Pennetta, hot Rezai, Errani move on in Palermo

Tennis Betting Lines

07/13/2010 - Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Italian favorite Flavia Pennetta, last week's Bastad champion Aravane Rezai and 2009 Palermo runner-up Sara Errani of the host nation posted first-round victories Tuesday at the $220,000 Palermo International tennis tournament.

The reigning Palermo champion Pennetta leveled German Kathrin Woerle 6-3, 6-1, while the second-seeded Rezai won her sixth straight match by outlasting Romania's Simona Halep 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 on the red clay at Country Time Club. The French Rezai is fresh off a clay-court championship in Sweden.

Up next for Pennetta will be Czech Renata Voracova, while Rezai will take on Colombian Mariana Duque Marino.

Pennetta beat Errani in last year's all-Italian finale here and was the Palermo runner-up back in 2004.

A third-seeded Errani, meanwhile, blew past Ukrainian Mariya Koryttseva 6-2, 6-3. Errani has reached the last two finals here, titling in 2008 and losing to Pennetta in last year's title tilt.

Errani's second-round opponent will be Croatian qualifier Mirjana Lucic.

A mild Day-2 upset came when Slovenian Masa Zec Peskiric took out seventh- seeded Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 7-5, 6-3.

Two other seeds avoided upsets, as No. 8 Julia Goerges of Germany grounded Italian qualifier Martina Caregaro 6-3, 6-2 and No. 9 Italian Alberta Brianti topped Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 7-6 (7-0), 6-2. Brianti became a seed this week when No. 6 Chinese Peng Shuai pulled out of the field, citing an ankle injury.

Other Day-2 wins came for the aforementioned Voracova and Lucic, Italians Corinna Dentoni, a qualifier here, and Romina Oprandi, a wild card, Spanish qualifier Nuria Llagostera Vives, and Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru. Dentoni leveled fellow Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-2, 6-3.

Offsmaker Tennis Betting News

<< MLS announces First XI for All-Star Game
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - United States star Landon Donovan highlighted a list of four Los Angeles Galaxy players named to Major League Soccer's All- Star First XI on Tuesday. L.A.'s Edson Buddle, Omar Gonzalez and Donovan Ricketts

<< George Steinbrenner's best chance in Kentucky Derby
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuesday the sports world lost one of its most recognizable figures when a heart attack claimed the life of George Steinbrenner. The owner of the New York Yankees passed away at the age of 80. While best kn

<< Celtic's Boruc set to join Fiorentina
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic has agreed to sell goalkeeper Artur Boruc to Italian side Fiorentina. The 30-year-old Poland international made more than 150 appearances since arriving from Legia Warsaw in 2005 but

<< Tottenham's Bentley suffers injury setback
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Midfielder David Bentley will miss Tottenham Hotspur's preseason tour to the United States with ankle ligament damage. Bentley limped out of Saturday's friendly against Bournemouth after land

<< Ilgauskas follows LeBron to Miami
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has apparently decided to join former Cavaliers teammate LeBron James in Miami. The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported Tuesday afternoon that Ilgauskas will sign with the Hea

Carr to retire from Michigan athletic department >>
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Michigan head football coach and current associate athletic director Lloyd Carr will retire from the school's athletic department in September. Carr will officially retire September 1, endin

Sydor calls its a career >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defenseman Darryl Sydor announced his retirement Tuesday after 18 seasons in the NHL. Sydor, 38, played in 47 games for the Blues last season, posting eight assists. "I've known Darryl fo

Judge sets Aug 4 auction of Texas Rangers >>
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -A federal bankruptcy judge has decided that the Texas Rangers will be auctioned off after all.U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn set the date for Aug. 4.Major League Baseball endorsed its preferred buyer - a group led by t

Bobcats trade Chandler to Mavericks in five-player deal >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats traded center Tyson Chandler to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday in a five-player trade. Along with Chandler, the Mavericks acquired center Alexis Ajinca, while the Bobcats receiv

Spurs re-sign Bonner >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs re-signed center/forward Matt Bonner on Tuesday. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bonner just finished his sixth season in the NBA and fourth with Sa

Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.

"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."

Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.