Djokovic wins opener in rainy Rome

Tennis Betting Lines

04/28/2009 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Novak Djokovic was the lone second-round winner Tuesday at the $3.645 million Italian Masters tennis event.

Djokovic of Serbia got past Spaniard Albert Montanes 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 on the red clay at Foro Italico to advance to the third round. The world No. 3 Djokovic defeated Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in last year's Rome finale.

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray's second-round match versus Juan Monaco and 15th- seeded Marin Cilic's second-round contest against Christophe Rochus were both postponed until Wednesday due to rain/darkness.

In first-round action, thirteenth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo came from behind to beat big Russian Marat Safin 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Safin was making his last appearance at this event, as he expects to retire from the ATP World Tour at the end of this season.

Twelfth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile handled Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1. German Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame Italian Simone Bolelli 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, while Italian Andreas Seppi came from behind to beat American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Day 2 here. Seppi is rewarded with a second-round match against world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal.

Additional wins came for Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, German Mischa Zverev, Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, Austrian Jurgen Melzer, Russian Mikhail Youzhny, Swede Robin Soderling, American Mardy Fish, Italian Fabio Fognini, and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

Six matches were either suspended or postponed because of rain here on Monday, and rain/darkness forced three first-round matches to be either suspended or postponed on Tuesday.

This week's top seeds are Nadal and former world No. 1 Roger Federer. The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal, who has won three of the last four titles in Rome, is fresh off his fifth straight Barcelona and fifth consecutive Monte-Carlo clay-court championships. Federer is a two-time Rome runner-up, including in 2006 against Nadal.

The 2009 Rome titlist will take home $565,000.

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

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.