Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
01/26/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova will square off in Saturday's women's Australian Open final after they both survived tense three-set semifinal matches on Thursday.
Azarenka, seeded third, ended Kim Clijsters' run at consecutive Australian Open titles by besting the four-time Grand Slam champion, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, at Rod Laver Arena.
After that battle, Sharapova downed second-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to avenge her loss to the Czech in last year's Wimbledon finale.
The winner of Saturday's title match will become the new world No. 1, supplanting Clijsters' quarterfinal victim, Caroline Wozniacki. Sharapova has not held the top ranking since the week of June 8, 2007.
Kvitova beat Sharapova in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam last July, but trailed early against the three-time major titlist on Thursday at Melbourne Park.
The 21-year-old Kvitova missed wildly on an overhead smash to lose her second service game, the first of three breaks for Sharapova in the opening set.
Sharapova, seeded fourth, lost the second set, and was down 0-30 at 4-4 in the third before a replay reversal gave her new life. The Russian won the next four points to put the pressure back on Kvitova, who could not hold serve thanks to several unforced errors in the final game.
"In the third set, I felt she always had the advantage because I was always down on my serve," said Sharapova, who piled up five double faults in the third set and 10 in the match. "I just told myself "You just gotta go for it, don't let her finish off the points like she likes to."'
The former world No. 1 Sharapova's last major title came at the 2008 Aussie Open. The Russian was the Aussie runner-up in 2007.
The 22-year-old Azarenka, meanwhile, became the first Belarusian woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Natasha Zvereva was the runner-up at Roland Garros in 1988 when she was representing the Soviet Union.
In doing so, Azarenka ended another memorable performance Down Under by Clijsters, who has stated she will retire after the Summer Olympics in London.
If this was, in fact, the Belgian's final visit to the season's first major, she went down fighting. Azarenka broke Clijsters' second service game of the match, then fought off four break chances in the proceeding game.
Azarenka held serve with relative ease the rest of the opening set to stay in the driver's seat, but Clijsters began her comeback by breaking at love on Azarenka's first service game in the second.
Clijsters, the 11th seed, quickly evened the match before falling behind 4-1 in the third. She held serve and trailed 40-0 in the next game before earning another break to get back on serve.
But Azarenka, riding a 10-match winning streak after winning in Sydney earlier this month, earned her fourth break of the match to serve for a spot in the final.
"I felt like my hand is about 200 kilograms and my body is about 1,000 and everything is shaking, but that feeling when you finally win is such a relief. My God I cannot believe it's over. I just want to cry," Azarenka said as she fought off tears, then put her face in a towel.
"It was just trying to stay in the moment. Kim really took over the second set and I felt there was nothing I could do. I just tried to regroup," Azarenka added.
In the quarterfinals, Clijsters fought off four match points against last year's Aussie runner-up to her, Li Na.
A repeat performance was not meant to be, as Clijsters was wide on match point to end any chance at becoming the eighth woman to repeat as Aussie champion.
"The match was very close. There were a few deciding moments where I think I maybe had a little bit of an advantage, in the third set, especially that first game where I had break point," Clijsters said. "But she definitely played really well. So she deserved to win at the end."
Both semifinal matches lasted 2 hours, 12 minutes on Day 11.
Azarenka and Sharapova have split six career matchups, with two of Azarenka's wins coming in finals. Saturday will mark their first-ever Grand Slam meeting.
Sharapova is 3-2 in her career Grand Slam finals. Her other titles came at Wimbledon in 2004 and the 2006 U.S. Open. The Russian bomber is 24-13 in her career finals overall.
Azarenka is 9-8 in her career finals, including 1-0 this year.
<< Lakers win Round 2 against Clippers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant netted 24 points to go with
seven rebounds and six assists as the Lakers squeaked past the Clippers, 96-91
in the second round of the battle of Los Angeles at Staples Center.
Pau Gasol cont
<< Double the pleasure: Raptors end another skid in Utah
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza scored
25 points apiece Wednesday night and the Toronto Raptors snapped a 12-game
losing streak against the Utah Jazz with a 111-106 win in double-overtime.
It was T
<< Nuggets cap 5-0 road trip with rout of Kings
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari led seven players in double
figures with 23 points, as the Nuggets wrapped up a historically successful
road trip with a 122-93 blowout of the Kings.
Since joining the NBA prior to the
<< UNLV slips past Boise State in OT
Boise, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Moser had a monster night with 18 points and
21 rebounds as No. 12 UNLV escaped with a 77-72 overtime win over Boise State.
Chace Stanback added 15 points for the Rebels (19-3, 3-1 MWC), who won their
thir
Bryans reach eighth Aussie doubles final >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world No. 1 twin Bryan brothers,
Bob and Mike, were come-from-behind semifinal winners Thursday at the
Australian Open.
The Bryans saved a match point and overcame a 2-5 deficit in
Mallon named 2013 U.S. Solheim Cup team captain >>
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Meg Mallon was named captain of the 2013
United States Solheim Cup team on Thursday at the PGA Merchandise Show.
She will have the task of trying to win back the Cup after the Americans lost
a heartbrea
In the FCS Huddle: URI recruiting really has eye on future >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For a second straight offseason, football
recruiting at the University of Rhode Island may be the toughest job in CAA
Football, yet the easiest in the Northeast Conference.
A year ago, URI head coach Joe T
McIlroy, Karlsson lead Abu Dhabi; Tiger 3 back >>
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rory McIlroy and Robert
Karlsson both fired rounds of five-under 67 on Thursday to share the opening-
round lead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Tiger Woods made his 2012 debut and pl
Anybody who knows about online sports betting knows MySportsbook.com! They are probably the most famous offshore sports gambling website located on the web! After nearly 10 years of online sportsbook service, MySportsbook.com is still impressing their visitors with great customer service, live odds, fast payouts, and an easy-to-use website. MySportsbook.com has everything that die-hard sports fans want. For those looking to bet on all major sporting events, look no further. Make MySportsbook.com your one-stop shop for NFL football, college football, baseball, baseketball, boxing, and horseracing.
MySportsbook.com has one distinct advantage over all other online sportsbooks: They have been in the football gambling industry the longest and have served the most satisfied customers. So if you're in the market for a new online sportsbook for the next upcoming season, be sure to check out MySportsbook.com today! We are absolutely positive that you will not be disappointed with this company.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting lines needs.
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.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting