Jankovic rolls; Azarenka falls in Stuttgart

Tennis Betting Lines

04/29/2009 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning champion Jelena Jankovic was an easy opening-round winner, while rising Belarusian Victoria Azarenka suffered a second-round setback at the $700,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The third-seeded U.S. Open runner-up and former world No. 1 Jankovic drubbed quality Slovak Dominika Cibulkova 6-1, 6-1, while the fourth-seeded world No. 8 Azarenka was stunned by capable Argentine clay-courter Gisela Dulko 6-4, 6-3 on the indoor red clay at Porsche Arena. This marks the first-ever WTA Tour event played on indoor clay.

Jankovic, who beat Russian Nadia Petrova in last year's Porsche finale, will meet emerging German Sabine Lisicki here on Thursday.

Wednesday's other seeded opening-round winners were No. 5 Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and a No. 6 Petrova. The former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova got past German qualifier Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1, while Petrova outlasted Chinese Zheng Jie 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Petrova captured this event back in 2006.

In other first-round action, the big-serving Lisicki leveled struggling Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-3, Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova handled France's Alize Cornet 6-3, 6-1 and Italian Flavia Pennetta pasted Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-2, 6-0. The 19-year-old Lisicki captured her first-ever WTA Tour title in Charleston just two weeks ago.

The second round will conclude here on Thursday, including matches for Jankovic, world No. 1 Dinara Safina and second-seeded Elena Dementieva. The Australian Open and French Open runner-up Safina will face Hantuchova, while the Olympic gold medalist Dementieva will encounter Hungarian Agnes Szavay. Hantuchova was a finalist here in 2002.

The 2009 Porsche titlist will pocket $107,000.

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(September 15)—The NASCAR season has hit the homestretch with the opening event on this year’s Chase for the Cup taking place this weekend at the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. With 10 races remaining to determine the Cup Series champion, leading online sportsbook MySportsbook.com today announced odds on all 10 Chase qualifying drivers capturing the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

One of the largest sportsbook sites on the Internet, MySportsbook.com currently lists the top two drivers in the point standings as the early favorites to win the Nextel Cup. Entering the Chase for the Cup with a slim five-point lead in the point standings, 2003 NASCAR champ Matt Kenseth has been made a slight favorite to win his second Cup at 7/2 betting odds. 2001 Cup Rookie of the Year Kevin Harvick has betting odds listed at 5/2 and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon is listed at 6/1 to capture the Nextel Cup this year.

Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his legendary father who won six NASCAR titles, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stands at 8/1 to breakthrough with his first Cup victory. Staying with the family theme, MySportsbook.com lists 2005 Rookie of the Year Kyle Busch at 14/1 to succeed big brother Kurt’s 2004 NASCAR title. While Kasey Kahne was the final driver to qualify for the Chase with a third place finish last week, the oddsmakers give him a fighting chance at 10/1 mainly due to several mile-and-a-half tracks remaining on the schedule. Despite going winless on the NASCAR circuit this season, Jeff Burton enters the Chase at 5/1 to capture the Cup title. Meanwhile, rookie Denny Hamlin is 4/1 to win the championship, while veteran driver Mark Martin enters the Chase for the Cup as a 15/1 long shot to win his first NASCAR title in his 24th and final season.

MySportsbook.com will offer comprehensive Nascar betting lines on every race remaining on the Nextel Cup series including driver match-ups, props and odds to win each race. For a complete list of NASCAR odds, please visit www.MySportsbook.com.

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