Nadal, Blake ready for openers in Melbourne

Tennis Betting Lines

01/15/2007 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Day 2 at the 2007 Australian Open will feature first-round matches for 16 seeded men, including two-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and last week's Sydney titlist James Blake.

The second-seeded Nadal, of Spain, will face American Robert Kendrick on Tuesday, while a fifth-seeded Blake will encounter Spaniard Carlos Moya in a rematch of this past Saturday's finale in Sydney. The Wimbledon runner-up Nadal needed all five sets to get past Kendrick in a second-round match at the All England Club last year, while the American Blake is fresh off his three- set victory over the former world No. 1 Moya at last week's final at the Sydney International. Blake has won his last three matches against the dangerous Moya.

Other top seeds set for Tuesday play are No. 3 Russian Nikolay Davydenko and No. 8 Argentine David Nalbandian. Davydenko will take on Argentine Sergio Roitman, while the former Wimbledon runner-up and 2005 Tennis Masters Cup champion Nalbandian will battle Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

Some other big names who will take to the courts at Melbourne Park on Day 2 are 10th-seeded Chilean slugger Fernando Gonzalez, 12th-seeded German Tommy Haas, 13th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 15th-seeded Scotsman Andy Murray and 19th-seeded Aussie favorite Lleyton Hewitt. The former world No. 1 and two- time major titlist Hewitt will face American journeyman Michael Russell at Rod Laver Arena. Hewitt was the 2005 Melbourne runner-up to his fellow former No. 1 Marat Safin.

Wwwmsnmusic Tennis Betting News

<< Federer, Roddick advance; Fish ousts Ljubicic in Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Roger Federer and former world No. 1 Andy Roddick were a pair of first-round winners, while fourth-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic was sent packing Monday by American Mardy Fish at the Aust

<< Bearcats upset Blue Demons
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Michelle Jones scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Cincinnati routed the 24th-ranked DePaul Blue Demons, 62-44, at Fifth Third Arena. Treasure Humphries had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Be

<< Mauresmo, Serena roll in Aussie openers
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams highlighted the opening-day winners at the 2007 Australian Open. Mauresmo is the defending champion here in Melbourne. The second-seeded Maur

<< Roddick posts marathon win to start Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Roddick's four-set battle with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which the American ultimately pulled out, highlighted first-day action at the Australian Open. Roddick and Tsonga, of France, had an

<< Mauresmo advances to second round of Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two more seeded players joined reigning champion Amelie Mauresmo after first-round play of the Australian Open. The second-seeded Mauresmo handled American Shenay Perry 6-3, 6-4, settin

Phillies come to terms with Madson, Alfonseca >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies avoided arbitration with right-hander Ryan Madson and have agreed to a minor league deal with free agent reliever Antonio Alfonseca. The Philadelphia Inquirer report

Sharapova, Clijsters, Hingis ready for Aussie openers >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open champion Maria Sharapova and her fellow former world No. 1s Kim Clijsters and Martina Hingis will be among the women seeing opening-round action Tuesday at the 2007 Australian Open. The to

Bulls host Duncan, Spurs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs shoot for their fifth straight win when they visit the Chicago Bulls this afternoon at the United Center. San Antonio is 3 1/2 games behind rival Dallas for the lead in the Southwest standings and n

Celtics try to halt four-game losing streak vs. Hawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics try and halt a four-game losing streak today when they visit the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena. Boston, which is four games off the lead in the Atlantic Division, dropped its fourth straight with Satur

Raptors visit City of Brotherly Love >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors visit the Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia 76ers this afternoon at the Wachovia Center. Toronto, which is tied atop the division with New Jersey, had its brief two- game winning streak come to an

Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.