Federer, Djokovic, Soderling reach fourth round in Flushing

Tennis Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Five-time champion Roger Federer, 2007 U.S. Open finalist Novak Djokovic and two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling were easy third-round winners Saturday at the U.S. Open.

The second-seeded former No. 1 Federer cruised past capable Frenchman Paul- Henri Mathieu 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The mighty Swiss advanced in 1 hour, 39 minutes by ripping 13 aces and holding his formidable serve throughout against Mathieu, who was broken four times by Federer.

Federer is now 54-5 lifetime at the U.S. Open here, including five straight titles from 2004-08. The super Swiss was stunned by big Argentine Juan Martin del Potro in last year's finale at Ashe.

The 16-time Grand Slam event champion Federer, the reigning Australian Open titlist, is trying to reach a seventh straight U.S. Open final.

"The wind was very strong. Tough conditions to play in, especially if you're down in the score. I think you could tell Mathieu was really struggling after being down in the score. His serve, his returns, everything kind of falls into pieces. That's what the wind can do to you," Federer said of Saturday's conditions.

The Swiss' next test will feature Austrian 13th seed Jurgen Melzer, who made short work of Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero in a 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 final that lasted just 1 hour, 44 minutes. The 29-year-old had never moved past the round of 32 here in eight previous attempts.

A third-seeded Djokovic dispatched American James Blake in 1 hour, 44 minutes with a tidy 6-1, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win. The Serb swatted four aces and broke back four times against Blake, who also committed 31 unforced errors.

The 2008 Australian Open champ and runner-up to Federer here in 2007, Djokovic will next face off against emerging American threat Mardy Fish, whose best finish here was a quarterfinal defeat to Rafael Nadal in 2008.

Seeded 19th this time around, Fish staved off Frenchman Arnaud Clement for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 triumph to reach the final 16 on Day 6 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The fifth-seeded Soderling whipped Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour , 52 minutes. The Swedish slugger saw De Bakker pile up 35 unforced errors and broke De Bakker six times.

The Swede advanced amid very windy conditions on Saturday.

"It was difficult conditions," Soderling said. "I told myself before the match, It's not gonna be pretty. I think during the circumstances, I played a pretty good match."

Soderling lost to world No. 1 superstar Nadal in this year's French Open final and gave way to Federer in last year's Roland Garros finale.

Up next for Soderling will be 21st-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes, who was leading Kei Nishikori 6-2, 2-1 when the Japanese retired due to a groin injury on Court 11.

Acrobatic 17th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils secured a spot in the fourth round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-4 victory over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, who stunned American favorite Andy Roddick in the second round here. Tipsarevic was slowed by a hamstring injury on Saturday.

The oft-injured Monfils is currently enjoying his best Grand Slam result of 2010.

Another Frenchman reached the fourth round, as former top-10 star Richard Gasquet grounded South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5. Gasquet will face Monfils in an all-French affair next time out.

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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards

Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.

As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.

Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds

The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.

Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).

But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.

Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.

Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:

Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1

Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2

New York Giants - 9 - 2

Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).

Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.

So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.

And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.

They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.

Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.

But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.

Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.

Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.

Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.

Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?

Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.

In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.

Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.

Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.

The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.

The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.

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