Clijsters overcomes Henin; Venus reaches Wimby QFs

Tennis Betting Lines

06/28/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kim Clijsters came from behind to defeat her fellow former world No. 1 Belgian stalwart Justine Henin, while five-time champion and former top-ranked star Venus Williams also joined the parade into the quarterfinals Monday at Wimbledon.

The eighth-seeded U.S. Open champion Clijsters dropped the first set against the 17th-seeded Henin before charging back for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision on Court 1 at the All England Club.

Clijsters prevailed in 1 hour, 28 minutes despite striking only one ace and piling up six double faults. She did, however, tally one more service break (3-2) than her great rival.

The two-time U.S. Open champion Clijsters is now 13-12 lifetime against Henin, including 3-5 now in Grand Slams.

The seven-time major champion Henin, who was this year's Australian Open runner-up to Serena Williams, still needs Wimbledon to complete the coveted career Grand Slam. She reached finals here in 2001 and 2006, but lost to five- time champion Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo, respectively.

Henin was fresh off her grass-court title in The Netherlands.

Clijsters' quarterfinal opponent will be 21st-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva.

The second-seeded 2009 Wimbledon runner-up Venus advanced to the quarters by handling surprising Aussie Jarmila Groth 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on Court 2 at the AEC. The crowd on Court 2 booed Venus upon her late arrival for her Day-7 match.

Venus, who has reached the final here eight times in the last 10 years (5-3), will next face Tsvetana Pironkova, after the Bulgarian defeated 11th seed Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6-4. Bartoli was the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up to Venus.

The 22-year-old Pironkova is a first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist.

Another upstart, Czech Petra Kvitova, manhandled third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-0 on Monday. The Danish Wozniacki was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Clijsters.

The 20-year-old Kvitova will appear in her first-ever major quarter.

Fourth-seeded Serbian star Jelena Jankovic retired Monday from her fourth- round bout against the aforementioned Zvonareva.

Jankovic took a spill early in her match and received treatment on her back, trailing Zvonareva 6-1, 3-0 at the time. The Serb would retire three points later.

The 25-year-old former world No. 1 Jankovic has yet to make it past the fourth round in her career at Wimbledon.

Zvonareva will now play in her first-ever quarterfinal at the All England Club.

Also on Monday, ninth seed Li Na of China upended No. 7 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-2 to reach the quarterfinals here for a second time. Li appeared in her first-ever major semifinal at January's Aussie Open.

Radwanska had previously never lost to a player seeded outside the top six at Wimbledon.

Aportsbook Tennis Betting News

<< Giants play host to slumping Dodgers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants will continue their race towards the top of the National League West Division when the two rivals kick off a three-game series tonight at AT&T Park. The Giants are 4 1/2

<< Canadiens sign F Pyatt
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens signed forward Tom Pyatt to a one-year contract on Monday. Pyatt, who was slated to become a restricted free agent on July 1, played 40 games for the Habs last season, collecti

<< White Sox hope to get back in the win column versus Royals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago White Sox hope to stay in the hunt for AL Central bragging rights when they begin a three-game series tonight against the division-rival Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. The White Sox are third in the di

<< Twins, Tigers begin key AL Central series in Minnesota
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A key three-game series will commence tonight in the Twin Cities, where the Minnesota Twins will try to maintain their slim lead atop the AL Central standings versus the Detroit Tigers at Target Field. The Twins are only a

<< Brewers send Parra to mound in opener with Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manny Parra hopes to continue the Milwaukee Brewers' tremendous starting pitching of late when they open a three-game set with the Houston Astros tonight at Miller Park. Milwaukee won for the sixth time in seven

Rockies' Jimenez seeks to put last start behind him against Padres >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even though he avoided a loss, Colorado Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez hopes to bounce back from his worst outing of the season when he takes the mound tonight in the opener of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at

Recchi re-ups with Bruins >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins have signed 42-year-old forward Mark Recchi to a one-year contract extension. The Boston Herald on Friday reported the deal is for $1 million with possible incentives. Recch

Nets waive G Dooling >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets have requested waivers on guard Keyon Dooling. Dooling, who was acquired in the summer of 2008 from Orlando, appeared in 130 games with New Jersey, averaging 8.6 points and 3.1

Jeff Jordan joins brother at UCF >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Central Florida head basketball coach Donnie Jones announced on Monday that guard Jeff Jordan has transferred to the program from Illinois. He must sit out the 2010-11 campaign under NCAA tra

In the FCS Huddle: Will CAA dominoes keep falling? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Even with all the maneuvering going on in college football, what has been developing in the Colonial Athletic Association is as incredible as any of the changes nationally. The Big Ten and Pac-10 - if that

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.