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01/11/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2012 tennis season will be in full stride when the Australian Open gets underway next week in Melbourne, where Novak Djokovic and Kim Clijsters will be on hand as your defending champions.
The 24-year-old Djokovic ascended to No. 1 last year partly because he captured his second Oz Open title in four years. He straight-setted Andy Murray in last year's finale, three years after topping Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2008 championship round Down Under.
The former No. 1 Clijsters, meanwhile, missed a majority of last season due to a series of ailments. But before old age started to set in, Kimmy nailed down her first-ever Aussie title by coming from behind to stop veteran Chinese slugger Li Na in three sets in the women's final.
The 28-year-old Clijsters was an Aussie runner-up to her fellow Belgian great Justine Henin in 2004.
Djokovic, who frustrates all with his brilliant return game, blew everyone away during his brilliant 2011 campaign, going 70-6 and claiming three major titles and an ATP-record five Masters championships in one season.
He'll head to Melbourne without the benefit of having played in an ATP- sanctioned event over the first two weeks of this newest season.
Clijsters was tuning up for the Aussie last week when she was forced to pull out in Brisbane due to a hip injury. The three-time U.S. Open champ was battling Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova in a semifinal matchup when she called it a week in the second set, after capturing the opening stanza.
Also on hand in Melbourne for the men will be other top contenders like former champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer and last year's runner-up Murray.
The 25-year-old and 10-time major champion Nadal was the runner-up to Djokovic in last year's Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals, and also gave way to the amazing Serb in no less than four Masters title tilts in 2011.
The 2009 Aussie titlist and reigning French Open champion Nadal has bowed out in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park the last two years.
The 16-time major champion Federer is seeking his first Grand Slam title since claiming the 2010 Aussie Open. The sublime Swiss has failed to title in his last seven majors and missed out on a Grand Slam title last year for the first time since 2002.
The 30-year-old Federer owns an Open Era record-tying four Aussie Open titles (matching Andre Agassi) and was the runner-up to his great rival Nadal in Melbourne three years back.
Federer was sizzling hot to close out his 2011 season, however, winning his last 17 matches and seizing a trio of titles, one of which was the season- ending one at the prestigious ATP World Tour Finals in London.
FYI: Federer, of course, is the men's all-time leader with those 16 majors and six Tour Finals championships. (Maybe he IS the best ever.)
The Fed, who was a semifinal loser last year in Melbourne, pulled out of an Aussie tuneup in Doha last week, as he was scheduled to meet the aforementioned Tsonga in a semi there when he decided to exit the draw with a nagging back injury. The 2011 French Open runner-up claims to be okay for Melbourne, as the pull-out in Doha was more precautionary than anything else.
The talented Murray is a three-time major finalist but has yet to breakthrough with that elusive first-ever Grand Slam title. He succumbed to Djokovic in last year's Aussie finale and fell to 0-9 in his career sets played in championship matches at Slams. Murray was also an Aussie finalist in 2010, but was swept out by the great Federer.
Murray opened his 2012 season in style by titling on a hardcourt in Brisbane last week and has a real chance at running the table in Melbourne, especially if any of the "Big Three" falter.
FYI: The last British male to win the Aussie Open was Fred Perry way back in 1934 (or 78 years ago).
The currently 12th-ranked Clijsters can expect challenges from a bevy of hungry women, especially current world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, Wimbledon runner-up Maria Sharapova and 13-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.
Wozniacki, like Murray, is still searching for a Grand Slam championship. She was a semifinal loser in Melbourne a year ago, which marked her best-ever showing in Oz.
The likeable Dane was also a semifinalist at the U.S. Open last year, but hasn't reached a major final since the 2009 U.S. Open (her only one), where she lost to Clijsters. She's No. 1 in the world despite failing to ever capture a Grand Slam title and not reaching a major final in her last eight tries.
The left-handed Kvitova could be the woman to beat in Melbourne, as the Czech slugger closed out her 2011 campaign in red-hot fashion. She co-led the WTA (along with Wozniacki) with six titles last year and capped her season with 12 straight match wins, including a title at the exclusive season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Wozniacki and the 2011 Aussie quarterfinalist Kvitova were the top seeds at this week's final Aussie Open tuneup in Sydney, where Kvitova would overtake Wozniacki as the No. 1 player in the world with a title. Wozniacki was a quarterfinal loser Wednesday in Sydney, while Kvitova was into the semifinals at the time of this column.
The three-time major champion Sharapova captured her lone Aussie title four years ago, but hasn't gotten past the fourth round there since.
The 24-year-old world No. 4 Shaza was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the powerful Kvitova, and also appeared in a French Open semi last spring.
Like Clijsters, the all-time great Serena will also be limping into Melbourne, as the American powerhouse pulled out of the tournament in Brisbane last week while citing an ankle injury. The former No. 1 star won her second-round match against young Serb Bojana Jovanovski in Brisbane, but then announced her exit from the draw later in the day.
Serena still hopes to play Down Under, but by no means has she suggested that it's 'all systems go' at this point.
The 30-year-old future Hall-of-Famer, currently ranked 13th in the world, hasn't won a major title since Wimbledon of 2010, as she's been slowed by a series of health issues since that particular championship.
The 2011 U.S. Open finalist is an Open Era-record five-time Aussie Open champ, including a big win there just two years ago, and a perfect 5-0 in her career finals in Melbourne.
There are plenty of other men who you would expect to have quality Aussie Opens, including world No. 5 David Ferrer, last week's Doha champion Tsonga and towering Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.
Ferrer is just about always in the mix, on any surface, while Tsonga boasts one of the best games on the tour and del Potro appears to be 100 percent healthy after coming all the way back from wrist surgery. Ferrer was an Aussie Open semifinalist a year ago; the world No. 6 Tsonga was a Wimbledon semifinalist last year and reached the Aussie final in '08; and the former top-four star and currently 11th-ranked Delpo is the top seed in Sydney this week.
The honorable mention guys for the first major of the year are big Czech Tomas Berdych, American Mardy Fish, Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, American Andy Roddick, and rising Canadian Milos Raonic, who tallied his second career ATP title last week by besting the world No. 9 Tipsarevic in a final in Chennai. Raonic is now up to No. 25 in the world, and if he can stay healthy his next stop will be the top 10 for sure.
There are some other women who have a shot to win it all in Melbourne, including world No. 3 Wimbledon semifinalist Victoria Azarenka, the French Open champion and 2011 Aussie runner-up Li, and U.S. Open titlist and heavy Aussie favorite Samantha Stosur, who has actually struggled to open this '12 campaign.
A dark horse on the women's side could be world No. 11 Francesca Schiavone, who's appeared in the last two French Open finals and won one. She's a battler on any surface.
Tenth-ranked German Andrea Petkovic, who quietly reached the quarterfinals at three of the four majors last year and typically celebrated with that tacky "Petko Dance," which, thankfully, she has decided to scrap for 2012, pulled out of the Aussie this week because of a back injury.
As for seven-time Grand Slam champ Venus Williams, she'll miss the Aussie as she continues to battle Sjogren's Syndrome, an incurable but treatable, autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain. The 31-year-old star missed most of 2011 while battling the condition and other injuries.
FYI: The men's singles champion in Melbourne will capture the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup, while the women's winner will clutch the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.
Picks ----- I like Djokovic to continue his major winning ways and pick up Aussie title number three, while my selection on the women's side is going to be Kvitova, who will become the No. 1 player in the world sooner rather than later.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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