Nadal, Federer win Rome openers; Murray falls

Tennis Betting Lines

04/29/2009 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-ranked Rafael Nadal and former world No. 1 Roger Federer highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners, while U.S. Open runner-up Andy Murray went by way of the upset at the $3.645 million Italian Masters tennis event.

The three-time Rome titlist Nadal whipped Italian crowd favorite Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-3, while a second-seeded Federer handled towering Croat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4 on the red clay at Foro Italico. Federer is now 8-1 all-time versus the 6-foot-10 Karlovic.

Nadal captured this event three years in a row from 2005-07, including a victory over Federer in the 2006 finale. Federer is a two-time runner-up at this French Open tune-up.

The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal is fresh off his fifth straight Barcelona and fifth consecutive Monte- Carlo clay-court championships. The super Spaniard has won his last 26 matches on red clay and is 143-4 on the surface since 2005, including 12-0 this season.

Nadal and Federer were two-of-eight seeds to receive opening-round byes this week.

Big Day-3 second-round upsets came when Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco knocked out a fourth-seeded Murray 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 and Austrian Jurgen Melzer toppled seventh-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). The Miami Masters champion Murray, who fell for only the fourth time all year, considers clay to be his least-favorite surface.

Fifth-seeded Argentine slugger Juan Martin del Potro advanced with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Serbian Viktor Troicki, while sixth-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco continued his fine 2009 season with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 win over American Mardy Fish and eighth-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon fought back to dismiss Italian wild card Fabio Fognini 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, 6-3.

In other second-round action involving seeds, No. 10 Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka beat Russian qualifier Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 7-6 (7-5); No. 12 Chilean Fernando Gonzalez grounded Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-4; No. 13 Spaniard Tommy Robredo bested German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 7-6 (7-5); No. 15 Croat Marin Cilic held off Belgian Christophe Rochus 6-0, 5-7, 6-2; and No. 16 Czech Radek Stepanek stifled Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-2, 6-1. Wawrinka was last year's Rome runner-up to Novak Djokovic. Gonzalez was the 2007 runner-up here to Nadal.

Three other second-rounders saw Swede Robin Soderling edge out Romanian qualifier Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, German qualifier Mischa Zverev drive out Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 and Frenchman Richard Gasquet get past Latvian Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Mathieu, Gasquet and Stepanek saw double-duty here on Wednesday after rain disrupted the schedule here on Monday and Tuesday.

The first round finally concluded on Wednesday, as Gasquet upended ninth- seeded fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, Mathieu ousted 11th-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 and Stepanek outlasted France's Florent Serra 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-5. Ferrer was last week's Barcelona runner-up to the high-flying Nadal.

The third round will be staged here on Thursday, including matches for Nadal, Federer and a third-seeded Djokovic. Nadal will face Soderling, while Federer takes on Stepanek and the reigning Rome champion Djokovic meets Robredo.

The 2009 Rome titlist will take home $565,000.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.