Top seeds Jankovic, Wozniacki exit Cincy; Sharapova reaches QFs

Tennis Betting Lines

08/12/2010 - Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Jelena Jankovic and U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki were third-round upset victims Thursday at the $2 million Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open, a hardcourt U.S. Open Series event. Former world No. 1 star Maria Sharapova reached the quarterfinals here on Day 4.

The former U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic was stunned by Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in 1 hour, 22 minutes. The 114th-ranked Amanmuradova drilled 12 aces and did not face even one break-point chance in the big win.

Jankovic defeated fellow former top-ranked star Dinara Safina, of Russia, in last year's Cincinnati finale.

Meanwhile, former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli upended the second-seeded Wozniacki in 6-4, 6-1 fashion on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The 16th-seeded Bartoli drove out Wozniacki in 1 hour, 21 minutes by blasting nine aces and tallying four service breaks.

Wozniacki was fresh off her title in Copenhagen in her home country of Denmark last week.

A 10th-seeded Sharapova posted a mild upset by leveling seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3 in just over an hour-and-a-half to set-up a quarterfinal match against the French Bartoli. Sharapova broke Radwanska five times on another hot day here.

More upsets came when 11th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta took out sixth- seeded Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3, 12th-seeded Belgian Yanina Wickmayer overcame eighth-seeded Chinese Li Na 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova dismissed 13th-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The Russian Zvonareva was the Cincinnati champ back in 2006.

Wickmayer will meet Pavlyuchenkova in the round of eight.

Also on Day 4, former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic drubbed Russian Elena Vesnina 6-0, 6-3. Ivanovic will face the 6-foot-3 Amanmuradova on Friday.

This week's champ will take home $350,000.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.