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06/13/2010 - Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lleyton Hewitt battled back from a set down to unseat five-time champion Roger Federer in the final at the Gerry Weber Open.
Hewitt took a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 victory to snap the top-seeded Federer's 29- match win streak at the Wimbledon tuneup, dealing the Swiss star his first loss at the tournament since the 2002 semifinals, when Federer lost to Nicolas Kiefer.
Federer went on to avenge that loss the following year in the final and hadn't lost at this venue since. He skipped the tournament in 2007 and 2009.
The loss is also a rare one on grass for Federer, who was 76-1 on the surface since 2003 heading into Sunday's title match, with that lone previous defeat coming against Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final.
But Hewitt, the eighth seed and a former Wimbledon champ, rallied for a second straight match to take the win in a little under 2 1/2 hours. The Australian had taken a three-set win over Benjamin Becker in the semifinals.
In the 25th career matchup between the two, Hewitt snapped a 15-match losing streak against Federer to record his first title of the year. It is his 29th career ATP crown and first since April 2009, when he won on clay in Houston.
This was Hewitt's first appearance in Halle, as he usually preps for the year's third Grand Slam event at the Queen's Club, where he has won four times.
Federer, meanwhile, has used this event as a springboard to incredible success at Wimbledon. He has played in the final at the All England Club in each of the past seven years, winning the coveted championship six times. However, Sunday's result dropped him to 1-2 in title matches this year.
<< Robben ruled out of Dutch opener
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arjen Robben has been ruled out
of the Netherlands' World Cup opener against Denmark on Monday due to a
hamstring injury.
Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk said that it was too risky to pl
<< Rivera homers as Angels edge Dodgers
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Rivera clubbed a two-run homer to help
the Angels defeat the Dodgers, 4-2, in the middle contest of a three-game
interleague series at Chavez Ravine.
Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter each had an
<< UCLA coach Howland has surgery
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UCLA head men's basketball coach Ben
Howland underwent successful surgery to repair a ruptured right Achilles
tendon.
The procedure was performed on Friday at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medi
<< Florida downs Miami, advances to CWS
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Maddox's RBI double in the top of
the 10th inning lifted Florida over Miami-Florida, 4-3, sending the Gators to
the College World Series.
Florida, which won 7-2 in the opener of this best-of-t
Li tops Sharapova for Birmingham crown >>
Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Li Na of China earned her first title
of 2010 Sunday with a straight-sets victory over Maria Sharapova in the final
of the Aegon Classic.
The top-seeded Li was a 7-5, 6-1 winner after taking advanta
Reds face Greinke in finale at Great American Ball Park >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds try to put some distance between
themselves and the rest of the National League Central as they close out a
three-game interleague set against the Kansas City Royals at Great American
Ball Park.
On Sat
Pirates try again to end road woes in Detroit >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Desperate to snap the longest losing streak in the major
leagues, the Pittsburgh Pirates give it another shot this afternoon as they
tangle with the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.
Pittsburgh, which also shows the worst
Nats, Strasburg hope for an encore in Cleveland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals hope that one day Stephen
Strasburg can take them to the next level. Today, though, they will settle for
a win, as the right-hander makes his second big league start, trying to help
the Nationals avoi
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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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
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