Azarenka outduels Clijsters, reaches Aussie finals

Tennis Betting Lines

01/26/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka ended Kim Clijsters' run at consecutive Australian Open titles Thursday, besting the four-time Grand Slam champion in a tense three-set semifinal battle.

Azarenka, seeded third, reached her first major final by outlasting the defending champion, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, in two hours, 12 minutes at Rod Laver Arena.

The 22-year-old became the first Belarusian woman to reach a Grand Slam final since Natasha Zvereva did so at Roland Garros in 1988 when she was representing U.S.S.R.

In doing so, she ended another memorable performance Down Under by Clijsters, who has stated she will retire after the Summer Olympics in London.

If this was, in fact, the Belgian's final visit to the season's first major, she went down fighting. Azarenka broke Clijsters' second serve of the match, then fought off four break chances in the proceeding game.

Azarenka held serve with relative ease the rest of the opening set to stay in the driver's seat, but Clijsters began her comeback by breaking at love on Azarenka's service game in the second.

Clijsters, the 11th seed, quickly evened the match before falling behind 4-1 in the third. She held serve and trailed 40-0 in the next game before breaking to get back on serve.

But Azarenka, riding a 10-match winning streak after winning in Sydney earlier this month, earned her fourth break of the match to serve for a spot in the finals.

In the quarterfinals, Clijsters fought off four match points against last year's Aussie runner-up Li Na before pulling out the three-set victory.

A repeat performance was not meant to be, as Clijsters was wide on match point to end any chance at becoming the eighth woman to repeat as Aussie champion.

Azarenka will face the winner of the Petra Kvitova-Maria Sharapova match. The champion will become the new World No. 1, supplanting Clijsters' quarterfinal victim, Caroline Wozniacki.

Wwcdnow Tennis Betting News

<< Love records another double-double, T-Wolves beat Mavs
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Love celebrated his contract extension in predictable fashion, scoring 31 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the Timberwolves' 105-90 trouncing of the shorthanded Mavericks. Love, who agreed to a

<< Duke rebounds at Maryland
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mason Plumlee totaled 23 points and 12 rebounds as No. 8 Duke downed Maryland, 74-61. Ryan Kelly posted 14 points and Austin Rivers added 10 for the Blue Devils (17-3, 5-1 ACC), who shook off a

<< Kansas State keeps Texas Tech winless in Big 12
Lubbock, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martavious Irving finished with 16 points on 6- of-10 shooting from the floor, leading No. 22 Kansas State to a 69-47 victory over Texas Tech on Wednesday. Rodney McGruder scored 13 points and pulled down si

<< Creighton handles Drake
Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug McDermott netted a game-high 30 points on 10-of-14 from the floor to go with nine rebounds as No. 15 Creighton topped Drake, 77-69, on Wednesday. Jahenns Manigat drained five three-pointers en route t

<< Durant, Thunder drop skidding Hornets
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant had 25 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, lifting the Western Conference-leading Thunder over the skidding Hornets, 101-91. James Harden added 18 points and six assists for Okla

Nash leads OSU to upset of No. 2 Missouri >>
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Le'Bryan Nash kept rising up and firing from beyond the arc, and as each shot went down, the anticipation of an upset grew larger at Gallagher-Iba Arena. Nash hit three treys and scored 13 points du

Curry lifts Warriors over Blazers >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry hit six of Golden State's 11 three-pointers and finished with 32 points and seven assists, as the Warriors took down the Portland Trail Blazers, 101-93. David Lee posted 26 points and Brando

UNLV slips past Boise State in OT >>
Boise, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Moser had a monster night with 18 points and 21 rebounds as No. 12 UNLV escaped with a 77-72 overtime win over Boise State. Chace Stanback added 15 points for the Rebels (19-3, 3-1 MWC), who won their thir

Nuggets cap 5-0 road trip with rout of Kings >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danilo Gallinari led seven players in double figures with 23 points, as the Nuggets wrapped up a historically successful road trip with a 122-93 blowout of the Kings. Since joining the NBA prior to the

Double the pleasure: Raptors end another skid in Utah >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza scored 25 points apiece Wednesday night and the Toronto Raptors snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Utah Jazz with a 111-106 win in double-overtime. It was T

Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.