Venus reaches third round at U.S. Open

Tennis Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Venus Williams was among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.

The third-seeded former world No. 1 Williams got past Rebecca Marino 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 at Ashe Stadium. The powerful American advanced in just over an hour-and-a-half, with the help of 23 unforced errors from her unheralded Canadian opponent. Marino was unable to break Williams' formidable serve on Day 3.

Williams, who is playing her first tennis since Wimbledon because of a knee injury, titled here back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 and was the U.S. Open runner-up to her younger sister Serena in 2002.

Up next for the seven-time major titlist Williams will be Luxembourg's Mandy Minella, who dismissed 32nd-seeded Wimbledon semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova, of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-0. Pironkova stunned Williams in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon this summer.

Sixth-seeded French Open champion Francesca Schiavone improved to 9-1 in her last 10 Grand Slam matches with a 6-2, 6-1 dismantling of fellow Italian Maria Elena Camerin. Schiavone became the first Italian woman to capture a major title, which she did at the French Open back in June.

Tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka retired from her second-rounder amid some extremely hot conditions here on Wednesday.

Argentine Gisela Dulko was pasting Azarenka 5-1 in the first set when the Belarusian collapsed on the court just 31 minutes into the match.

Azarenka left the Grandstand Court via wheelchair, with an ice pack on her neck. She then exited the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on a stretcher, and was driven away by an ambulance.

"I was warming up in the gym prior to my match against Gisela Dulko when I fell while running a sprint," Azarenka said. "I fell forward and hit my arm and head. I was checked by the medical team before I went on court and they were courtside for monitoring. I felt worse as the match went on, having a headache and feeling dizzy. I also started having trouble seeing and felt weak before I fell. I was taken to the hospital for some medical tests and have been diagnosed with a mild concussion."

Azarenka was considered to be among the true contenders here.

Former U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva, seeded 12th here, moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Austrian mother Sybille Bammer. The two-time Grand Slam runner-up Dementieva is the reigning Olympic gold medalist and reached the final here in Flushing in 2004.

Some other seeds were dismissed on Day 3 when France's Virginie Razzano surprised 13th-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli, of France, 7-5, 6-4 and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic drubbed No. 21 Chinese Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-0 in 56 minutes at Ashe Stadium. The currently 40th-ranked Ivanovic, of Serbia, is a former French Open champ.

"I was really happy with today's game, because she's tough opponent and I lost to her last couple of times we played," Ivanovic said of Zheng. "I was expecting really tough match."

Twentieth-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova avoided an upset by handling Indian Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-4, while 24th-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova came from behind to beat American Vania King 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 and Italian Sara Errani erased 28th-seeded Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-3.

The newest U.S. Open champion will pocket at least $1.7 million.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.