Verdasco rallies from two-set deficit to shock Ferrer

Tennis Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Verdasco came back from a two-set deficit to stun fellow Spaniard David Ferrer and reach the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open.

The eighth-seeded Verdasco reached the quarterfinals here for a second straight year with an incredible 5-7, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) win over the No. 10 seeded Ferrer in a match that took nearly 4 1/2 hours.

Earlier in the day, there was another 4 1/2-hour match, as Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka downed Sam Querrey, leaving the Americans without a quarterfinalist. The 25th-seeded Swiss was a 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 winner over the 20th-seeded Querrey.

Also Tuesday, former semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny was a fourth-round winner. The 12th-seeded Youzhny handled former top-10 Spaniard Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Last year, Verdasco saw a round-of-eight loss to Novak Djokovic, which was his best result in Flushing Meadows. This time, though, he may have to go through top-seeded Rafael Nadal, who plays the last match of the night against fellow Spaniard and No. 23 seed Feliciano Lopez.

Verdasco was able to win the match despite piling up 89 unforced errors and 11 double faults. He fought off four set points in the 12th game of the second set to force the tiebreaker. He then wasted a pair of set points during the tiebreak before Ferrer finally took control. During one point, a frustrated Verdasco slammed his racquet to the ground after delivering a wide forehand return.

After fighting off a fifth set point, Verdasco finally succumbed as Ferrer sent a backhand passing shot to move his compatriot down two sets.

After two strong sets for Verdasco, the fifth was a battle of attrition. Ferrer moved to a 4-2 lead, but gave up the next three games, with Verdasco taking a 5-4 lead after a sizzling backhander at the net.

Ferrer forced the tiebreaker, but Verdasco used his feet to outlast his opponent. On match point, Ferrer put down a perfect drop shot, but Verdasco raced to the left side and deposited the ball into the left corner of the court before crumpling to his knees in celebration.

The Russian Youzhny prevailed in just over three hours in a mostly-uneventful match at Armstrong Stadium. Youzhny tallied four service breaks, compared to only one for the Spanish loser, who captured the third set with his lone break.

Robredo, who was the lowest-ranked man (41st) still standing here, won his second-and third-round matches when his opponents retired. The 28-year-old fell to 0-7 in his fourth-round U.S. Open matches.

Spain placed no fewer than six men in the round of 16 here. The eight-time major champion and top-ranked Nadal is the reigning Wimbledon and French Open titlist. He's never reached a U.S. Open final and needs this title to complete a career Grand Slam.

"They play really, really well," Youzhny said. "Why? They have a lot of courts; they have a lot of good facilities to practice well. I think it's not really expensive to practice in Spain for Spanish people. In Russia now it's very expensive to practice in Moscow. Not everybody can do this. Before they had only good results on clay, but now, in my opinion, the hard courts are going a little bit slower than previous years. That's why they can play also well on hard courts."

The 28-year-old Youzhny reached the U.S. Open final four back in 2006.

Youzhny, who will appear in his fourth career Grand Slam quarterfinal, awaits Wawrinka.

This is the first Grand Slam quarterfinal berth for Wawrinka in his 23rd major tournament. The result also means there will be two Swiss men in the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the first time in the Open Era, the other this year being five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer.

The quarters will get underway here on Wednesday. The second-seeded Federer takes on fifth-seeded two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling in the final match of the night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Earlier on Ashe, third-seeded former Flushing runner-up Novak Djokovic will be opposed by 17th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils. The reigning Australian Open champion Federer was stunned by Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in last year's finale here.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.