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01/24/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 greats Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer will do battle in the semifinals Thursday at the 2012 Australian Open.
The second-seeded Nadal snuck past seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in four sets, while a third-seeded Federer whipped 11th-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro in straights in a rematch of the 2009 U.S. Open final, which was won by the towering del Potro. Nadal beat Berdych in the 2010 Wimbledon championship match.
The 30-year-old Federer played in his 1,000th ATP-level match on Tuesday and secured a berth in his 30th Grand Slam semifinal.
"It's a lot of matches and a lot tennis," Federer said. "Either I have been around for a long time or I'm extremely fit. You decide which way you want to describe it. But I'm happy."
The 10-time major champion and reigning French Open titlist Nadal was tested mightily in a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-3 victory over Berdych at Rod Laver Arena, where the legendary Aussie Laver was on hand to watch on Day 9. The 16- time Grand Slam titlist Federer dismantled del Potro 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 earlier Tuesday in quarterfinal action at Laver.
Nadal needed a whopping 4 hours, 16 minutes to stave off a game Berdych, who finally succumbed on Nadal's first match point by framing one final forehand into the court, as the mighty Spaniard broke to close out the quality affair.
The fiery Nadal saved four set points in the opening stanza, including one with an incredible cross-court passing shot on the 29th point of a rally. But Berdych would win the ensuing tiebreak.
Nadal then snuck out the second-set tiebreak on his way to taking the last three sets of the match, as he simply got stronger at the bout wore one.
"Happy with how I finished match physically, I was able to keep running with high intensity," Nadal said.
Berdych fired 17 aces, but also piled up 56 unforced errors and had his serve broken five times, compared to only two breaks he tallied against the Spanish strongman, who beat the big Czech for a 10th straight time.
The four-time Aussie Open champion Federer, meanwhile, handled del Potro in just 1 hour, 59 minutes, as the super Swiss recorded 38 winners to send the Argentine home after he reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the '09 U.S. Open.
"We have played some big matches against each other, so just knowing how well he's been playing as of late, I was just hoping that I would get off a good start," Federer said. "I was able to mix it up well and control the ball, and right away sort of felt confident."
Federer, who hasn't won a Grand Slam event since titling here in Melbourne two years ago, has yet to drop a set at this latest Aussie fortnight. He'll now appear in his ninth straight Aussie semi.
The 25-year-old Nadal and Federer will meet for a 27th time, with the Spaniard leading the all-time series 17-9. Nadal is 7-2 in their Grand Slam meetings, including wins in their last four matchups. The two stalwarts have met in a record eight major finals, with Nadal winning six of them. They are in the same half of the draw at a major for the first time since 2005.
Nadal topped Federer in five sets in the 2009 Aussie Open finale.
The other quarterfinals will be staged on Wednesday, as current world No. 1 Novak Djokovic will face fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and fourth-seeded Andy Murray will take on 24th-seeded Japanese Kei Nishikori.
Djokovic is 6-5 lifetime against Ferrer, who titled in Auckland two weeks ago and is already a perfect 8-0 this season.
The high-flying Djokovic beat Murray in last year's Aussie final to capture his second title here in four years. The four-time major champion is also the reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist.
Djokovic has won 36 of his last 38 Grand Slam matches and is seeking a third straight major title. A title this week would put him in select company, as only four players -- Laver, Pete Sampras, Federer and Nadal -- have captured three straight Grand Slam championships in the Open Era (since 1968).
Murray, who titled in Brisbane three weeks ago, is a three-time major runner- up, including a loss to Federer in the 2010 Aussie Open finale.
Nishikori is the first Japanese man to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam event since Shuzo Matsuoka in 1995 (Wimbledon) and he's also the first Japanese man in 80 years to advance to the Aussie Open quarters, since Ryosuki Nunoi and Jiro Satoh turned the trick way back in 1932.
Djokovic, Nadal and Federer have combined to win seven of the last eight Aussie Open titles.
<< Red-hot Pacers welcome Magic to Indy
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Plenty of teams have struggled this season because of the
NBA lockout but the Indiana Pacers are not one of them.
The surprising Central Division inhabitants are 11-4 and off to the best start
after 15 games since the
<< Heat, Cavs set for showdown in south Florida
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat will finish a five-game homestand by
welcoming the Cavaliers and the new face of their franchise, Kyrie Irving, to
the shores of Biscayne Bay.
Cleveland, of course, was the NBA home of superstar LeB
<< Grizzlies take win streak into Portland
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Memphis Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins has been
pushing all the right buttons lately to the tune of a seven-game winning
streak. Hollins hopes to be on point at the controls once again when his team
resumes
<< Golden Eagles set to collide with Bulls
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles are
back at it tonight as they host the South Florida Bulls for a Big East
Conference battle at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
This will be the 20th meeting in the al
Rangers try to head into break with win over Jets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers posted a dramatic victory over their
primary rival for the top seed in the East in their last game and the Atlantic
Division leaders will try to enter the All-Star break on a positive note when
they host
Capitals set to face tough Bruins without Ovechkin >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Ovechkin will be forced to watch tonight's action at
the Verizon Center from the press box, as his Washington Capitals try to halt
a two-game skid against the visiting Boston Bruins.
Ovechkin will miss the next three
Lightning aim to notch season-high win streak vs. Blue Jackets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to enter the All-Star
break with their longest winning streak of the season, as they host the
Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at Tampa Times Forum.
After opening January on a seven-game slide
Panthers try to build momentum versus Flyers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers ended their longest losing streak of
the season in their last trip to the ice and they'll attempt to close January
on a high note when they host the Philadelphia Flyers tonight at BankAtlantic
Center.
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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