Nadal, Murray, Djkovic, Federer reach Rogers Cup semis

Tennis Betting Lines

08/13/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time winner Rafael Nadal and reigning champion Andy Murray were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the $2.43 million Rogers Cup, an ATP Masters event.

In the pair of night matches, second-seeded Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Roger Federer also won.

The world No. 1 Nadal was tested mightily in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over quality German Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has now dropped all seven of his career encounters against the Spanish superstar.

The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal advanced in exactly two hours, despite an 11-ace attack from Kohlschreiber, to setup a semifinal showdown with Murray. Nadal is a comfortable 8-3 lifetime against Murray, including a Wimbledon semifinal victory last month. The Spaniard also beat the Scot in a semifinal here in Toronto two years ago.

Nadal captured the Canadian Masters event in 2005 and 2008.

Djokovic, who won here in 2007, had no problems in his match with France's Jeremy Chardy as he advanced in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Federer had some trouble with seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, who had beaten Federer in their last two meeting, including a quarterfinal win at Wimbledon last month. After winning the first set, Federer dropped the second set, but rallied to take the final set in a tiebreak for a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) victory.

Federer took this event in 2004 and 2006 and was the runner-up to Djokovic in 2007.

The fourth-seeded Australian Open runner-up Murray routed previously red-hot Argentine David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-2 in 69 minutes on the hardcourts at Rexall Centre. The two-time major runner-up Murray slugged eight aces, broke Nalbandian four times in eight tries, and held his serve throughout a surprisingly-easy victory on Day 5.

The former Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian had won his last 11 matches on tour, including a hardcourt title at the Washington, D.C. U.S. Open Series event last week.

Murray captured this Canadian Masters tournament last year by beating another Argentine star, Juan Martin del Potro, in the final in Montreal. This event shifts between Montreal and Toronto each year.

The four semifinalists account for the last seven champions at this event.

This week's big winner will collect $443,500.

Wwwstanleybet Tennis Betting News

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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