Nadal, Roddick advance in France

Tennis Betting Lines

05/25/2010 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former top-ranked stars Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick posted contrasting first-round victories Tuesday at the 2010 French Open.

The second-seeded and four-time Roland Garros champion Nadal crushed helpless Italian Gianni Mina 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in 2 hours, 23 minutes.

The amazing Nadal is now a career 32-1 at the French Open, where he titled four years in a row from 2005-08. The strapping Spaniard was shocked by Sweden's Robin Soderling in the fourth round here a year ago.

The scorching-hot Nadal has won his last 16 matches, all on red clay, including lucrative ATP Masters titles in Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid.

Up next for the six-time major champion will be Argentine Horacio Zeballos.

The sixth-seeded Roddick, meanwhile, needed all five sets to overcome Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 on Court Chatrier.

In the fifth and final set Tuesday, Roddick got the break of serve he needed in the seventh game, to grab a 4-3 edge, then held serve and broke again to close out the tight match, which came to an end on an untimely Nieminen double fault, the Finn's seventh of the day.

The 2009 Wimbledon runner-up and former U.S. Open champion Roddick advanced in 3 hours, 19 minutes with the help of 19 aces. The American slugger also recorded twice as many breaks (4-2) as his Finnish counterpart.

Roddick enjoyed his best-ever French Open stay here last year when he moved into the round of 16, before losing to French crowd favorite Gael Monfils.

Up next for Roddick will be unheralded Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.

Seventh-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco joined Nadal and Roddick in the second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 pasting of Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

The surging Verdasco has been playing great tennis during this European clay- court season, having reached three finals and winning a title in Barcelona. He was a runner-up to Nadal at the Monte Carlo Masters and last week's runner-up to Richard Gasquet in Nice.

Ninth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and 16th-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero also moved on, as Ferrer dismantled France's David Guez 6-1, 6-3, 6-1, while the former world No. 1 and former French Open champion Ferrero dismissed Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas 6-4, 6-3, 6-1. Ferrero titled here in 2003 and was the Roland Garros runner-up in 2002.

Oft-injured American Robby Ginepri surprised his 18th-seeded countryman Sam Querrey on Day 3, posting a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-2 decision. Querrey titled on clay in Belgrade earlier this month and was Ginepri's teammate at last week's ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf, where the United States finished as the runner-up to clay-court stalwart Argentina.

A tired Querrey said after the match that he was ready to go home.

"When I lost that second set tiebreaker and got broken in the first game, I was done," the 22nd-ranked Querrey said after losing to the 98th-ranked Ginepri.

"I wanted to be off the court. I started thinking about leaving and pulling out of the doubles and how much I wanted to go home, how much I wasn't enjoying it."

"You're never gonna win a match if you're just being negative. I'm only hurting myself."

"Mentally not there. I mean, you know what, I don't know. I'm just not enjoying myself out there. It's been like that on and off for a while."

Asked is he was going to stay on to play doubles with compatriot John Isner, Querrey said: "I am right now. I won't be in about an hour."

"I just need to mentally get it together in my head," Querrey added. "I need to enjoy myself out there. I need to enjoy playing. If a guy has a break point against me, I should know, 'Hey, I've got one of the biggest serves out there. Let's see you win this point off me.'"

"But like I said, I just tank some points."

In other action involving seeds, No. 22 Austrian Jurgen Melzer handled Israeli Dudi Sela 7-5, 6-2, 6-4, little-known Slovenian Grega Zemlja upended No. 26 Argentine Juan Monaco 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and No. 30 German Philipp Kohlschreiber bested Slovakian Karol Beck 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, 6-1.

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Football Betting Lines

The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.

Bet NFL Sports Lines

Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.

Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.

A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.

Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.

Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.

Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.

And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.

For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.

2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win

Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1

Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1

Donald Brown (IND) 5/1

Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1

Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1

Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1

Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1

Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1

Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1

Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1

Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1

Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1

Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1

Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1

Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1

Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1

Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1

LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1

Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2

Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1

Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1

Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1

Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1

Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1

Jason Smith (STL) 40/1

Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1

Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1

Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1

Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2

Pat White (MIA) 30/1

Field (Any Other Player) 9/1

Betting Line

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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