Tipsarevic ousts Roddick in second round at U.S. Open

Tennis Betting Lines

09/02/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick suffered one of his earliest exits at the U.S. Open, falling to Serbian Janko Tipsarevic in four sets in a second-round encounter Wednesday night.

The ninth-seeded Roddick, who is the last American man to win a Grand Slam singles title by capturing the U.S. Open in 2003, had reached at least the third round each of the last four years. But on Wednesday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Tipsarevic had all the answers by beating Roddick thanks to a fabulous serve.

Tipsarevic, whose best result at a Grand Slam is the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2007, captured a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) victory. Tipsarevic fired 16 aces, one less than his opponent. The Serbian also had 66 winners.

Despite struggling with balky ankles during the match, Tipsarevic was able to use strong net play to top Roddick in the tiebreaker. He scored a mini-break for a 3-2 lead when Roddick hit a return long. Later, on match point, Tipsarevic added a net winner to finish the battle at the stroke of midnight. It's the best result for Tipsarevic at the U.S. Open in this his seventh time playing in Flushing Meadows.

"I was playing really well, serving really well, trying not to finish the point too early, just finding my momentum in the right game," Tipsarevic said.

Because of Roddick's exit, the only ex-champion still in the field is Roger Federer. The second-seeded Federer, the champion here from 2004-08 plays his second-round match against Germany's Andreas Beck on Thursday. Roddick was the runner-up to Federer in 2006.

Former runner-up Andy Murray was an easy opening-round winner Wednesday on a hot day at the Open. The fourth-seeded Murray mauled helpless Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 51 minutes on yet another scorching day in the Big Apple. The British star doused Lacko with the help of six service breaks in the predictable encounter at Ashe Stadium, where the on-court temperature soared over 100 degrees for a third straight day.

"It was good," Murray said of his opener. "It wasn't necessarily the best tennis, but tricky conditions out there. It was very windy on the court. It was a guy I've never played against on the tour. I haven't really seen much of him play, so took a little time to get used to his game. But I did enough to win in straight sets, and that was the most important thing."

Murray was the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up to Swiss icon Federer and also lost to Federer in this year's Australian Open title tilt.

Up next for Murray will be rising 6-foot-5 Jamaican Dustin Brown.

In another second-round encounter, 17th-seeded Gael Monfils topped Igor Andreev, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

An eye-catching upset came when tough French lefthander Michael Llodra ousted seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 26 minutes. Llodra required a trainer to work on his foot during the second set, but the Frenchman returned to the court, unfazed by the ailment.

The stunned Berdych was unable to break Llodra's quality serve on Day 3.

The 6-foot-5 Berdych reached the semifinals at the French Open back in June and landed in his first career Grand Slam final at the All England Club in July, losing to world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal. The big Czech had been 11-2 in his previous 13 Grand Slam matches.

American teenager Ryan Harrison, making his U.S. Open debut, upset 15th-seeded former top-five star Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4, while 20th-seeded American Sam Querrey got past NCAA champion and fellow American Bradley Klahn 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Ljubicic, a Masters event champion at Indian Wells earlier this season, struggled against the intense heat and the 18-year-old Harrison. Querrey is a four-time champion on the ATP World Tour this year.

Russian Mikhail Youzhny, the 12th seed, blew past Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3. Fourteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro came from behind to best Italian Potito Starace, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), while No. 18 seed John Isner of the U.S. upended Frederico Gil of Portugal, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

Also, 25th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka waltzed past Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, the 29th seed, defeated fellow countryman Tobias Kamke, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Additional opening-round wins came for the aforementioned Brown, Frenchman Gilles Simon, Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela, Israel's Dudi Sela, Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli, Romanian Victor Hanescu and Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The hot Stakhovsky, who topped Aussie Peter Luczak in four sets on Wednesday, is fresh off his hardcourt title in New Haven last week.

The 2010 U.S. Open titlist will claim at least $1.7 million.

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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies  

It's that time of year folks.  Betting on American Idol Season 9.  And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below.  With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.

No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.

Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.

Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.

Odds to Win

There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.

All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.

A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.

Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.

Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol. 

Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.

If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.

Elimination Props

Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.

Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.

Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups

The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.

Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.