Ivanovic wins, Safina loses in first round in Stanford
Tennis Betting Lines
07/27/2010 - Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Dinara Safina of Russia had different results in their respective first-round matches as wild cards Monday at the $700,000 Bank of the West Classic tennis event.
Ivanovic, who has dropped down to No. 63 in the world rankings, bested Russian Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3, 6-2, on the hardcourts at Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Kleybanova had beaten Ivanovic in two previous meetings this year.
Safina, however, was ousted by Kimiko Date Krumm, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 6-2, in two hours, 22 minutes. Safina, currently the 35th ranked player, lost to the native of Japan in the first round of this year's French Open and has dropped six consecutive matches overall.
Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, the tournament's only seeded player in action on Monday, had a tough time disposing of South African Chanelle Scheepers, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.
In the other two first-round matches, Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia cruised past American Hilary Barte, 6-2, 6-2, and Olga Govortsova of Belarus made quick work of Russian Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1, 6-1.
This week's top seeds are French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur and Russian star Elena Dementieva, who has been sidelined by a calf injury since retiring from her semifinal match against eventual champion Francesca Schiavone at the French Open early last month.
France's Marion Bartoli, seeded fourth this week, surprised American Venus Williams in last year's Stanford finale.
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan went on the 15-day disabled list Monday night due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Coghlan, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, is hit
<< Marlins hang on to beat Giants
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Uggla and Mike Stanton homered to
back the strong pitching of Ricky Nolasco, as Florida held on for a 4-3 win
over the San Francisco Giants to open a four-game set.
Nolasco (11-7) allowed fou
<< Haren injured in debut with Angels; Big Papi powers Red Sox
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Ortiz homered twice and knocked in three
runs, powering the Boston Red Sox past the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 6-3,
in Dan Haren's injury-shortened debut with his new team.
Haren (0-1), acquired by L
<< Marlins' left fielder Coghlan headed for DL
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Florida Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan is headed for the disabled list with a torn meniscus in his left knee and he could need surgery.Coghlan's injury was revealed in an MRI Monday. He was hurt while delivering a pie in the
<< Gulbis, Tipsarevic open with wins in LA
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernests Gulbis and Janko Tipsarevic were a
pair of seeded winners Monday in first-round play at the $700,000 Farmers
Classic tennis event.
The fifth-seeded Latvian Gulbis notched a 7-5, 7-5 win ove
NEW YORK (AP) -New York Giants rookie safety Chad Jones is heading home to New Orleans after a nearly monthlong stay in the hospital.The Giants say the third-round draft pick from LSU was scheduled to be released from the Hospital for Special Surger
Yao says he may quit if foot doesn't fully heal >>
BEIJING (AP) -Houston Rockets center Yao Ming says he may quit basketball after next season if he doesn't fully recover from his foot injury.In comments to Chinese state media Monday, Yao sounded far from optimistic about his future and also made a
Penguins PA announcer John Barbero dies at age 65 >>
PITTSBURGH (AP) -Longtime Pittsburgh Penguins public address announcer John Barbero has died of a brain tumor at 65.His family says he died Monday night.Barbero worked Penguins games for more than 30 years, beginning in 1972. His last one was the te
Montana to play at Tennessee in 2011 >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Montana football team will
open its 2011 season with a game at the University of Tennessee.
The matchup, scheduled for Sept. 3, is the first between the visitors from the
Big Sky Conference a
Twins aim to continue offensive onslaught in Kansas City >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins have been scoring runs in bunches
during a current three-game winning streak. With the way Carl Pavano has
pitched of late, the American League Central contenders may not need such an
offensive outburst wh
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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