Federer, Djokovic, Roddick reach third round at Wimbledon

Tennis Betting Lines

06/23/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer, third-seeded Novak Djokovic and three-time runner-up Andy Roddick were among Wednesday's second-round winners at Wimbledon.

The top-seeded world No. 2 Federer was tested for the second time in two matches, as he snuck past Serbian qualifier Ilija Bozoljac 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on Court 1.

Federer moved on in 2 hours, 46 minutes despite being out-aced (31-16) and striking 33 fewer winners (102-69). The super Swiss did, however, tally three key service breaks, compared to zero for his tough-luck Serbian counterpart.

The 28-year-old Federer needed all five sets to stave off the challenge of Colombian Alejandro Falla here on Monday, as Falla unsuccessfully served for the fourth set in a heartbreaking setback.

Federer owns a men's record 16 major titles and is the reigning Wimbledon champ, having beaten Roddick in last year's marathon final here, which featured a 30-game fifth set.

The former Australian Open champion and former world No. 2 Djokovic leveled oft-injured American Taylor Dent 7-6 (7-5), 6-1, 6-4 on Day 3 at the world's most prestigious tennis event.

Djokovic's third-round opponent will be Spaniard Albert Montanes.

The fifth-seeded Roddick dropped the first set against dangerous French lefthander Michael Llodra before rebounding for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) decision on the grass at Centre Court at the storied All England Club.

Roddick needed 2 hours, 23 minutes to prevail in a slugfest that featured 48 aces, including 25 from the winner. Roddick also managed to record three service breaks on Day 3, compared to only one for Llodra.

The 27-year-old Roddick celebrated the come-from-behind win by kicking a ball into the crowd.

Llodra was a grass-court champion in Eastbourne last week.

The former world No. 1 Roddick is a former U.S. Open champion who has lost to the great Federer in three of the last six finals here, including last year.

The top-10 fixture Roddick is now 36-9 all-time at Wimbledon, where he also lost to Federer in back-to-back finals in 2004 and 2005.

Roddick will face German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Kohlschreiber upset Roddick in the third round at the Australian Open two years ago.

Former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt stayed hot on grass with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-0, retired victory over Russian Evgeny Korolev. The 15th-seeded Hewitt is fresh off his grass-court title in Halle, where he stunned Federer in the final two weeks ago.

The former world No. 1 Hewitt is a two-time major champ, including a Wimbledon title back in 2002.

Hewitt, who's a flawless 7-0 on grass this year, will encounter flashy Frenchman Gael Monfils in the next round.

Twelfth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych straight-setted German Benjamin Becker 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, while 16th-seeded French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer of Austria continued his recent fine form with a hard-fought 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 decision over tough Serb Viktor Troicki on Day 3.

In other action involving seeds, a No. 21 Monfils bested Slovakian Karol Beck 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, No. 22 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez erased Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and No. 31 Romanian Victor Hanescu defeated Turkey's Marsel Ilhan 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Additional second-round wins came for German Florian Mayer and Taipei's Yen- Hsun Lu. Mayer dismissed American Mardy Fish 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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