Youzhny, Nadal reach U.S. Open semis
Tennis Betting Lines
09/09/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny and eight-time major titlist Rafael Nadal won their quarterfinal matches on Thursday at the 2010 U.S. Open.
Nadal, the world No. 1, handled eighth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the night match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion, Nadal needs a U.S. Open title to complete the career Golden Slam, which is all four majors and an Olympic gold medal.
If Nadal can capture the title here, he would become just the seventh man in history to complete the career Grand Slam.
Nadal, who has yet to drop a set at this year's event, was actually trailing 4-2 in the first set. However, Nadal won the next three games to turn the tables against his fellow Spaniard. After each player held serve, Nadal broke Verdasco's serve to take the first set.
With the score tied at 2-2 in the second stanza, Nadal won three consecutive games to take control. He cruised to victory from there to set up a meeting with Youzhny in Saturday's semifinals.
Verdasco lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarters here last year.
The 12th-seeded Youzhny earned a 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over the 25th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka in four hours at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Russian advanced to a Grand Slam semifinal for the second time in his career. Youzhny, who reached the semis here back in 2006, is the first Russian into the semifinals of a Grand Slam since Marat Safin at Wimbledon in 2008.
Wawrinka, playing in his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, cruised past Youzhny in the first set before things heated up in the second.
The tight second stanza ultimately went to a tiebreak, which saw the Swiss stave off three set points before the Russian finally captured it with a smash forehand winner.
Wawrinka then eased his way past Youzhny in the third, serving the set out with some big blasts.
Youzhny had no trouble taking the fourth set after racing out to a 3-0 lead. The Russian kept the momentum going in the final frame by breaking Wawrinka's serve. Youzhny then held serve and seemed to be in control.
The Swiss, though, fought right back with a hold and break of his own to even things at 2-2. The Russian followed with a break and hold to take a 4-2 edge. After each player held serve, Youzhny broke Wawrinka's serve to take the match.
Nadal owns a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series with Youzhny.
Saturday's other semi will pit second-seeded Swiss icon Roger Federer against third-seeded Serbian star Djokovic. Federer is 10-5 lifetime against Djokovic, including wins here in New York in each of the previous three years. The Swiss topped the Serb in the 2007 U.S. Open final and the 2008 and 2009 semifinals.
The 16-time major titlist Federer is 4-1 versus the former Aussie Open champion Djokovic in Grand Slam competition.
Federer has played in the last six U.S. Open finals, including a loss against Juan Martin del Potro here a year ago. The reigning Aussie Open champion Federer captured five straight U.S. Open championships from 2004-08.
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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.