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07/31/2010 - Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Almagro of Spain and France's Richard Gasquet were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Swiss Open Gstaad.
The second-seeded Almagro earned a 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver, while the seventh-seeded Gasquet advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Kazakhstan's Yuri Schukin.
Almagro needed to save a set point in the first-set tiebreaker before winning it, but Gimeno-Traver saved a pair of break-point chances against his serve in the second set and converted one of his two to even the match. Almagro then opened a quick 3-0 lead in the third and closed out the match in two hours to advance to his second ATP final in the past three events.
The world's 18th-ranked player notched his sixth career title and first of 2010 two weeks ago by stunning crowd favorite Robin Soderling in the final at the Swedish Open.
Almagro is 6-2 all-time in ATP finals, all of which have come on clay.
Gimeno-Traver was denied his first-ever ATP final for the second straight event. He lost to Gael Monfils in the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup two weeks ago.
Gasquet will appear in his third final of the year. He lost to Marcos Baghdatis in Sydney back in January and beat Fernando Verdasco in Nice just before the start of the French Open.
Saturday's match against Schukin, who was playing an ATP semifinal for the first time after Friday's stunning quarterfinal win against top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, was not too difficult for the 47th-ranked Frenchman.
A break in the eighth game enabled Gasquet to take the first set and he broke again for a 4-3 lead in the second, then finished the match in just 88 minutes.
Gasquet is 6-7 all-time in ATP finals and won this tournament back in 2006.
Almagro won the lone previous meeting with Gasquet, rallying from a set down to capture a second-round match in Acapulco back in February.
<< Sadler tops Kahne for Pocono truck pole
Long Pond, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elliott Sadler won the pole position for
Saturday's inaugural Pocono Mountains 125 Camping World Truck Series race at
Pocono Raceway.
Sadler, the last driver to make his qualifying attempt in the 38-t
<< Indians activate Wood off DL
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians on Saturday activated
pitcher Kerry Wood from the 15-day disabled list.
Wood last pitched on July 11 before landing on the DL with a blister on his
right index finger. It was the
<< Bucs agree to terms with McCoy, Penn
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and first-round draft
pick Gerald McCoy have agreed to terms.
McCoy, a defensive tackle from Oklahoma selected with the third overall pick
of April's draft, reportedly agreed to a fi
<< Rays get Qualls from Diamondbacks
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired
reliever Chad Qualls from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a player to
be named later.
The right-handed Qualls has posted an 8.29 earned run average, t
Indians scratch Westbrook >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have scratched pitcher
Jake Westbrook from Saturday's scheduled start against Toronto.
The MLB Network said Westbrook is on the verge of being traded and reports it
could be a three-way de
Tseng maintains lead at Women's British Open >>
South Port, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yani Tseng eagled the final hole
Saturday en route to her third straight four-under 68 and a four-shot lead
after the third round of the Women's British Open.
Tseng finished 54 holes at 12-un
Russians prevail in Istanbul >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russians Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and
Elena Vesnina were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at
the Istanbul Cup.
The third-seeded Pavlyuchenkova earned a 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 7-5
Diamondbacks and Pirates make trade >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have acquired
outfielder Ryan Church, infielder Bobby Crosby and pitcher D.J. Carrasco from
the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for catcher Chris Snyder, infielder Pedro
Ciriaco
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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