Wozniacki, Sharapova advance at Indian Wells; Henin slips

Tennis Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki and former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova were among Friday's second-round winners at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.

The second-seeded Wozniacki, of Denmark, came from behind to beat American Vania King 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 at the beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Sharapova, seeded 10th, also rallied from a set down to post a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over fellow Russian Vera Dushevina. Sharapova titled here in 2006.

Belgian Justine Henin came up short in her second-round match as the 31st seed, Gisela Dulko of Argentina, topped the 2004 Indian Wells champ 6-2, 1-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva held off Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 and fifth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska got past former top-10 performer Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 6-2, 5-3, retired.

The highest seeded player to fall on Friday was No. 7 Li Na of China. Brit Elena Baltacha outlasted Li 7-6 (8-6), 2-6. 7-6 (9-7).

Eleventh-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli was a straight-set winner over Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 6-2, 15th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone bested Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan 6-3, 6-4 and 16th-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova outlasted Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Eighteenth-seeded Chinese Zheng Jie handled Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-5, while 19th-seeded Aravane Rezai of France beat lucky loser Tamarine Tanasugarn, Chinese Peng Shuai knocked off 20th-seeded Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-1, 6-4, American Jill Craybas ousted 22nd-seeded German Sabine Lisicki 4-6, 7-5, 2-0, retired, Aussie Alicia Molik took out 29th-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), Belgian Kirsten Flipkens upended 30th-seeded Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-2 and 32nd-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko was a 7-5, 6-3 winner over Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.

This week's 32 seeds all received byes into the second round.

Vera Zvonareva bested 2008 Indian Wells champ Ana Ivanovic in last year's finale here.

The 2010 Indian Wells winner will earn a hefty $700,000.

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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.

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