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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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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