Nadal, Federer into 3rd round; Fish out at Aussie Open

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01/18/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eased into the third round at the Australian Open -- one of them without hitting a shot on Wednesday. Eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish, however, went by way of the upset at the first Grand Slam event of the year.

Nadal, the No. 2 seed, fought off eight aces and beat error-prone German Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, while the third-seeded Federer moved on when his opponent, German Andreas Beck, pulled out of their match with a back injury.

Seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and No. 11 seed Juan Martin del Potro joined Nadal in the win column on Day 3.

The 16-time Grand Slam titlist Federer, a four-time Aussie Open champion, said Beck greeted him in the locker room and said he was in a lot of pain after his first-round match Monday against Frenchman Eric Prodon.

"I didn't know anything about it. It came as a surprise," Federer said. "He said he had a lot of painkillers and pain in the last match. I guess it's the smart decision for him to take."

Federer, who last won this major event two years ago, was coming off a win over Russian Alexander Kudryavtsev on Monday.

The iconic Swiss great said he felt bad for the fans who came out to watch his match and was looking forward to working off the unused energy in practice on Thursday.

"I'll just relax this afternoon and have an intense hit tomorrow," Federer said.

The 10-time major champion Nadal, after beating American Alex Kuznetsov in the first round, notched 36 winners in his match against the former world No. 2 Haas, who committed 38 unforced errors. Nadal, who defeated Federer in the 2009 finale here and last year's French Open final, converted six of his 10 break-point opportunities en route to victory.

Fish was knocked off in the first big men's upset of the tournament, falling in straight sets to Colombian Alejandro Falla 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). The first and third sets both took over an hour to play. Fish was done in by 58 unforced errors, but didn't make any excuses.

"He's a good player," Fish said.

The former Wimbledon runner-up Berdych beat diminutive Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) and the former U.S. Open winner del Potro topped Slovenian Blaz Kavcic 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 during Wednesday's 16-match schedule on the men's side.

Tenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro came from behind to beat promising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0, while 13th-seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov (13) overcame German Tobias Kamke 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 8-6, and 16th-seeded massive-serving American John Isner edged out former top-five star and former Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian in a marathon bout, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 10-8.

In other second-round action involving seeds, No. 18 Feliciano Lopez of Spain handled Italian Flavio Cipolla 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, No. 21 Swiss Stan Wawrinka downed former Aussie Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in Wednesday's nightcap and No. 30 South African Kevin Anderson held off Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Meanwhile, rising Aussie favorite Bernard Tomic came back to defeat on-the- mend American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 and Slovak Lukas Lacko doused American Donald Young 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Other second-round winners were 6-foot-10 Croat Ivo Karlovic, German Philipp Kohlschreiber and Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu.

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.