Serena will face Sharapova in fourth round at Big W

Tennis Betting Lines

06/26/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a rematch of the 2004 final here, reigning world No. 1 Serena Williams will face former top-ranked star Maria Sharapova in the fourth round at Wimbledon 2010.

Williams, who swatted 19 aces on Day 6, continued her quest for a second straight title here with a 6-0, 7-5 third-round victory over Dominika Cibulkova.

"Serving that well feels awesome," Williams said. "I serve well at Wimbledon for some unknown reason. I want to keep doing it. I wish I could serve like this every tournament."

The world No. 1 Williams cruised in the first set, which took all of 18 minutes, but Cibulkova improved on serve in the second. Still, Williams stayed in control, firing 14 aces and totaling 25 winners in the second, and had match point before the Slovak held serve to knot it at 5-5.

Williams held serve, then got her only break of the second set to seal the victory and set-up a barn-burner with Sharapova, who dismissed Czech Barbora Zahlavova 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday's third-round action at the All England Club.

Sharapova, seeded 16th at this 2010 fortnight, upset Serena in the final here six years ago, It marked the first of three major titles for the tall Russian.

The 28-year-old Williams has won the first set at love in her first three matches here this week and has dropped only 10 games thus far.

"I really doubt if somebody can beat her here if she plays like this," Cibulkova said after falling to the mighty Williams.

Williams beat her older sister Venus in last year's final to capture her third career Wimbledon championship. She owns 12 Grand Slam singles titles overall and also currently holds the Australian Open crown.

Sharapova, meanwhile, got past Zahlavova Strycova in 1 hour, 46 minutes despite piling up 35 unforced errors on Day 6. The lanky Russian did, however, tally five breaks of serve, compared to three for the Czech loser.

Serena and Sharapova will meet for an eighth time, with the American holding a 5-2 lead in their all-time series. Serena is 2-1 in their Grand Slam meetings, with both wins coming at the Aussie Open, including the 2007 final in Melbourne.

"I love playing against her," Sharapova said. "She's the defending champion. She's great on this surface. She's won numerous Grand Slams. If there's a challenge ahead of you, it's definitely playing against her, and I enjoy that."

Third-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, of Denmark, handled 29th- seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-4 to set-up a fourth-rounder with Czech Petra Kvitova, who ousted 14th-seeded former top-10 Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka with a surprising 7-5, 6-0 triumph.

Seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland eased into the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-1 win against 32nd-seeded Italian Sara Errani, while Czech veteran Klara Zakopalova upended 10th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3 and ninth-seeded Chinese Li Na leveled Aussie Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-3.

Radwanska will encounter Li in the round of 16.

One other third-round result saw unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi move on with a 6-1, 6-2 pasting of 31st-seeded Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru. Kanepi will encounter Zakopalova in the fourth round.

Monday's other fourth-round bouts will pit a second-seeded Venus against unseeded Aussie Jarmila Groth, fourth-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic versus 21st- seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, eighth-seeded Kim Clijsters against 17th-seeded fellow Belgian stalwart Justine Henin, and 11th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli versus Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. Venus is a five-time champion here and a former world No. 1; Jankovic is a former top-ranked star; the U.S. Open champion Clijsters and the two-time Wimbledon runner-up and 2010 Aussie Open runner-up Henin are former No. 1s; and Bartoli was the 2007 runner-up here to Venus.

The two-time U.S. Open champion Clijsters and seven-time major titlist Henin will meet for a 25th time, with their all-time series all even at 12-12. Henin is 5-2 in their Grand Slam tilts.

The women will have the day off here on Sunday, the traditional day of rest at Wimbledon.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.