Youzhny sends Russia into Davis Cup quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Youzhny crushed Somdev Devvarman in Sunday's first reverse singles rubber to send host Russia into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals. Youzhny's win gave the Russians, who ultimately prevailed 3-2, an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five opening-round affair.

Youzhny dismantled Devvarman in 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 fashion in 1 hour, 55 minutes at Small Sports Arena. The gritty Russian piled up six service breaks while holding his serve all 12 times on Day 3.

A dead rubber on Sunday saw Indian Rohan Bopanna beat Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Russia will face the Argantina-Sweden victor in July's quarterfinals.

On Saturday here, the dynamic doubles tandem of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes kept the Indians alive by notching a 96-minute straight-sets triumph over a Russian tandem of Igor Kunitsyn and Gabashvili.

On Friday in Moscow, Youzhny and Kunitsyn each won opening singles rubbers to give the hosts a commanding 2-0 advantage.

Two-time champion Russia (2002, 2006) is captained by Shamil Tarpischev, while Team India, which was making its first appearance in the World Group since 1998, was guided by Shiv-Prakash Misra.

Russia and India have now split four all-time meetings.

Gamblig Tennis Betting News

<< Vokoun stops 31 in win over Carolina
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Vokoun's 31 saves set the tone for Florida's 4-1 victory to snap the Carolina Hurricanes' seven-game win streak at Bank Atlantic Center. Kamil Kreps scored twice, including an empty-net goal,

<< Teenager Seung-yul Noh wins Malaysian Open
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seung-yul Noh got up and down for birdie on the final hole Sunday to fend off K.J. Choi and win the Malaysian Open by a single stroke. The South Korean Noh shot four-under 68 and completed his

<< Webb blows away field at ANZ Ladies Masters
Gold Coast, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Karrie Webb, who led by one entering Sunday's final round of the ANZ Ladies Masters, fired a course-record 11-under 61 to blow away the field for a six-stroke victory. Webb completed her seventh AN

<< Redskins sign OL Hicks
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins bolstered their offensive line by signing veteran guard Artis Hicks on Saturday. The deal is reportedly for three years and worth as much as $9 million. Hicks has played for

<< Buckeyes top Wisconsin in Big Ten semifinals
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Samantha Prahalis scored 29 points and went 4-of-7 from three-point range in leading 10th-ranked Ohio State to an 82-73 win over Wisconsin in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament. Jantel Laven

Spartans can claim share of Big Ten title with win over Wolverines >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bitter Big Ten Conference rivals close out the regular season against each other this afternoon in East Lansing, as the Michigan Wolverines come calling on the 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans. Michigan

Illinois welcomes No. 15 Wisconsin to Champaign >>
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In desperate need of a win, the Illinois Fighting Illini seek an upset of the 15th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers today in a Big Ten showdown at Assembly. At 10-7 within the conference, Illinois is already guarante

Shockers battle Panthers for MVC Tournament crown >>
St. Louis. MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gunning for their second straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship, top-seeded Northern Iowa takes on second-seeded Wichita State in the title game this afternoon at the Scottrade Center in St.

SEC showdown pits Gators against Wildcats >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats close out the regular season this afternoon with an SEC clash against the Florida Gators, who need a victory to help their NCAA Tournament prospects. Losses in the last two

Lions battle Zags in WCC Tournament semifinals >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs are the top- seeded team in the West Coast Conference Tournament, and they begin play at the event with a semifinal-round matchup against the fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount Lions.

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.