Henin-Hardenne, Mauresmo snag wins on Day 3 in Madrid
Tennis Betting Lines
11/09/2006 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne qualified for the semifinals at the $3 million season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships on Thursday. Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo stayed alive for a berth in Saturday's semis with a victory over Martina Hingis on Day 3.
The third-seeded Henin-Hardenne improved to 2-0 this week by handling fifth- seeded Russian Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-4. Petrova went 1-2 in the Yellow Group at Madrid Arena.
Henin-Hardenne prevailed in 1 hour, 28 minutes with the help of three service breaks. The diminutive Belgian is now a dominant 9-2 lifetime against Petrova, including a 3-1 record this season.
The former world No. 1 Henin-Hardenne is trying to finish this season as the year-end No. 1. The Belgian star, who reached all four Grand Slam finals this year, going 1-3, is battling Maria Sharapova for the top spot in the rankings. The currently top-ranked Mauresmo will lose her spot when the new rankings are released next week.
Henin-Hardenne is a five-time major titlist, including wins at the last two French Opens.
The Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Mauresmo (1-1) snuck past the former world No. 1 Hingis 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, as the French star needed five match points to hold off the veteran Swiss. Hingis (1-2) would have qualified for the semis with a win on Day 3.
The reigning Championships titlist Mauresmo topped the eighth-seeded Hingis in 1 hour, 55 minutes, with the help of seven service breaks. The French stalwart fired seven aces at Hingis, but also demonstrated some loose play by committing six double faults.
Mauresmo and Hingis have now split 14 career matchups, with the Frenchwoman winning the last five meetings, including all three battles this season.
Mauresmo beat Mary Pierce in last year's all-French Championships finale in Los Angeles, while Hingis captured this event in 1998 and 2000.
This exclusive tournament features the top-eight women in the world. The players are divided into two four-women groups. The Yellow Group consists of Mauresmo, Henin-Hardenne, Petrova and Hingis, while an almost all-Russian Red Group boasts Sharapova (2-0), Svetlana Kuznetsova (1-0), Kim Clijsters (0-1) and Elena Dementieva (0-2). The field features four former Championships titlists (Clijsters, Hingis, Mauresmo and Sharapova) and five current or former No. 1s.
The top two players from each group will perform in Saturday's semifinals and the final will be held here on Sunday. The powerful Russians account for half of this week's field.
University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Penn State Nittany Lions will be without head coach Joe Paterno on the sidelines for just the third time in his career when his squad hosts the Temple Owls on Saturday. Paterno went over the game
<< Lions place Hall on IR
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions placed defensive end
James Hall on injured reserve Thursday with a shoulder injury.
Hall had 24 tackles and five sacks in seven games this season. For his career,
the seven-year vete
<< 49ers to look to Santa Clara for new stadium
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers may be
relocating to the city of Santa Clara.
The team announced that it will shift its efforts to build a new stadium from
San Francisco to Santa Clara after deciding
<< Sharks begin trek in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks try to keep their momentum going
forward tonight when they open a four-game road trip against the Los Angeles
Kings at the Staples Center.
The Sharks have won two straight and four of their last five ma
<< Lowly Flyers host Isles
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to pick up their first
victory in November when they welcome the New York Islanders to the Wachovia
Center tonight.
The Flyers' last win came on October 30 against Chicago, but the club is
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United midfielder Christian Gomez took home the coveted 2006 Major League Soccer MVP award on Thursday as the announcement was made at Pizza Hut Park, the site of Sunday's MLS Cup. "I'm very
Portland's Miles to have surgery >>
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers announced on
Thursday that forward Darius Miles will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his
right knee next Tuesday.
Miles, who has not appeared in any games this season, wil
Glavine and Wells file for free agency >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran left-handers Tom Glavine and David
Wells were the lone players to file for free agency on Thursday.
Glavine went 15-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 32 starts this season, his fourth with
the Mets after spe
Fulmer names Crompton starting QB >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer said
Thursday that redshirt freshman quarterback Jonathan Crompton will start on
Saturday against Arkansas.
Crompton replaced starter Eric Ainge, who aggravated an
Antropov leads Maple Leafs past Bruins >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nik Antropov had two goals and an assist to lead
the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 6-4 victory over the Boston Bruins at TD
Banknorth Garden.
Alexei Ponikarovsky had a goal and two assists and Bryan McCab
Marlins could start season without No. 2 starter Johnson
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
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The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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