Verdasco, Robredo ease into Bastad quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

07/15/2010 - Bastad, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and two-time champion Tommy Robredo of Spain were among Thursday's second- round winners at the Swedish Open. Fourth-seeded Nicolas Almagro was also a Spanish victor here on Day 4.

The southpaw Verdasco reached the quarterfinals here for a third straight year by drilling France's Stephane Robert 6-1, 6-1, while a fifth-seeded Robredo came from behind to beat Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the red clay at Bastad Tennis Stadium. Verdasco and Robredo will square off in an all- Spanish quarterfinal showdown on Friday.

Robredo is seeking his third title here in five years, having won Bastad championships in 2006 and 2008.

Almagro, meanwhile, handled veteran Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-4 to setup a round-of-eight affair with Croatian qualifier Franco Skugor, a 6-2, 6-3 winner against Swedish qualifier Ervin Eleskovic. The 22-year-old Skugor will appear in his first-ever ATP-level quarterfinal on Friday.

The other quarters will pit top-seeded Swedish stalwart Robin Soderling against Italian Andreas Seppi and third-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer versus Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas. The reigning Bastad titlist and two-time French Open runner-up Soderling topped Argentine Juan Monaco in last year's finale here. Ferrer, who leads the ATP with 30 clay-court wins this season, was the Bastad titlist in 2007.

Sltos Tennis Betting News

<< Ex-Bearcats coach Minter among five new Indiana State assistants
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former University of Cincinnati football coach Rick Minter has joined third-year Indiana State coach Trent Miles' staff as one of five new assistants. The 55-year-old Minter was named linebackers coach. In

<< Miller joins Heat
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Miller has become the latest player to join the Miami Heat. Miller said the transaction was official on his personal website. "It's official," Miller tweeted. "Thanks to the Miami Heat organization, Mr.

<< Red Wings re-sign D Meech
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings re-signed defenseman Derek Meech to a one-year contract on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Meech appeared in 49 games last season for Detroit and logge

<< Nuggets re-sign Carter, add Shelden Williams
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets brought back guard Anthony Carter on Thursday and also added free agent forward/center Shelden Williams. The 35-year-old Carter posted 3.3 points and 3.0 assists per contest in 54 games

<< Twyner to coach Western Illinois receivers
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gunnard Twyner, a former all-conference wide receiver at Western Illinois University, will coach the position at his alma mater this season. Twyner will serve as wide receivers coach under head coach Mark Hendri

Warriors sold for record price >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors have been sold to Joseph Lacob for a record price of $450 million, according to a report Thursday from the Oakland Tribune. Chris Cohan, who had owned the team since 19

Cubs should stop pretending they're contenders >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's been a typical summer along the North Side of Chicago. The sun is shining, the bleachers and rooftops that surround the incomparable Wrigley Field are packed to the gills, and the beer pours endlessly fr

Hurricanes to retire Brind'Amour's number >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rod Brind'Amour will have his No. 17 jersey retired by the Carolina Hurricanes prior to a February 18, 2011 contest against the Philadelphia flyers. Brind'Amour announced his retirement after a 20

Davydenko ousted in Stuttgart >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko came up a second-round loser Thursday at the Mercedes Cup tennis event. Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver upended the speedy world No. 6 Russian star in 7-6 (9-7), 2-6, 6-1

Nets ink first-round picks Favors, James >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets signed 2010 first- round draft picks Derrick Favors and Damion James on Thursday. The Nets selected Favors with the third overall pick after the 6-foot-10, 246- pound forward aver

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.