10/22/2008 - St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Andy Murray of Scotland and two-time winner Marat Safin highlighted Wednesday's winners, while Russian star Nikolay Davydenko pulled out at the $1.49 million St. Petersburg Open.
The U.S. Open runner-up Murray, fresh off his big title at the Madrid Masters last week, stayed hot with a 6-3, 6-3 first-round handling of rising Serbian Viktor Troicki on Day 3 on the indoor carpet at SCC Peterburgsky. Murray defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in last year's St. Petersburg finale.
A third-seeded Verdasco moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 second- round victory over Latvian wild card Karlis Lejnieks.
An eighth-seeded Safin, meanwhile, topped Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round. The former world No. 1 and two-time major champion Safin was the back-to-back St. Petersburg titlist in 2000 and 2001.
In other action on Wednesday, German Rainer Schuettler topped Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals and qualifier Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan grounded Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round. Schuettler will face Verdasco in a quarterfinal here on Friday.
In some more second-round action here on Thursday, Murray will meet rising Latvian Ernests Gulbis, while Safin will encounter Golubev. Davydenko was slated to meet fellow Russian Michail Elgin here on Day 4, but the second- seeded star pulled out of the draw, citing a wrist injury.
The 2008 titlist here will collect $171,000.
<< Cassel, Suggs, Janikowski selected as AFC's top players
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New England Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel,
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian
Janikowski were selected as the AFC's top players for Week 7 of the NFL
season.
<< Murray, Safin win Moscow openers
St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending
champion Andy Murray of Scotland and two-time winner Marat Safin highlighted
Wednesday's winners at the $1.49 million St. Petersburg Open.
The U.S. Open runn
<< Victorine out with knee injury for Chivas
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA midfielder Sasha Victorine is
expected to be sidelined for two to four weeks after suffering a left knee
sprain during Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids.
An MRI late Monday reveal
<< New York can clinch postseason berth at Chicago
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York striker Juan Pablo Angel wanted to
enjoy Saturday's win over Columbus, which put the Red Bulls in position to make
the playoffs with a win Thursday at Chicago, but wasn't sure he should.
Angel, wh
Line of Scrimmage: Week 8 - Is Favre's Legacy In Trouble? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recent revelation that Brett Favre
shared old Packers trade secrets with the Detroit Lions might say more about
the Lions than it does about Favre.
I mean, did Matt Millen, Rod Marinelli, the security
Hantuchova, Mauresmo advance; Chakvetadze loses in Luxembourg >>
Luxembourg, Luxembourg (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's runner-up Daniela
Hantuchova and former world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo posted wins, while second-
seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze went by way of the upset Wednesday at the
$225,00
Kamara, Ricchetti hit with additional suspensions >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee
on Wednesday fined and suspended Houston Dynamo forward Kei Kamara and FC
Dallas midfielder Pablo Ricchetti one game each and $250 for incidents in Week
30 of t
Mariners tab former Brewers exec Zduriencik for GM post >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners announced Wednesday that
they have named Jack Zduriencik executive vice president and general manager.
Zduriencik, 57, spent the past nine seasons working in the front office of the
Milwa
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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