Clijsters, Azarenka move on Down Under

Tennis Betting Lines

01/16/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending women's champion Kim Clijsters and third-seeded Victoria Azarenka were opening-day winners at the 2012 Australian Open on Monday.

The 11th-seeded Clijsters, who struggled through an injury-filled 2011 campaign following her initial Melbourne triumph, downed Maria Joao Koehler 7-5, 6-1.

Azarenka made quick work of Britain's Heather Watson, earning a 6-1, 6-0 straight-set victory at Rod Laver Arena. She will look to improve upon last year's fourth-round finish in Melbourne. Her highest finish at this tournament came in the form of a quarter-final defeat in 2010.

Fifth-seeded Li Na of China ousted Ksenia Pervak 6-3, 6-1 at Hisense Arena. Eight-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska had a slightly rougher go in her first match at Melbourne, earning a hard-fought 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-2 win over American Bethanie Mattek-Sands while 10th-seeded Francesca Schiavone earned an easy 6-1, 6-3 victory over Laura Pous-Tio.

Peng Shuai, seeded 16th, took a 6-3, 6-4 over Aravane Rezai. Early upsets saw Russia's Nina Bratchikova take down 19th-ranked Flavia Pennetta, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 and American Christina McHale beat 24th-seeded Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-4.

Also an early winner on Monday was 26th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues, who recorded a 6-3, 6-3 win over Eva Birnerova. Additionally, Lesia Tsurenko topped Arantxa Rus 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, Eleni Daniilidou breezed by Japan's Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 6-2, Australia's own Casey Dellacqua downed Bojana Jovanovski 6-3, 6-2, 20th-seeded Daniela Hantuchova squeezed past Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Paula Ormaechea bested Simona Halep 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

Anastasiya Yakimova was also among the winners with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Romina Oprandi, as was 22nd-ranked German Julia Goerges, who downed Polona Hercog 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Petra Cetkovska, ranked 32nd, won 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 over Japan's Ayumi Morita, while Paula Ormaechea ousted Simona Halep 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 and Olga Govortsova ousted Patricia Mayr-Achleitner 6-2, 6-4.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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