11/08/2008 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian Vera Zvonareva and American Venus Williams both won their semifinal matches on Saturday at the season-ending $4.55 million Sony Ericsson Championships.
Williams, the seventh seed, downed top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 at Khalifa Tennis Complex.
Williams improved to 4-5 in her career against Jankovic and avenged losses in Rome and Stuttgart earlier this year.
Jankovic will finish this year as the No. 1 player in the world.
Williams will next face eighth-seed Zvonareva, who beat compatriot and No. 5 seed Elena Dementieva 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3. Neither Russian hit a single ace in the two hour 20-minute battle.
It was the sixth time that Dementieva and Zvonareva faced each other, with Dementieva leading their all-time series, 4-2.
Williams is 5-1 lifetime against Zvonareva and has won five straight matches after dropping her first match against Zvonareva in 2003 in the French Open.
The winner of this week's event will collect $1.34 million.
<< Hoffenheim signs defender Jaissle to new contract
Hoffenheim, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hoffenheim has secured the future of
highly-rated defender Matthias Jaissle until 2011 with a new contract.
The 20-year-old stopper has featured in eight of the 11 Bundesliga games played
by the sur
<< Hamlin takes pole for Nationwide race at Phoenix
Avondale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Denny Hamlin won the pole for Saturday's Hefty
Odor Block 200 Nationwide Series race at the Phoenix International Raceway.
Hamlin, who went out 38th in the 50-driver qualifying order, turned in a lap
around
<< Nasri's double leads Arsenal over United
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samir Nasri scored a pair of goals to help
Arsenal down Manchester United, 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Frenchman put Arsenal ahead midway through the opening half
with a
<< Bayern's Klinsmann searching for another striker
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich coach Jurgen Klinsmann has
confirmed that his club are on the lookout for a new striker in the January
transfer window.
Bayern Munich already have Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose and Lukas
Wells and Ohio State pound Northwestern >>
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wells ran for 140 yards and two
touchdowns, and Terrelle Pryor threw for three scores and 197 yards as the
12th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Northwestern, 45-10, at Ryan Field.
Brian
Ringer leads 18th-ranked Spartans over Purdue >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javon Ringer ran for 121 yards and a pair
of scores to lead 18th-ranked Michigan State to a 21-7 victory over Purdue at
Spartan Stadium.
Ringer carried the ball 32 times and kept the Boilermakers on th
Stull leads Panthers in rout of Cardinals >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Stull threw for 216 yards and a
touchdown, leading the 25th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers to a 41-7 victory over
the Louisville Cardinals.
The win marked Pittsburgh's (7-2, 3-1 Big East) first vi
McCoy, Longhorns crush Baylor >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colt McCoy threw five touchdown passes, as
fifth-ranked Texas bounced back from last week's loss with a 45-21 blowout of
Baylor at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
McCoy went 26-for-37 with 300 yards and
Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action. Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.
To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards
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