Schiavone wins Istanbul opener

Tennis Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took two days, but French Open champion Francesca Schiavone finally posted a first-round victory at the $220,000 Istanbul Cup hardcourt tennis event.

The top-seeded Schiavone was leading Britain's Anne Keothavong 4-0 in the first set here on Monday when their match was suspended because of rain and darkness. Schiavone wound up with an easy 6-2, 6-2 decision and will meet another Brit, Elena Baltacha, in the round of 16.

Schiavone became the first-ever Italian woman to both reach and win a Grand Slam final at last month's French Open.

This week's second seed was not as fortunate as Schiavone on Tuesday, as Czech Petra Kvitova succumbed to Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 6-2, 0-6, 6-4.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova drubbed Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska 6-1, 6-0 and fifth-seeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova handled German Tatjana Malek 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Pironkova was a surprise Wimbledon semifinalist earlier this month.

Other upsets came when Russian Anna Lapushchenkova overcame seventh-seeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and Swede Johanna Larsson leveled eighth- seeded Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2. The 21-year-old Larsson is fresh off her first-ever appearance in a WTA Tour final, last week in Portoroz.

Additional Day-2 wins came for Baltacha, Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, Russians Ekaterina Makarova, a qualifier this week, and Elena Vesnina, and Aussies Jarmila Groth and Anastasia Rodionova.

On Wednesday, reigning Istanbul champ Vera Dushevina will face the aforementioned Sevastova in the second round. The Russian Dushevina doused Czech Lucie Hradecka in last year's finale here.

Cbsspoetsline Tennis Betting News

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Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.