Serena leads U.S. past Belarus; Venus returns
Tennis Betting Lines
02/05/2012 - Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams recorded a singles victory on Sunday to move the United States into the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs.
The 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Williams improved to 2-0 this week by overcoming Anastasiya Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 at DCU Center in Worcester. The victory gave the host Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead in their best-of-five World Group II battle against Belarus, which was forced to play without world No. 1 star and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is nursing a back injury after beating Maria Sharapova in last week's Aussie Open finale.
Williams blew a 4-1 lead against Yakimova in the opening set on Sunday, but cruised after dropping the opening stanza by winning 12 of the next 14 games.
The former No. 1 and 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams and Christina McHale were a pair of singles winners on Saturday, as McHale beat Yakimova and Williams topped Olga Govortsova, in straight sets. McHale improved to 2-0 for the week on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of Belarus' Darya Kustova to give the U.S. a laughable 4-0 margin.
The festivities in Worcester wrapped up with a dead doubles rubber, which the U.S. won 6-1, 6-2 with Venus Williams and Liezel Huber blasting Kustova and Yakimova to polish off a 5-0 win. It marked Venus' first tennis since pulling out of last year's U.S. Open in the second round as she battled Sjogren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.
Venus, like her young sister Serena, is a former world No. 1 and owns seven major singles titles.
This was the first-ever Fed Cup meeting between the 17-time champion U.S. and Belarus.
Team USA advanced to the World Group playoffs where it will meet a World Group first-round loser in April and needs to win in order to have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javier Camunas scored in the 80th minute and Villarreal continued its turnaround with a 2-1 La Liga win Sunday over Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan. Villarreal won just three of its first 18 fixtures this sea
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Marseille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Souleymane Diawara's own goal in the late
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Benoit Che
<< No. 7 Miami-Florida cruises over Clemson
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shenise Johnson had a double-double with
19 points and 15 rebounds as No. 7 Miami-Florida ran over Clemson, 68-47, at
BankUnited Center on Sunday.
The Hurricanes (20-3, 9-1 ACC) got a 15-point effort
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shutout of the season as the Montreal Canadiens took a 3-0 decision over the
Winnipeg Jets.
Tomas Plekanec had a goal and an assist while Max Pacioretty and Ale
<< Johnson lifts No. 8 Tennessee past Auburn
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Glory Johnson recorded her ninth double-
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down Auburn, 82-61.
Ariel Massengale added 14 points, five rebounds and four
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Early in the season, all Reggie Johnson could do was look on as his Miami-Florida Hurricanes got off to a disappointing 5-4 start. Recovering from offseason knee surgery to repair a torn meniscu
LSU upsets No. 6 Kentucky >>
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Adrienne Webb scored 19 points to lead
LSU as it upset No. 6 Kentucky 61-51 at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on
Sunday.
LaSondra Barrett added 12 points for the Lady Tigers (15-9, 5-5 SEC),
Patriots TE Gronkowski active for Super Bowl >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots tight end Rob
Gronkowski is active for the Super Bowl.
Gronkowski had been listed as questionable on the injury report for Sunday's
game against the New York Giants because of a high l
Giants lead Patriots 9-0 after 1st quarter >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eli Manning started the game 9-for-9 and
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over the Patriots after the first quarter of the Super Bowl.
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Presbyterian football player dies >>
Clinton, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Presbyterian College student-athlete Kyle L.
Allen died Sunday morning after being found unconscious in a campus fraternity
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Alle
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.