Djokovic, Murray move on Down Under
Tennis Betting Lines
01/17/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bidding to win his third straight major, defending champion and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia eased through his first-round match Tuesday at the Australian Open.
Meanwhile, the man he beat in last year's final, Andy Murray, needed to rally from a first-set loss to win his opening match.
The 24-year-old Djokovic lost two of the first three games to Italy's Paolo Lorenzi, then won a whopping 17 in a row to finish off a commanding 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 win at the season's first Grand Slam event.
Meanwhile, a fourth-seeded Murray, who lost in straight sets to Djokovic in last year's Aussie final, needed four sets to down promising American Ryan Harrison, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist Murray has been the Melbourne runner-up the last two years. He'll meet Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Thursday.
And American Andy Roddick, a four-time Aussie semifinalist who is seeded 15th at this particular fortnight, had little trouble in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 win over Dutchman Robin Haase.
Roddick's second-round opponent will be long-time rival and fellow former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.
Battling the heat, Djokovic popped four aces among his 22 winners against Lorenzi, who committed 30 unforced errors and won just 56 percent of his first serves at Melbourne Park.
"It took me, you know, a couple games to get into the right rhythm," Djokovic said. "It's a bit difficult conditions. I think it was really the hottest day since I've arrived here, so I'm trying to get used to that."
Djokovic, of course, began his brilliant 2011 season with a victory at the Australian Open, finishing the year with a 70-6 record. He didn't lose last year until Roger Federer got him in the semifinals at the French Open in June.
Still, Djokovic bounced back to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and owns four career Grand Slam titles, including his first Aussie championship back in 2008.
He is trying to become only the fourth player on the men's side to win three or more Australian Open titles in the Open era (since 1968).
"I feel right now -- as I said on the court -- I feel much more complete as a player and as a person as well," said Djokovic, who moved on to face Colombian Santiago Giraldo in the second round.
The powerful Djokovic has won 33 of his last 35 Grand Slam matches, dating back to the 2010 U.S. Open.
"I think it was a learning process for me in the last couple of years. I just have more confidence that I'm playing on right now," Djokovic said. "I just believe that I can win, especially against the biggest rivals in the major events."
Among the other top seeds playing during Tuesday's 32-match slate, No. 5 David Ferrer of Spain was a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Portuguese Rui Machado, sixth-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga held off Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4. Ferrer titled in Auckland last week. Tsonga was a titlist in Doha two weeks ago and the 2008 Aussie Open runner-up to Djokovic. Tipsarevic was a finalist in Chennai two weeks back.
Ferrer's second-round opponent will be American Ryan Sweeting, while Tsonga will meet Brazilian Ricardo Mello.
In other action involving top-20 seeds, No. 12 Gilles Simon of France outlasted Thai Danai Udomchoke 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2; No. 14 Gael Monfils of France handled Aussie Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-3; No. 17 Richard Gasquet of France topped quality Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1; and No. 19 Serb Viktor Troicki came all the way back to stop former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
A mild upset came when Frenchman Nicolas Mahut took out 29th-seeded Czech veteran Radek Stepanek 7-5, 7-5, 6-3.
Meanwhile, 23rd-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic, who titled in India two weeks ago, drilled Italian Filippo Volandri 6-4, 6-0, 6-2; 24th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori defeated France's Stephane Robert 6-1, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0; 26th-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers snuck past American Jesse Levine 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 5-7, 6-3; 27th-seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela dismissed American journeyman Michael Russell 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4; and 32nd-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. whipped Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
The aforementioned Aussie hero Hewitt advanced with a 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 Day-2 victory over German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe. The two-time Grand Slam champion was the Australian Open runner-up back in 2005.
Hewitt will meet Roddick for a 14th time on the ATP World Tour, with the American holding a slight 7-6 lifetime advantage. Hewitt beat Roddick in the '05 Aussie semis.
Several other men reached the round of 64, including Sweeting, Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau, and German Philipp Petzschner. Sweeting topped German Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Benneteau was a runner-up in Sydney last week.
The second round will commence Wednesday, including matches for former champions Rafael Nadal and Federer, as well as American Mardy Fish and former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro.
The second-seeded French Open champion Nadal, who captured the 2009 Aussie Open crown and owns 10 major titles, will face former world No. 2 and oft- injured German Tommy Haas, while the 16-time major titlist Federer, who owns no less than four Aussie Open championships, will battle German Andreas Beck.
The eighth-seeded Fish will encounter Colombian Alejandro Falla, while an 11th-seeded del Potro will take on Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Also on the Day-3 schedule will be seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 10th- seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 16th-seeded 6-foot-9 American John Isner and former Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, who will be opposed by 21st-seeded Swiss slugger Stan Wawrinka. Isner should have his hands full with former top-five star and former Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian.
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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.”
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