Safina, Dementieva win Pilot Pen openers

Tennis Betting Lines

08/23/2010 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina and two- time Grand Slam runner-up Elena Dementieva were among Monday's opening-round winners at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.

Safina of Russia battled back to defeat third-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-3, 6-1 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Schiavone is the reigning French Open champ.

The fourth-seeded Dementieva flew past Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-2.

Rain washed away Sunday's schedule here and interrupted the start of play Monday.

Slovakian lucky-loser Dominika Cibulkova drove out last year's American U.S. Open darling Melanie Oudin 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 on Monday. Cibulkova is scheduled to meet two-time defending Pilot Pen champion Caroline Wozniacki in the second round.

Eighth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova overcame American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 1-6, 7-5, 6-1, while another American qualifier, Bethanie Mattek- Sands, stifled Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6-2, 6-1.

Additional first-round wins came for Italian Sara Errani and Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko. Errani will meet second-seeded French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur in the round of 16.

Slovak Daniela Hantuchova beat Estonian Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the second round.

The Danish Wozniacki handled Russian Elena Vesnina in last year's New Haven finale to capture her second straight title here. Wozniacki, who titled in Montreal on Monday, is the top seed here.

The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $98,500

The U.S. Open will commence next Monday in New York.

Wwwattheraces Tennis Betting News

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Betting

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.