Federer gains quarterfinal berth, rematch with Soderling

Tennis Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer continued to roll at the U.S. Open on Monday, this time scoring a straight-set victory over Austrian Jurgen Melzer to reach the quarterfinals.

The second-seeded Federer earned a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 win over the No. 13 seed Melzer. The super Swiss has not dropped a set at this fortnight and will next take on Swede Robin Soderling.

The fifth-seeded Soderling took down No. 21 seed Albert Montanes of Spain, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. Although Federer is 12-1 lifetime against the reigning two-time French Open runner-up, Soderling beat the 16-time Grand Slam champion in the quarterfinals at this year's French Open. That snapped Federer's streak of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances.

I'll be the second straight year the two have met at the U.S. Open. In 2009, Federer won in four tough sets in the quarterfinals.

"I'm looking forward obviously," Federer said. "He's always been a dangerous player. He's able to do it consistently at the highest level and looks like he's going to finish in the top-5 at the end of the year. This is obviously a tough draw for me."

The former world No. 1 Federer titled here from 2004-08 and was last year's runner-up to Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro. This year's Aussie Open champ earned his 26th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal.

After finishing off the second set with a powerful forehand, Federer gained a break midway through the third before beating Melzer for a second time this year. Their other match was in the round-of-16 at Wimbledon, also a three-set win for Federer.

Also on Monday, former runner-up Novak Djokovic handled American Mardy Fish, while Frenchman Gael Monfils also moved into the quarterfinals.

The third-seeded Djokovic drubbed a lethargic 19th-seeded Fish in surgeon-like 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 fashion at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Djokovic moved on in 1 hour, 50 minutes by piling up six service breaks against the typically-big-serving Fish.

Fish, who labored here on Labor Day, had won 18 of his previous 20 matches, including a pair of titles and a runner-up finish against Federer at an ATP Masters/U.S. Open Series tournament in Cincinnati.

"It's been a great summer, obviously, for many reasons," Fish said. "Sort of put myself back into a position where I feel like I belong, and I put in a ton of hard work."

The 23-year-old Djokovic will compete in his fourth straight U.S. Open quarterfinal. The steady Serb reached at least the semifinals in his previous three trips to New York, and has reached at least the quarters in 13 of his last 15 Grand Slam events overall.

"I played a great match today, Djokovic said. "Conditions were tough as well with a strong wind. I was using my serve in important moments extremely well and opening the court and kind of not giving him enough chances to come to the net and be aggressive."

Djokovic is a former Australian Open titlist and lost to Federer in the 2007 U.S. Open finale. He'll face an acrobatic Monfils in a quarterfinal here on Wednesday.

The enigmatic Monfils reached his third career, and first-ever U.S. Open, quarterfinal with a hard-fought and entertaining 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 victory over compatriot Richard Gasquet. The 17th-seeded Monfils advanced in 2 hours, 35 minutes by firing 14 aces and breaking Gasquet's serve five times in a match between two of the most talented players on the ATP World Tour.

Monfils is the first Frenchman in 10 years to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

The fourth round concludes on Tuesday with top seed Rafael Nadal, the reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion, continuing his quest for a first U.S. Open title by facing fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. The last time Nadal lost before the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam was at the 2009 French Open.

Another battle of Spanish players has No. 8 Fernando Verdasco playing 10th seed David Ferrer. the other two matches will see 12th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny battling Spain's Tommy Robredo, and 20th-seeded American Sam Querrey battling 25th seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

Due to the matchups, Spain is guaranteed the first all-Spanish quarterfinal in the U.S. Open in the Open Era.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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