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09/03/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer and third-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia were among Thursday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded former top-ranked Federer cruised past German Andreas Beck 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The super Swiss moved on in 1 hour, 41 minutes by ripping 15 aces, while Beck piled up 11 double faults and 36 unforced errors.
Federer captured U.S. Open titles from 2004-08 and was stunned by big Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in last year's finale here. The Swiss great is a brilliant 53-5 lifetime here in Flushing.
The amazing 16-time major champ Federer, who will face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in the round of 32, is the reigning Australian Open titlist.
"No, it's the perfect start, sure. I played Monday, had two days off. I had another easy one physically today, and here I am in the third round feeling like I'm completely in the tournament," Federer said. "I got a sense for how the court speed is again. I got the sense of the crowd and the wind now as well. I played one night, one day. I have all the answers after two matches. Obviously they weren't the most difficult matches, you know."
Djokovic got past German Philipp Petzschner 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) during the night session. Former Aussie Open champ Djokovic lost to Federer in the 2007 U.S. Open final.
Next up for Djokovic is American James Blake, who took down Peter Polansky of Canada, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling subdued oft-injured veteran American Taylor Dent 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. The fifth-seeded Soderling cruised in just over an hour-and-a-half, as the Swedish slugger uncorked 14 aces and held his serve throughout.
Talented former top-10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet posted an upset by blasting sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko off the Grandstand Court, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. The top-10 fixture Davydenko was a back-to-back U.S. Open semifinalist in 2006 and 2007.
Another upset came when Japanese Kei Nishikori outlasted 11th-seeded Aussie Open semifinalist Marin Cilic, of Croatia, in a five-hour marathon, 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
Jurgen Melzer, the 13th seed, of Austria outlasted Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
Surging American Mardy Fish was also an easy second-round winner on Day 4. The 19th-seeded Fish recorded his 18th win in 20 matches with a comprehensive 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 two-hour victory over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas at Armstrong Stadium. The Minnesota native popped 14 aces and broke Cuevas' serve a whopping seven times in 13 tries.
Fish owns a pair of titles this summer and was the Cincinnati Masters runner- up to the great Federer last month.
"This is the spot that I want to be in," Fish said. "You know, you want to be the favorite and winning a lot."
Up next for Fish will be former Aussie Open runner-up Arnaud Clement. The French Clement was leading Eduardo Schwank 6-3, 5-5 when the Argentine retired at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 22nd seed, defeated Ricardo Mello of Brazil 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Former French Open champion Ferrero was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2003.
Kevin Anderson of South Africa upset 26th-seeded Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
Spain's Albert Montanes, seeded 21st, drilled Aussie Carsten Ball 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, while Mathieu bested fellow Frenchman Guillaume Rufin 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-3 on another very-hot day.
Thiemo De Bakker of the Netherlands was beating Croat Ivan Dodig, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3, 3-2, when Dodig retired from the match.
<< Vikings down Denver in final preseason game
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Javon Walker caught a 63-yard touchdown
pass from Joe Webb in the fourth quarter, helping Minnesota edge Denver,
31-24, in the preseason finale for both teams.
Brett Favre took the night off fo
<< Cowboys end preseason with win over Miami
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Buehler's 31-yard field goal with time
expiring lifted the Dallas Cowboys to a 27-25 victory over the Miami Dolphins
in the teams' preseason finale.
Buehler kicked four field goals in the victory, a
<< Titans down Saints in exhibition finale
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Albert Pearman spearheaded a huge rushing
attack with 36 yards and a touchdown and Kerry Collins completed 8-of-17
passes for 89 yards as Tennessee held off New Orleans, 27-24, in the preseason
finale
<< Bucs finish preseason with win over Texans
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Carpenter threw a pair of touchdowns as
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took down the Houston Texans, 24-17, in the preseason
finale for both squads.
Carpenter was 15-for-22 for 203 yards for the Buccaneers,
Laird's homer wins it, as Tigers outlast Twins >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Laird's 13th-inning home run was the
difference, as the Detroit Tigers pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Minnesota
Twins in the finale of a three-game series.
Laird's blast was one of five Tigers
Cardinals defeat Redskins in final preseason game >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie Max Hall connected on 7-of-9 passes for
126 yards and ran for a touchdown and Jay Feely kicked a pair of field goals
to lead Arizona to a 20-10 victory over Washington in the final preseason
tuneup
49ers edge Chargers to complete unbeaten preseason >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nate Davis' two-yard touchdown pass to
Jehuu Caulcrick in the fourth quarter lifted the San Francisco 49ers over the
San Diego Chargers, 17-14, in the preseason finale for both clubs.
Davis completed
Raiders take down Seahawks in preseason finale >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bruce Gradkowski threw for 128 yards and two
scores on 7-of-14 passing, as the Oakland Raiders edged the Seattle Seahawks,
27-24, in the teams' preseason finale.
Kyle Boller completed 7-of-13 pass attempts
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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