Cup Point Highlight Highlight Down Kvitova

Tennis Betting Lines

Monaco had never beaten the Spaniard in two prior meetings and it looked like he would fall again, but used a dominating final two sets to take the win and will now try to reach his third finals at this event.

 

Chela, the second seed, outlasted Brazil's Joao Souza 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 in a match that lasted three hours. The Argentinean staved off 10-of-13 break chances by Souza and converted on 4-of-8 of his own, including three in the third set, en route to the semis.

 

Monaco will face off against Chardy in the semis, while Chela will do battle with Berlocq.

 

Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova earned dominant straight-set wins Saturday to give Russia a commanding 2-0 edge in its Fed Cup quarterfinal against Spain. Sharapova, last week's Australian Open runner-up, rolled to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the opener, before Kuznetsova cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph over Carla Suarez Navarro in a mere 68 minutes.

 

Sharapova will again be first up in the reverse singles against Navarro. Kuznetsova is then scheduled to meet Soler-Espinosa, although each captain can make changes. The doubles match is slated to pit Ekaterina Makarova and Nadia Petrova for the Russians against the Spanish tandem of Nuria Llagostera Vives and Arantxa Parra-Santonja.

 

The Spaniards are playing in the Fed Cup's World Group for the first time since 2009. They have won the title five times, most recently in 1998 with current captain Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario leading the way.

 

Biella, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy and the Ukraine are surprisingly even after Saturday's opening singles matches of their Fed Cup quarterfinal. The matchups and home court clearly favored the Italians and Sara Errani gave the hosts the first point with a 6-2, 6-3 thumping of Kateryna Bondarenko. With former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone set for Saturday's second match, it appeared the Italians would have a big edge heading to Sunday.

 

Enter Lesia Tsurenko.

 

Italy has won three of the last six Fed Cup titles, including back-to-back crowns in 2009-10. The Italians are also 3-0 all-time against the Ukraine in Fed Cup play.

 

This weekend's winner will meet the Czech Republic-Germany victor in April's semifinals.

 

It will be a quick turnaround for Kvitova, who will give the Czechs the first chance to close out the best-of-five tie on Sunday against Lisicki in the first reverse singles match.

 

The Czechs are 5-1 all-time against Germany, which has captured the Fed Cup twice in its history. The Czechs won last year's crown by beating Russia, 3-2, in the final.

Cyberblackjack Tennis Betting Blog

<< Rinne Minnesota Crush Crush Into Skated

<< Season Puck Host Host Against Mark

<< Seconds Acquires Boston Against Ryan

<< Boston Recalls East Into Loss

<< Red Wings Leaves Wings Down Ovechkin

Mchale Berdych Claim Claim With Youzhny >>

DO I Win Leads Month For I >>

ST. John Helps Points With Team >>

Big East Leaves Season Down Team >>

Northern Iowa Recalls Team Into Games >>

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.