Azarenka pulls out of Dubai
Tennis Betting Lines
02/22/2012 -
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 star
Victoria Azarenka decided to pull out of the $2 million Dubai Duty Free
Championships, citing a left ankle injury.
The Belarusian Azarenka suffered the injury during a semifinal match in Doha
last week.
"Obviously it's very disappointing, but, I mean, it's life. It's sport. I just
have to take care of it and that's it," Azarenka said. "I take a couple of
days off just to see and hopefully it will settle down for as long that I
don't need to take a scan or anything.
"But I just need to have my peace of mind and probably will still do the same
just to make sure there is nothing really serious. But it has to be taken care
of right away."
The 22-year-old Azarenka is off to a sizzling 17-0 start this year, which
includes three titles. She captured her first-ever Grand Slam championship at
the Australian Open last month, which propelled her to the top of the
rankings, where she supplanted Danish star Caroline Wozniacki.
Azarenka, who was the 2010 runner-up in Dubai, was last week's big winner
in Doha.
Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open titlist Li Na and former
Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva were also forced to pull out
of Dubai because of injury or illness.
Lucky-loser Casey Dellacqua replaced Azarenka in the Dubai draw and the Aussie
promptly lost to German Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-2 in the second round on
Wednesday. Azarenka had received a bye into the second round.
Also on Wednesday, fourth-seeded U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur saved all
nine break points she faced and reached the third round with a hard-fought
6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 victory over Czech Lucie Safarova on the hardcourts at
Dubai Tennis Stadium. The Aussie Stosur lost to Azarenka 6-1, 6-2 in last
week's finale at the Qatar Open.
In other action involving seeds in Dubai, No. 5 Pole Agnieszka Radwanska
downed Israeli Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4, No. 8 Serb Jelena Jankovic handled
Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2, and No. 9 German Sabine Lisicki whipped
Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-3. The former No. 1 Jankovic was the Dubai runner-
up in 2005.
Meanwhile, another former world No. 1 Serb and former French Open champion,
Ana Ivanovic, got past Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) on Day 3.
The reigning Dubai titlist and former No. 1 Wozniacki is also on Wednesday's
schedule, as the Dane will take on Romanian Simona Halep. Wozniacki topped
Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in last year's finale here.
The 2012 Dubai champ will earn $446,778.
<< Owls and Explorers meet in clash of Philly rivals
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<< Indiana steps out of conference to entertain NC Central
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers host the
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Hoosiers hold
<< Spartans and Gophers mix it up in Big Ten action
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Michigan State Spartans
will try to remain in sole possession of the Big Ten Conference's top spot as
they head to Williams Arena for a league bout with the Minnesota Golden
Gophers.
This
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In two seasons in Kansas City, the 26-year-old Holland has posted a 5-2 record
with a
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Normal, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Wichita State Shockers set their
sights on the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, as they head to
Redbird Arena to take on Illinois State in conference bout.
This will be the second
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prospects to open the NFL Combine on Wednesday.
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with the Danish si
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Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans will replace New
York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert in Saturday's Slam Dunk contest.
Shumpert withdrew from the event because of left patella tendinitis.
Evans will vie for the ti
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25
NEW 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.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
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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American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6
The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.
Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com. "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.
It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis. It's like Week 1 of the NFL. Pre-season means nada!
We do know the 24 finalists however.
Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24. He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway. He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien.
Brandon Rogers - Who?
Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition. He should go a good distance.
Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was. And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition. He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice! People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way.
"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks. He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes. But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.
A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”
Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes.
"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate. "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past. He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far. Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."
Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts)
And the others:
Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter
The girls
"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis. "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has. The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive. I think she will go far."
Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.
"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams. Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth. "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.
Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.
Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.
Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan
MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with).
Last two contestants will be?
1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)
2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)
2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)
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