Federer, Henin are top seeds for Wimbledon

Tennis Betting Lines

06/20/2007 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer and Justine Henin have been installed as the top seeds at Wimbledon, which begins next Monday at the venerable All England Club.

Federer enters the third Grand Slam event of the year as the four-time defending champion, but comes off a disappointing loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. The Swiss superstar will try to become the first man to win five straight Wimbledon crowns since the great Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat from 1976-80, and he will attempt to do so without a grass-court tuneup.

After the loss to Nadal in Paris, Federer skipped his usual Wimbledon tuneup in Halle, Germany and is not playing either of the two warmup tournaments this week.

Nadal has been seeded second at Wimbledon. The reigning three-time French Open champ reached the final at the All England Club last July, but lost to Federer in four sets.

American Andy Roddick, a two-time runner-up to Federer on the hallowed grounds of the London suburb, has been seeded third, followed by Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, Britain's Andy Murray, American James Blake and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Wimbledon seeds its players by using the ATP rankings. The top 32 ranked players are seeded, but rearranged on a surface-based system. For example, Berdych is ranked 11th by the ATP, but seeded seventh at Wimbledon.

Henin, coming off her third straight French Open crown, is the top women's player in the world and earned the top seed for Wimbledon despite never winning the title.

The Belgian star is a two-time runner-up, though, losing to France's Amelie Mauresmo in a three-set thriller last year and falling to American Venus Williams in another three-setter in 2001.

Russia's Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, is this year's second seed, while rising Serb star Jelena Jankovic is third. Jankovic is coming off a victory over Sharapova in the title match of the grass tuneup in Birmingham after losing to Henin in the French semifinals.

Mauresmo, who has struggled to recover from an appendectomy earlier this year, will defend her Wimbledon crown as this year's fourth seed. She will be followed by Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and French runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.

Two-time Wimbledon champ Serena Williams is seeded seventh. She won the coveted crown in 2002 and 2003, beating sister Venus both times, then lost to Sharapova in the '04 final.

Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, 1997 champ Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia round out the top 10 seeds.

Venus Williams, the champion here in 2000, 2001 and 2005, is seeded 24th.

The draw is scheduled to be released on Friday.

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FOOTBALL BETTING

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.