In order to earn a three- set triumph against Philipp Kohlschrebber, No. 12 seed Gael Monfils had to work to win -7, 7-6, 6-3 in a match where the Frenchman only showed his superiority in the final set. Spain’s Fernando Verdasco defeated Istomin 7-5, 6-2 and progressed to the next round. Juan Martin Del Potro continues his Madrid campaign. He will face Mikhail Youzhny and it will be a tough second-round matchup. This will be the second consecutive year at the Mutua Madrid Open when they collide again. Both will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers.

Meanwhile, with a 6-4, 6-3 handling of tall South African Kevin Anderson, sixth-seeded Czech slugger Tomas Berdych eased into the third round. On Day 4, the former Wimbledon runner-up Berdych will meet acrobatic Frenchman Gael Monfils. Ninth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon came from behind to get past Italian Fabio Fognini 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-3 in the opening-round play and the 12th-seeded oft- injured Monfils, playing in his first match since March, cooled off last week’s Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.

In other matches, Croat Marin Cilic handled Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-3; Spain’s Marcel Granollers snuck past Argentine Carlos Berlocq, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5; Czech Radek Stepanek defeated Aussie Bernard Tomic 6-2, 7-5; Argentine Federico Delbonis erased Spain’s Albert Ramos 6-3, 6-2 and Wawrinka bested Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Former grand slam finalist David Nalbandian was dominated by Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-4. In just 74 minutes, the 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated the Argentine with his 16th ace of the match.

The first seeded player to exit was Feliciano Lopez. He was beaten by Jurgen Melzer 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Ninth-seeded Gilles Simon of France rallied a win over Fabio Fognini of Italy for 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-3.

The best betting odds for the Madrid Open R Nadal (9/10); N Djokovic (5/2); R Federer (17/2); J del Potro (16), D Ferrer (51).

A year ago, Sweeting was a surprise winner when he beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the finale. It was his debut appearance in an ATP World Tour final. Using six aces and saving 7-of-9 break point opportunities to complete the victory in 108 minutes at River Oaks Country Club, the American completed a 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Brazilian Ricardo Mello. This year, Sweeting is unseeded and his ranking has fallen from 93 at last year’s event to 143.

In the tiebreaker, Sweeting took a 6-3 lead but then double-faulted. He had hit a forehand into the net and sailed a backhand behind the baseline to tie it. To end the match, Mello then hit two forehand errors.

Sweeting took Mello to three break points in the 11th game before Mello fought back to hold for a 6-5 lead. He missed a chance to take charge of the second set. In the 12th game, Sweeting held serves to force the tiebreaker.

In just under two hours, American qualifier Russell dropped the first set to Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver before taking the final two for a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 decision. Russell advances to face top seed and World No. 9 Mardy Fish, after fighting off six aces from his Spanish opponent. In 2006, Fish won this tournament. Fish is the top seed in the $442,500 event.

Tatsuma Ito won an all-Japanese clash with Go Soeda 6-4, 7-5, the first tour-level meeting between the two compatriots in other matches at the Houston tournament. Ito booked a second-round clash with fourth-seeded Argentinean Juan Monaco.

Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi sealed a victory over Wayne Odesnik {6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-3} and set up a meeting with third-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Qualifier Horacio Zeballos defeated Romanian Adrian Unger with a 6-3, 6-3 victory and booked a marquee second-round clash with John Isner.

In America’s Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over France in Monte Carlo at the weekend, Isner clinched a four-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is seeded second in Houston, delivered two singles victories. In February, Isner had beaten Swiss great Roger Federer on clay in the United States’ 5-0 first-round Davis Cup whitewash of Switzerland. This year, he has also beaten world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the hard-court Indian Wells Masters.

US Mens Clay Court Championship Outrights have John Isner 9/4, Juan Monaco 10/3, Mardy Fish13/2, Feliciano Lopez 15/2, Carlos Berlocq12.

The Flames have won two of the three previous meetings. On Feb. 18, in the third period, Michael Cammalleri scored early against his former team and Miikka Kiprusoff made 28 saves to give Calgary the victory. Cammalleri has 5 goals and 8 points in nine career games against Los Angeles. He spent his first five NHL seasons with the Kings.

Both Western Conference rivals are in a must-win situation and they continue to fight for their playoff lives. With only six games remaining, the Kings are ninth in West with 86 points. They are one point behind eighth-seeded Phoenix. The Flames are 11th in the conference with 85 points and they have not qualified for the playoffs in two straight seasons.

On Monday, Goalie Jonathan Quick suffered a 1-0 setback to the Vancouver Canucks, even though he made 24 saves. The sixth time Los Angeles suffered a 1-0 defeat and it marked the ninth time this season that they were shut out. Additionally, the Kings have scored a total of 39 goals in Quick’s 32 losses this season. Notching 5 goals and 5 assists in 11 games skating alongside center Anze Kopitar and left wing Dustin Brown, right wing Justin Williams has been one of the team’s most productive performers of late.

On Monday, Calgary kept its slim playoff hopes alive by scoring a 5-4 victory over the Dallas Stars and ended five-game losing streak. Against the Stars, this was the second back-to-back wins. The Flames erupted on offense, after scoring just six goals during that five-game skid. Cammalleri had a goal and two assists and Kiprusoff finished with 35 saves, Alex Tanguay’s goal 19:32 into the second gave Calgary a 5-3 advantage.

Forwards Scott Parse (hip) and Simon Gagne (concussion) are out of the Kings’ lineup. Defenseman Cory Sarich (upper body) and center Mikael Backlund (shoulder) are out, while, the Flames list defensemen Derek Smith (upper body) and TJ Brodie (upper body) as day-to-day.

The Dodgers haven’t rewarded bettors recently, with just a 47.4% win percentage when favored in the odds. Los Angeles Dodgers has been even worse when it is favored at home, posting a 6-8 record. The Dodgers have struggled in recent games going 3-7 in their last ten. During that time Los Angeles has posted a -1.3 run differential.

Home field advantage hasn’t lived up to its name for the Dodgers this season. Los Angeles has played to a lackluster 9-9 record at Dodger Stadium.

While Ted Lilly (3-3 4.67) has pitched well recently for the Dodgers, he could be a liability against the Cubs. In his last start against Chicago, Lilly was charged with the loss in a 5-1 defeat.

Carlos Zambrano (4-1 4.38) has been pitching well this season and has gone 2-1 in recent starts. Additionally, Zambrano won his last start against Los Angeles 5-1 on Wednesday, May 4. Zambrano has been going strong on the mound recently, averaging 7.0 innings per game in those starts.

The Dodgers have performed poorly against right-handed pitching lately going 11-17. That’s a problem for Los Angeles, as the Cubs will put righty Zambrano on the mound.

The Dodgers might also be a little undermanned in this game as Rod Bajaras and Aaron Miles are day-to-day.

Whatever the Chicago Bulls can handle, the Atlanta Hawks have been able to give them. They do not have much of a home court advantage when they play on their home court in the Phillips Arena. The Chicago Bulls fan has invaded the arena for the other games the Atlanta Hawks have hosted as the fan base for the Hawks is small.

Led by Joe Johnson as their premiere shooting guard, the Hawks will run out a starting five. Johnson has been the difference in the two Hawks wins as he is averaging 19 points per game. When the Hawks won in Game 1, Johnson scored 33 points.

In this series Al Horford and Josh Smith have controlled the boards for the Hawks. Smith is grabbing nine as Horford is pulling down 10 plus rebounds per game. Carlos Boozer has averaged nine rebounds per game as the Bulls Joakim Noah leads both teams on the boards with 11.3 rebounds per game.

All season Derrick Rose has been the leader of the Bulls and as the NBA Playoffs have progressed the point guard has not let up. Only as far as Rose can take the Bulls, they can go. Even though Las Vegas may not match up well with the Miami Heat, they have lowered their odds to win it all to 4-1. For this matchup the over/under total is 179 in NBA Lines and Chicago is a 3.5-point, -160 moneyline favorite.

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One of the better rivalries of last season is set to renew this weekend when the Cincinnati Reds travel to St. Louis to play the Cardinals.

The Cardinals are at 20-1 to win the World Series in MLB Betting.

During their intense division race last year, the Reds and Cardinals played several very competitive games towards the end of the regular season. One game got so intense that there was a brawl between the two teams when St. Louis catcher Jadier Molina got into a fight with Reds’ second baseman Brandon Phillips. After the brawl, words were exchanged between the two clubs and there is certainly no love lost between these teams.

Both teams have gotten off to a decent start this season with both Cincinnati and St. Louis currently among the leaders atop the NL Central division. With everyone else in the National League Central Division within three games of each other, no one has separated themselves from the rest of the pack as the early team to beat in 2011.

Perhaps the best part of this upcoming series between Cincinnati and St. Louis is the expected pitching match ups. Saturday will see Travis Wood take the hill opposite Chris Carpenter. Sunday, which is also the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Game of the Week, will showcase Sam LeCure against Jake Westbrook. If you are a baseball fan that appreciates good pitching, this is a series you might want to tune into.

Related articles

• NL Capsules (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• NL Capsules (boston.com)

From annual Masters pick Tiger Woods, it took a lot for Phil Mickelson to wrestle favorite status. Mickelson is a 7-1 choice in the last seven years, after three triumphs at Augusta and a confidence-building success last week at the Houston Open.

Since Tiger Woods won a golf tournament, it has been 16 months, 34 since he captured the last of his 14 major championships. To the dearth, life changes and swing changes have contributed. In the four-time Masters champion, Augusta National brings out the best. In 2005 came his last triumph at Augusta.

In major championships, Ricky Barnes has been a consistent presence, collecting a top-10 finish in last year’s Masters, a tie for 27th at the ’10 U.S. His breakout second-place finish at the 2009 U.S. Open is something well known among New York sports fans.

Come Sunday, Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa is near the top of the leader board and this 19-year old is already appearing in his third Masters. Ishikawa was the one of the four Japanese born players, who contributed all of his earnings for the 2011 season to tsunami aid.

Bill Haas now seems to be finding his stroke, in spite of a slow start to an iniquitously over-hyped young career. Haas almost won the Bob Hope Classic. In the playoff, he was edged by Jhonattan Vegas. He has collected another three top-15 finishes. He is a popular dark-horse pick.

Betting odds for Masters Golf Tournament 2011 are – Phil Mickelson 33/5, Tiger Woods 12, Lee Westwood 83/5, Nick Watney 181/10, Luke Donald 22.

A fighter’s overall performance, win-loss record, head-to-head matches and common opponents, and difficulty of opponents, what the rankings take into account.

From MMAWeekly.com the rankings system is considered the most comprehensive rankings system in the sport.

Currently those MMA Fighters who are serving drug-related suspensions are not qualified for Top 10 consideration until they have fought one time after the completion of their suspension.

In order to be eligible for Top 10 consideration they must also have competed within the past 12 months, unless they have a bout scheduled within a reasonable time frame.

Cain Velasquez is ranked no.1 followed by Fabricio Werdum and Brock Lesnar, in the Heavyweight division (over 205 pounds), and his betting odds in sports picks will improve after this ranking.

Jones is No. 1 followed by Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Rashad Evans, in the Light Heavyweight (205-pound limit) division.

Followed by Yushin Okami and Nathan Marquardt, Anderson Silva tops the Middleweight division (185-pound limit).

Followed by Jon Fitch and Jake Shields, Georges St-Pierre stays atop the Welterweight category (170-pound limit).

For this fight Wineland is a +350 underdog whereas Faber is a -550 favorite in MMA Odds.

Being the former champions both of these fighters will have a chance to put their talents to the test. In the UFC, Urijah Faber will be making his debut. In the WEC he previously was a fighter. Even though he will now take the opportunity to put his skills up against the best fighters in the world, he was the most famous fighter in the WEC for years.

Wineland is going to come into this fight on fire as he is also a former champion from the WEC. As of late he has really dominated his competition as well as he has won 4 fights in a row. In the bantamweight class these fighters will be fighting.

The winner of this fight may have a chance at the UFC title as there is a lot of talk about this and these fighters need to take advantage of the opportunity at hand.

Even though there is no reason to believe that their fighting styles will not translate to the UFC, these fighters both have a lot to prove. They have high expectations coming into the UFC as they were both huge names in the WEC.

Wineland has a career record of 18-6-1 whereas Urijah Faber has a career record of 24 wins and 4 losses.

By winning season 3 of The Ultimate Fighter as a light heavyweight, Bisping made his name in UFC. Including a controversial split decision win over Matt Hamill at UFC 75, he went on to win his next three UFC fights. In opposition to fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans in a split decision, he picked up his first UFC loss at UFC 78. Bisping is 6-2 ever since he subsequently moved to middleweight.

Rivera is a year away from turning 40 as he is in his 10th year as an MMA fighter. Since UFC 44 on Sept. 26, 2003, he has been fighting in UFC matches. He has won three straight going into his match with Bisping as he owns a 19-7-0 record.

Bisping has somewhat struggled with heavy hands, which Rivera is known for. While Rivera barely makes the main card most of the time, Bisping is widely considered to be the better fighter as he is consistently on the main event.

Thanks to the verbal sparring they have done in the months leading up to the fight, this is one of the more anticipated matches. He is “going to get battered” at UFC 127 as he was hoping for a more high-profile opponent, what Bisping has expressed. On YouTube, Rivera has posted videos that make fun of Bisping’s British accent, MMA record, background, and many other things.

While Rivera is a +260 underdog, Bisping is a -340 moneyline favorite to win in UFC lines Odds.