Nadal, Federer roll into quarterfinals at Aussie Open

Tennis Betting Lines

01/22/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were both straight-set winners Sunday in fourth-round action at the Australian Open.

Nadal cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

The second-seeded Nadal, who is on a collision course with Federer for a possible semifinal matchup, moved to 9-2 all-time against Lopez and moved to the round-of-eight Down Under for a sixth straight year.

The last time Nadal lost before the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam was at the 2009 French Open.

"I am improving day by day," Nadal said. "But this time I felt that the first day I played well, and second, two days ago I played well. And today I played another complete match in my opinion, serious match."

Lopez, seeded 18th, is the only left-handed player to have defeated Nadal on two occasions, but he has never even won a set against his Davis Cup teammate on a hard court surface. Since the start of 2010, only three different men have defeated Nadal in Grand Slam play - Novak Djokovic (twice), David Ferrer and Andy Murray (once each).

Nadal, bidding to win his second Australian Open title (2009) and his 11th Grand Slam championship, will face No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych, who downed No. 10 seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).

That was a contentious match, especially at the end when Berdych refused to shake Almagro's hand. During the match, Almagro raced for a return and sent a rocket right off the right arm of Berdych, who clearly didn't like being hit.

He said so during an interview after the near four-hour match.

"When somebody wants to hit you straight in your face, I don't see this as a nice moment, especially when you have the whole court free," Berdych said.

It's a good bet Nadal will advance past Berdych as he owns a 10-3 mark against the Czech.

A third-seeded Federer, meanwhile, reached his 31st consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aussie sensation Bernard Tomic.

"Maybe the score suggested differently, but I thought we had a lot of long games, tough points, and I thought he did actually really well," said Federer, a four-time winner in Melbourne, who has won 20 of his last 21 matches against Australian opponents and ended the dream for the 19-year-old Tomic.

The 30-year-old Federer will take on Argentina's Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarterfinals. Del Potro blew past Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1.

The 11th-seeded Del Potro also reached the quarterfinals here as the No. 8 seed in 2009, where he suffered his worst Grand Slam defeat to date in a loss to Federer, winning just three games that entire match. He got a bit of revenge later in the year, beating Federer in the final of the U.S. Open.

The fourth round will conclude Monday with matches featuring Djokovic, the top seed, Murray, Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Djokovic will battle Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt, while the fourth-seeded Murray will meet Kasakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin. Murray lost to Djokovic in last year's final and was also the runner-up to Federer two years ago.

Ferrer, the fifth seed, will take on 17th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet, while the sixth-seeded Tsonga will face 24th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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