Federer, Nadal roll into fourth round in Melbourne

Tennis Betting Lines

01/20/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were each straight-set winners Friday in third-round action at the Australian Open.

Federer, this year's third seed and a four-time winner in Melbourne, battled through a tough first set against Ivo Karlovic before capturing a 7-6 (8-6), 7-5, 6-3 win over the hard-serving Croatian. The 16-time Grand Slam champion had to save a set point in the first-set tiebreaker and did so with a lob over the 6-foot-10 Karlovic.

"I'm happy I found a way today," said Federer, who played his 998th career match on Friday. "[The] first set was crucial, like I said. [I'm] happy to be through in straight sets."

The second-seeded Nadal, who beat Federer for the 2009 Aussie Open crown, had little trouble in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 rout of Slovakia's Lukas Lacko. The 10-time Grand Slam champ has won each of his three matches in straight sets and hasn't yet faced a tiebreaker.

"I've played three matches at a very good level," Nadal said. "Today was one of the best. [It was] solid, without mistakes, [I was] comfortable with the serve [and] having good returns."

Things could start to get difficult for both men in the fourth round.

Federer, who had three days off before Friday's win because of a walkover in the second round, will be tested by Australian crowd favorite Bernard Tomic, while Nadal will square off against fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

Tomic, who rallied from two sets down to win his first-round match against Spain's Fernando Verdasco, went five again on Friday and advanced with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-3 win over 13th-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine.

The 30-year-old Federer and 19-year-old Tomic have met just once previously, a four-set win for the Swiss veteran in a Davis Cup World Group playoff last year.

As for Nadal, he'll take on a familiar opponent in Lopez. The two have met 10 times previously, with Nadal winning eight. Lopez needed five sets to advance on Friday, as the 18th seed outlasted American John Isner, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-7 (0-7), 6-1.

"I hit great shots," Lopez said about his effort. "Sometimes I hit a little bit too much, too many double faults at one point, but overall I think I played great. I played great points."

Isner was the last American hope in Melbourne. It's the first time since 1973 that no American man has reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open. There were also no American men entered in 1973.

"It's very disappointing," Isner stated. "That's not a good effort from the Americans this tournament. I knew going in today I was the last one left and I wanted to keep on going, but just didn't happen. But it's very ugly, to be honest, to have no one in the round of 16. We've got to try to rectify that next time the big tournaments roll around."

Other winners Friday were seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 10th-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, 11th-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina and unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Berdych earned a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1 victory over South Africa's Kevin Anderson and will next take on Almagro, who notched a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, 6-4 win over Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka.

Del Potro dropped a mere five games in a straight-set thumping of Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu and will next face Kohlschreiber, who toppled Colombia's Alejandro Falla, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). Falla eliminated eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish in the second round.

The third round continues Saturday with eight matches and features top-seeded Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt.

Djokovic will battle Frenchman Nicolas Mahut with a potential fourth-round match against Hewitt on the horizon. Hewitt would have to beat Canada's Milos Raonic on Saturday.

The fourth-seeded Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year's final and was also the runner-up to Federer two years ago, will meet Frenchman Michael Llodra. Ferrer, the fifth seed, will tangle with Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, while the sixth-seeded Tsonga will take on Portugal's Frederico Gil.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.