Baghdatis advances in New Haven

Tennis Betting Lines

08/24/2010 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marcos Baghdatis was an easy second-round winner in a rainy Tuesday at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.

Baghdatis, a former Aussie Open runner-up and a runner-up at the U.S. Open Series event in Washington, D.C. three weeks ago, had no problems taking down Igor Andreev in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

The big upset of the day saw Lukas Lacko of Slovenia take down second-seeded Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-0.

Former top-20 Czech Radek Stepanek, a lucky-loser this week, upended the third-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who is on the mend from a knee injury, 6-2, 6-4 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. This marked Gonzalez's first match since the French Open.

In other action involving top-10 seeds, No. 5 Kazakhstani Andrey Golubev grounded Argentine Maximo Gonzalez 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, and No. 8 German Florian Mayer mauled Czech Jan Hajek 6-3, 6-1 on Day 3 here.

Also on Tuesday, No 12. Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker downed Russian Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4.

In a night match, Spain's Tommy Robredo, the sixth seed, bounced back from a first-set loss to take down American Taylor Dent 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Mild upsets came when Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili advanced past 11th-seeded Xavier Malisse when the Belgian retired trailing 4-2 in the first set. Also, Russian Evgeny Korolev clipped 13th-seeded German Michael Berrer 6-4, 7-5.

In other play involving seeds, No. 14 Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela overcame disappointing American Donald Young 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, No. 15 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan leveled German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-1, and No. 16 Romanian Victor Hanescu handled German Daniel Brands 6-3, 6-4.

One other second-rounder saw Ukrainian Illya Marchenko douse Canadian qualifier Philip Bester 6-3, 6-3.

The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $93,630.

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Del Mar, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Richard's Kid, trained by Bob Baffert, will defend his crown in Saturday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar versus nine challengers. The winner of the 1 1/4-mile stakes will automatically gain entry i

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Roy Oswalt became the first Phillies pitcher to play a position in the field in 39 years after Ryan Howard was ejected in the 14th inning on Tuesday night.Oswalt caught a routine fly ball from Astros catcher Jason Castro, earning

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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."

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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