Nadal, Murray 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.

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.

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.

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

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.