Karlovic reaches semis in rainy Nottingham

Tennis Betting Lines

06/21/2007 - Nottingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tall Croat Ivo Karlovic was the lone quarterfinal victor on a rainy Thursday at The Nottingham Open, a final grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.

The 6-foot-10 Karlovic slammed 24 aces on his way to defeating 6-foot-5 Argentine Juan Martin del Potro 7-6 (12-10), 7-5 at The City of Nottingham Tennis Centre.

Karlovic will face Russian Dmitry Tursunov or Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Friday's semifinals. Garcia-Lopez was leading the second-seeded Tursunov 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 when their match was suspended because of rain.

A bout between top-seeded and two-time defending champion Richard Gasquet and his eighth-seeded fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement was postponed, while a match between fourth-seeded Swede Jonas Bjorkman and sixth-seeded Frenchman Paul- Henri Mathieu was suspended until Friday, with the veteran Swede leading 1-0 in the first set. The 2006 Wimbledon semifinalist Bjorkman was last year's runner-up here to Gasquet and captured this tournament in 1998 and 2002.

Gasquet is a perfect 12-0 lifetime here.

Three quarterfinals will have to be completed on Friday before the semis can commence.

Boxig Tennis Betting News

<< Robredo ousted in Ordina quarters
Den Bosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dutch qualifier Peter Wessels upset top-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo in Thursday's quarterfinal action at the grass-court Ordina Open, a final Wimbledon tune-up. The world No. 7

<< Lima, Jacquelin share BMW lead
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose-Filipe Lima and Raphael Jacquelin posted matching rounds of seven-under-par 65 Thursday to share the lead after the opening round of the BMW International Open at Golfclub Munchen Nord- Eichenr

<< Horton agrees to record deal with Panthers
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers announced on Thursday that they have agreed to terms on a franchise-record six-year contract with forward Nathan Horton. According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, quoting Canada'

<< Girardi turns down O's
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Girardi declined an offer from the Baltimore Orioles to become their next manager on Thursday, according to a report on MLB.com Thursday. The 42-year-old Girardi, the National League Manager

<< Brewers responding after no-no
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sometimes, before you can begin the road of recovery, you need to first hit rock bottom. Over dramatic, yes, but that moment may have happened for the Milwaukee Brewers over a week ago. Milwaukee had just 10 wins in its la

Ancic to miss Wimbledon >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croat Mario Ancic withdrew from Wimbledon 2007 on Thursday, citing a continuing illness. Ancic, who was slated as the 18th seed at the fortnight, has been sidelined for months with mononucl

Giambi agrees to meet with Senator Mitchell >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees slugger Jason Giambi announced on Thursday that he has decided to meet with baseball steroids investigator and Senate majority leader George Mitchell. On June 6, Major League

Real Salt Lake, Los Angeles make three-player trade >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake acquired forward Robbie Findley and defender/midfielder Nathan Sturgis from the Los Angeles Galaxy for four-time MLS All-Star midfielder Chris Klein on Thursday. "Trading a veteran with

Catalanotto lifts Rangers past Cubs >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Frank Catalanotto's base hit in the bottom of the ninth pushed Texas past Chicago, 6-5, in the finale of a three-game interleague series. Against Bob Howry (3-4), Kenny Lofton led off the ninth wit

Bucks exercise options on Bogut, Villanueva >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks have extended the contracts of both center Andrew Bogut and forward Charlie Villanueva on Thursday. The moves were completed by picking up the fourth-year options on

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

Colts give the ‘D’ its due

The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.

They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.

"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."

Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.

New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.

Not so sound on the ground

If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.

Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com

“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.

Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.

Brees says bring it on

Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.

Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.

Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.

"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."

SportsBooks ready for a shootout

Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.

“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”

New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.

The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.

“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards