Kvitova, Sharapova reach semis at Aussie Open
Tennis Betting Lines
01/24/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former Melbourne titlist Maria Sharapova reached the semifinals Wednesday at the Australian Open.
Kvitova took down Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 6-4 in just under two hours to secure a spot in the semifinals. The Czech hit 36 winners, compared to just 17 for Errani.
The 21-year-old Kvitova, the No. 2 seed, rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the second set to become the first Czech woman to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open since Jana Novotna in 1991.
Kvitova beat Sharapova in last year's Wimbledon finale and is also the reigning WTA Championships titlist.
"Well, yeah, of course, I'm really like to be here in the semifinal here in the Australian," Kvitova said. "Yeah, is the second my best result in a Grand Slam, so really it's nice."
The 24-year-old Errani was playing in her first-ever major quarterfinal.
Kvitova will next take on the fourth-seeded Sharapova, who handled fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-3.
Sharapova hit 26 winners and won 71 percent of her first serves to advance to semis in Melbourne for the fist time since winning in 2008. Sharapova improved to a perfect 5-0 in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.
Makarova failed to build off her huge upset of Serena Williams in the fourth round on Monday.
Kvitova has a 2-1 lifetime record against Sharapova.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Fisher scored the eventual game-winning goal late in the opening period as the Nashville Predators topped the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-1, at United Center. Craig Smith and Colin Wilson also scored, while
<< Fisher reaches milestone as San Diego State downs Wyoming
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chase Tapley and Jamaal Franklin netted 12
points apiece, helping Steve Fisher earn his 250th career victory at San Diego
State as the 13th-ranked Aztecs took down Wyoming, 52-42.
Fisher is second on the
<< Lehtonen, Stars shut out Ducks
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kari Lehtonen made 27 saves for his first
shutout of the season to help the Dallas Stars take a 1-0 win over the Anaheim
Ducks.
Alex Goligoski scored the only goal of the game for the Stars, who avoid
<< Miller leads No. 1 Kentucky past Georgia
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darius Miller scored a game-high 19 points off
the bench Tuesday night, and No. 1 Kentucky began its second stint as the
country's top-ranked team with a 57-44 win over Georgia.
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St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Kunitz notched the winner in the fourth
round of the shootout to send Pittsburgh past St. Louis, 3-2, at Scottrade
Center.
James Neal and Steve Sullivan scored in regulation for the Penguins, who en
Calgary, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Antti Niemi made 25 saves to record his third shutout of the season as the San Jose Sharks blanked the Calgary Flames, 1-0, at Scotiabank Saddledome. Niemi, who backstopped the Chicago Blackhawks all the w
Bargnani returns, lifts Toronto over Phoenix >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani returned from a prolonged
absence to net a season-high 36 points as the Raptors downed the Suns, 99-96,
on Tuesday.
Bargnani, who missed the previous six games with a strained left calf,
Coyotes trim Senators >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Radim Vrbata scored the deciding goal early in
the third period, as Phoenix slipped by Ottawa, 3-2.
Gilbert Brule and Shane Doan also lit the lamp to back a 32-save performance
by Mike Smith for the Coyotes,
McMillan helps Wild edge Avalanche >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carson McMillan's third-period goal was the
difference as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, at
Pepsi Center.
Justin Falk and Dany Heatley also scored for the Wild, who won bac
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Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Hodgson scored the winner in the fifth-
round of the shootout to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 win over the
Edmonton Oilers.
In the fifth round, Hodgson buried a wrister between the pads of
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.