Bartoli, Sharapova reach second round in Stanford

Tennis Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Marion Bartoli and former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova were first-round victors Tuesday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event.

The former Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli handled American Ashley Harkleroad 6-1, 6-4 on the hardcourts at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, while Sharapova straight-setted Zheng Jie of China, 6-4, 7-5.

Bartoli, seeded fourth this week, surprised American Venus Williams in last year's Stanford finale and was the runner-up here in 2008. The Frenchwoman lost to Williams in the 2007 Wimbledon final.

In other seeded play: sixth-seeded Shahar Peer of Israel recovered from a slow start to upend Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3; No. 7 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium downed China's Yung-Jan Chan, 6-3, 6-1; and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, seeded eighth, cruised past Ayumi Morita of Japan, 6-0, 6-2.

American Melanie Oudin defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, the 2008 champion, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-3.

Other first-round winners included Maria Kirilenko, Olga Savchuk and Christina McHale, who ousted Mirjana Lucic, Jill Craybas and Kai-Chen Chang, respectively.

This week's top seeds, both of whom received opening-round byes, are French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur and Russian star Elena Dementieva, who has been sidelined by a calf injury since retiring from her semifinal match against Francesca Schiavone at the French Open early last month. Stosur lost to Schiavone in the finale at Roland Garros.

Wsportsbetting Tennis Betting News

<< Hot Fish pulls out of LA event; Blake advances
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot American Mardy Fish pulled out of the $700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event on Tuesday, citing fatigue and an ankle injury. An eighth-seeded Fish was scheduled to meet German Benjamin Beck

<< Jack Roush hospitalized following plane crash
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush racing, was hospitalized Tuesday night following a plane crash at Wittman Air field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Roush was landing his Hawker Beechcraft Premier jet when the crash took

<< Lackey beats old team as Red Sox use late surge
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returned to his former stomping grounds and pitched 7 1/3 quality innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Angels in the middle installment of a three-game series. Lackey (10-5

<< Lackey beat old team as Red Sox use late surge
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey returned to his former stomping grounds and pitched 7 1/3 quality innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-2 win over the Angels in the middle installment of a three-game series. Lackey (10-5

<< Uribe, Renteria homer in eighth as Giants nip Marlins
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Uribe led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a tie-breaking homer off Brian Sanches and Edgar Renteria added a two-run shot later in the frame, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 win

Warriors' Lin hopes to beat Harvard stereotypes >>
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -The first Taiwanese-American signed by an NBA team hopes to overcome the negative stereotype of playing college basketball at Harvard, and eventually wants to be a minister in an inner-city neighborhood.Undrafted point guard Jer

Magic extend Van Gundy >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Orlando Magic have extended the contract of head coach Stan Van Gundy through the 2012-13 season. The team also announced Alex Martins has been promoted to team president and Otis Smith to president of ba

Panthers agree to terms with Clausen >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Panthers have reportedly agreed to terms with rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen. According to the Charlotte Observer, Clausen has a four-year deal that could be worth as much as $6.3 million. T

McCourty comes to terms with Patriots >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots and first-round draft pick Devin McCourty have agreed to terms of a contract. McCourty's agent, Andy Simms, posted the news on his Twitter feed Wednesday morning. Terms of the

Blue Jackets re-sign Stralman >>
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -The Columbus Blue Jackets and defenseman Anton Stralman have agreed on a one-year contract, just minutes before they were to go to arbitration on Wednesday morning.General manager Scott Howson announced the re-signing.Stralman,

Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

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.”

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards