09/05/2008 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Serena Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic will square off in Saturday night's final at the 2008 U.S. Open.
The fourth-seeded two-time champion Williams reached her fourth U.S. Open final by dominating sixth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 amid breezy conditions in Friday's second semifinal at Ashe Stadium. The surging Safina reached the final in six of her previous seven tournaments, winning three titles, and has beaten three different world No. 1 women this season.
Williams converted on her first match point against Safina when the Russian was unable to return one final big Serena serve after 1 hour, 28 minutes. The American broke Safina's serve five times and watched her Russian counterpart pile up 41 unforced errors.
The 26-year-old Williams will seek her ninth major title, going 8-3 in her previous Grand Slam finals. The former world No. 1 superstar owns 31 career titles overall on the WTA Tour, including three already this season, and will appear in her first U.S. Open final since 2002.
Williams was July's Wimbledon runner-up to her older sister Venus.
In the first semi of the day, the second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major runner-up Dementieva, fresh off her gold medal- winning performance in Beijing, was the 2004 U.S. Open runner-up to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Jankovic was ranked No. 1 for only one week just last month.
The 23-year-old Jankovic will now appear in her first-ever major final after going 0-4 in her previous Grand Slam semis, including 0-2 in such encounters this season. She was a semifinalist here two years ago.
Jankovic converted on her first match point after 1 hour, 34 minutes of tennis on Day 12 here when Dementieva sent one final forehand long of the court at Ashe. A sloppy Dementieva piled six double faults and 42 unforced errors and had her weak serve broken on five occasions by Jankovic, who played some great defense to advance.
Dementieva was riding an 11-match winning streak.
The Belgrade native Jankovic will appear in her 16th career final on the WTA Tour, going 6-9 in her previous ones, including 1-1 this year.
Serena and Jankovic have split six career matchups, including two meetings this year. The American prevailed in a final in Miami, while the Serb came out on top in an Aussie Open quarterfinal back in January. Williams topped Jankovic in an Aussie Open encounter last year, as the two players are 1-1 in their Grand Slam matchups.
The Williams-Jankovic winner will become the new No. 1 player in the world. The final could be in jeopardy here on Saturday, as foul weather is in the forecast due to Tropical Storm Hanna.
The 2008 U.S. Open champ will pocket $1.5 million, while the runner-up will collect $750,000.
<< Nationwide qualifying washed out at Richmond
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rain from the outer bands of Tropical Storm
Hanna have forced NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying for Friday night's
Emerson Radio 250 Nationwide Series race at the Richmond International
Raceway
<< Jankovic reaches U.S. Open final
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Serb Jelena
Jankovic secured a berth in Saturday night's U.S. Open women's final.
The second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4,
6-4 in Friday's firs
<< Stuttgart's Gomez considering options
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez admitted on
Friday he is keen to play in one of Europe's other top leagues.
The 23-year-old Germany international was the subject of a failed approach from
Manchester City
<< Ferdinand ruled out of England's Cup qualifier
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was
ruled out of England's opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday
with a back injury Friday.
Ferdinand, 29, missed training before England fle
Villegas leads BMW Championship >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas fired a five-under 65 on
Friday to finally take the first-round lead of the BMW Championship, the third
FedEx Cup Playoff event.
Newly selected United States Ryder Cupper Steve Stric
U.S. Open contingency plans in place for Hanna >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open officials made contingency
plans due to the expected arrival of Tropical Storm Hanna this weekend, and it
could push the women's final to Sunday night and the men's championship match
to late
Im still in front at Canadian Tour Championship >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Im posted a four-under 68 on Friday to
stay atop the leaderboard after the second round of the Canadian Tour
Championship.
Im finished 36 holes at 12-under 132 and is one ahead at National P
Rangers' Kinsler to have season-ending surgery >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler
will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a sports hernia.
Kinsler, out since August 18 with the injury, decided to forego an attempt to
come back this season
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.
It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.
As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.
Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.
Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.
Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.
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