Stakhovsky stuns Baghdatis to reach New Haven semifinals

Tennis Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ninth-seeded Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky won a pair of matches Thursday, including stunning top-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in three sets to reach the semifinals at the $750,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.

The third round concluded Thursday with the resumption of a match that was suspended because of rain here on Wednesday night, as Stakhovsky upended sixth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. The struggling Robredo has now dropped six of his last eight matches.

Stakhovsky took the court a few hours later and managed to beat Baghdatis, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), in their first meeting since 2003 when the pair played on the Challenger circuit. Baghdatis was a U.S. Open Series runner-up in Washington, D.C. earlier this month.

In the final match of the night, 10th-seeded Serbian Viktor Troicki defeated Czech Radek Stepanek, 6-2, 6-3, at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale.

In other quarterfinal action, 12th-seeded Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker handled Russian Evgeny Korolev 6-4, 6-3 and 15th seed Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan outlasted Russian qualifier Teymuraz Gabashvili, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8). De Bakker will play Stakhovsky in one semifinal while Istomin takes on Troicki. in the other Friday.

The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $93,630.

Wmegachannels Tennis Betting News

<< Jackson stellar again as Sox shut out Orioles
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edwin Jackson continued to shine in a White Sox uniform, leading Chicago to an 8-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match of a three-game series. Jackson, acquired from Arizona at the trade dead

<< Brown lifts Rams over Pats in final seconds
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Brown's 37-yard field goal in the final seconds lifted St. Louis to a 36-35 win over New England in a preseason contest from Gillette Stadium. Sam Bradford was under center for the first half, go

<< An, Langley into quarters at U.S. Amateur
University Place, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Byeong-Hun An and current NCAA champion Scott Langley both won two matches on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur Championship. An had a relatively

<< Marlins start slow, but slam Mets
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hanley Ramirez had three hits, including a home run, scored three times and drove in a pair as Florida stormed back from an early deficit to dismantle New York, 11-4, in the rubber match of a three- game se

<< D'Backs drub Padres
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Drew homered and matched a career- high with four runs batted in and Mark Reynolds also went deep in support of Ian Kennedy's seven shutout frames in Arizona's 11-5 drubbing of San Diego to salvage

Packers lay waste to Colts >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Rodgers threw for 195 yards and three touchdowns, as Green Bay flexed its offensive muscle in a 59-24 rout of Indianapolis at Lambeau Field. Rodgers completed 21-of-29 passes to increase his p

Liriano strong, Lee falters as Twins down Rangers >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Francisco Liriano pitched seven innings to win his sixth consecutive decision as the Twins pounded Cliff Lee early and held off Texas, 6-4, to avoid a four-game sweep in a battle of division leaders

Pujols slugs 400th HR, but Cards fall to Nats in 13th >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pujols became the fastest player in number of seasons to hit 400 home runs, but Ian Desmond's single in the bottom of the 13th inning lifted Washington over St. Louis, 11-10, in the opener of a four-ga

More questions for UNC football as probe widens >>
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -The probe into North Carolina's football program added another prong. Along with it came another batch of question marks to cloud a promising season.The school's announcement that the investigation of the Tar Heels' program h

WR Camarillo caught off guard by trade to Vikings >>
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Just two days ago, the only time Greg Camarillo figured to be spending in Minnesota was when his Miami Dolphins play here in September.Now he lives here.The Vikings acquired Camarillo in a trade on Wednesday for cornerback Benny S

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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