Clijsters dropped the first set against the 17th-seeded Henin before charging back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision on Court 1.

Serena converted on her second match point against Sharapova, who misfired wide on one final backhand after 1 hour, 36 minutes of hard-hitting tennis. The powerful American scalded 19 aces among her 31 winners and tallied a pair of service breaks to advance. Sharapova settled for 14 winners and one break in the setback.

Sharapova upset Serena in the 2004 Wimbledon final, which marked the first of the Russian's three career major titles.

Serena is now 6-2 lifetime versus the 23-year-old Sharapova, including 3-1 in their Grand Slam meetings. The American topped the Russian in the 2007 Aussie Open final.

The 28-year-old Serena is the reigning Aussie Open and Wimbledon champ. She beat her older sister Venus in last year's fourth all-Williams final at the AEC to record her third championship here.

Serena's quarterfinal opponent on Tuesday will be ninth-seeded Li Na.

The 27-year-old Clijsters, meanwhile, prevailed in 1 hour, 28 minutes against Henin despite striking only one ace and piling up six double faults. She did, however, tally one more service break (3-2) than her long-time rival.

Clijsters, who grew in confidence as the match wore on, got the key break of serve she needed in the eighth game of the third set when Henin overhit a forehand, and then served out the match.

Henin required treatment on her right elbow on three changeovers after slipping and falling on the court as she charged the net at 2-1 in the first set. She said her elbow was "quite painful" and bothered her while serving and hitting backhands.

"I don't really know how it affected (the match)," Henin said. "We'll see in the next few days."

Both Clijsters and Henin returned to Wimbledon this year following retirements that saw Clijsters return to the WTA Tour last year and Henin this year. This is Clijsters' first appearance here in four years, while Henin hadn't performed at the AEC since 2007.

The two-time U.S. Open champion Clijsters is now 13-12 lifetime against Henin, including 3-5 now in Grand Slams.

"I can't believe we're back to this after so many years of battling against each other," Clijsters said. "I think this was our 25th battle, so we go way back but we play really good tennis and I think we showed some good stuff out there today."

The seven-time major champion Henin, who was this year's Australian Open runner-up to Serena, still needs Wimbledon to complete the coveted career Grand Slam. She reached finals here in 2001 and 2006, but lost to Venus and Amelie Mauresmo, respectively.

Henin was fresh off her grass-court title in The Netherlands.

Clijsters' quarterfinal opponent will be 21st-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva.

The second-seeded 2009 Wimbledon runner-up Venus advanced to the quarters by handling surprising Aussie Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on Court 2 at the AEC. The crowd on Court 2 booed Venus upon her late arrival for her Day-7 match.

The Venus-Groth match got off to a strange start after Venus arrived nearly 10 minutes late, as Groth and the chair umpire were left waiting at the net.

Williams chalked it up to a simple mixup.

"I didn't know the procedure for Court 2, so I was waiting on someone to get me," she said. "No one came. So eventually I just came out."

Venus, who has reached the final here eight times in the last 10 years (5-3), will next face Tsvetana Pironkova, after the Bulgarian defeated 11th seed Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6-4. Bartoli was the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up to Venus.

The 22-year-old Pironkova is a first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist.

Another upstart, Czech Petra Kvitova, manhandled third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0 on Monday. The Danish Wozniacki was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Clijsters.

The 20-year-old Kvitova will appear in her first-ever major quarter.

Fourth-seeded Serbian star Jelena Jankovic retired Monday from her fourth- round bout against the aforementioned Zvonareva.

Jankovic took a spill early on in her match, and eventually received treatment on her back while trailing Zvonareva 6-1, 3-0 at the time. The Serb would retire three points later.

The 25-year-old former world No. 1 Jankovic has yet to make it past the fourth round in her career at Wimbledon.

Zvonareva will now play in her first-ever quarterfinal at the All England Club.

Also on Monday, the Chinese Li upended No. 7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals here for a second time. Li appeared in her first-ever major semifinal at January's Aussie Open.

Radwanska had previously never lost to a player seeded outside the top-six at Wimbledon.

One other fourth-round affair saw Estonian Kaia Kanepi land in her first Wimbledon and second career major quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova.

The 25-year-old Kanepi, who reached the French Open quarters two years ago, will face Kvitova in an unlikely quarterfinal here on Tuesday.

Casinoplauer Tennis Betting News

<< In the FCS Huddle: Will CAA dominoes keep falling?
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even with all the maneuvering going on in college football, what has been developing in the Colonial Athletic Association is as incredible as any of the changes nationally. The Big Ten and Pac-10 - if that

<< Jeff Jordan joins brother at UCF
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Central Florida head basketball coach Donnie Jones announced on Monday that guard Jeff Jordan has transferred to the program from Illinois. He must sit out the 2010-11 campaign under NCAA tra

<< Nets waive G Dooling
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on guard Keyon Dooling. Dooling, who was acquired in the summer of 2008 from Orlando, appeared in 130 games with New Jersey, averaging 8.6 points and 3.1

<< Recchi re-ups with Bruins
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins have signed 42-year-old forward Mark Recchi to a one-year contract extension. The Boston Herald on Friday reported the deal is for $1 million with possible incentives. Recch

<< Rockies' Jimenez seeks to put last start behind him against Padres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even though he avoided a loss, Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez hopes to bounce back from his worst outing of the season when he takes the mound tonight in the opener of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at

Kerr is first American woman ranked No. 1 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristie Kerr became the first American woman ranked No. 1 in the world following her 12-shot win Sunday at the LPGA Championship. By picking up her second career major with a record-setting perfo

Rams sign CB Murphy, WR Gilyard >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams on Monday signed eight of their 11 picks from the 2010 draft, including cornerback Jerome Murphy and wide receiver Mardy Gilyard. Murphy recorded 202 tackles and eight int

Big names take to tracks for workouts >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Some of the biggest names in thoroughbred racing took to various racetracks for workouts over the last two days. Many of the horses are expected to see action during the summer. Undefeated champion mare Z

Oranje slice through Slovakia, into quarterfinals >>
Durban, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Netherlands won for the fourth time in as many games at the FIFA World Cup on Monday as it recorded a 2-1 win over Slovakia in a round of 16 match at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Arjen Robben ope

Sky Blue FC knocks off Gold Pride >>
Hayward, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sky Blue FC recorded a surprising 2-0 win over FC Gold Pride on Sunday in Women's Professional Soccer action at Pioneer Stadium with second-half goals from Rosana and Tasha Kai. Rosana put her side up in

American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6  

The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.

Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com.  "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.

It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis.  It's like Week 1 of the NFL.  Pre-season means nada!

We do know the 24 finalists however.

Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24.  He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway.  He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien. 

Brandon Rogers - Who?

Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition.  He should go a good distance.

Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was.  And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition.  He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice!  People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way. 

"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks.  He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes.  But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.

A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”

Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes. 

"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate.  "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past.  He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far.  Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."

Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts) 

And the others:

Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter

The girls

"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis.  "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has.  The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive.  I think she will go far."

Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.

"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams.  Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth.  "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.

Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.

Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.

Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan

MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with). 

Last two contestants will be?

1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)

2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)

2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines.