Federer gains seventh straight U.S. Open semifinal

Tennis Betting Lines

09/09/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer advanced to his seventh straight U.S. Open semifinal by avenging a loss earlier this year to Swede Robin Soderling with a three-set triumph Wednesday night.

The second-seeded Federer, attempting to win the tournament for the sixth time, earned a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over the fifth-seeded Soderling in windy conditions in the final match of the night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Next up for the super Swiss will be third seed Novak Djokovic, who took out 17th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1, 6-2, in the day session.

Federer, who owns a men's record 16 major titles, including this year's Aussie Open crown, fired 18 aces to just two for his opponent. Federer won points on 50 of his 58 first serves and had 36 winners.

"If I can't serve in the wind I've got a problem here," Federer said. "You could wake me up at two in the morning or 4 in the morning, I can hit serves. It's what we do and I'm so happy it worked so well tonight."

Soderling, the reigning two-time French Open runner-up who snapped Federer's streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances by winning in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros earlier this year, had just 16 winners and couldn't solve the gusty conditions or his opponent's serve.

Federer, who lost to Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in last year's final here and was the U.S. Open champ from 2004-08, has not dropped a set yet at this fortnight. He moved to 13-1 all-time against Soderling, also beating him in last year's U.S. Open quarters and last year's French Open finale. This was their fifth straight meeting in a Grand Slam tourney.

A great drop shot gave Federer a break of serve in the first set for a 4-3 lead. Soderling was 0-for-4 on break point chances in the set and Federer held at love his final two service games.

In the second set, Federer was actually broken in the fourth game to square the set at 2-2. But he broke back on a passing shot and later used an ace down the middle to finish off the set.

A wide forehand from Federer gave Soderling a break in the third for a 5-3 lead, but Federer won the final four games, thanks in part to mistakes from the Swede. Soderling barked at himself after failing to come up with a return at the net as the set was soon evened at 5-5.

Soderling then fought off one break point, but a backhand wide gave Federer the big advantage for a 6-5 lead, putting the match on his racquet. He held at love in the final game, fittingly ending the encounter with an ace.

Earlier in the day, a tough first set went to Djokovic when Monfils played a rather poor tiebreak, and the second set was a throw-away one for the Frenchman, as the Serb simply dominated the stanza.

In the third set, Monfils had a chance to break Djokovic to pull within 3-4 and then serve to tie things up, but the Serb managed a key hold to go up 5-2 and then broke his French counterpart to reach the semis.

Djokovic moved on in 2 hours, 28 minutes, as he broke Monfils no less than seven times en route to victory. The Serb tallied 13 more unforced errors (50-37) on Day 10 of the fortnight, but he also connected for 21 more winners (38-17).

The 23-year-old Djokovic is now a perfect 5-0 lifetime against Monfils, including a first-round win here in New York back in 2005.

The former world No. 2 Djokovic will perform in his fourth U.S. Open and ninth career Grand Slam semifinal (2-6). The steady Serbian star was the 2007 U.S. Open runner-up to the great Federer and captured the Aussie Open championship in 2008.

Federer is 10-5 all-time against Djokovic, including a straight-set semifinal victory at the U.S. Open a year ago. In fact, Federer has eliminated the Serbian in Flushing Meadows each of the last three years.

Two more quarterfinals will be staged here on Thursday, when top-ranked Rafael Nadal meets eighth-seeded fellow Spanish lefthander Fernando Verdasco and 12th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny takes on 25th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. Nadal is the reigning Wimbledon and French Open champ and owns eight major titles overall, but he still needs a U.S. Open one to complete a rare men's career Grand Slam. Youzhny reached the final four here back in 2006.

Nadal is a laughable 10-0 lifetime against Verdasco, including 2-0 in Grand Slam events.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.