Clijsters outlasts Venus, will face Zvonareva in Open final

Tennis Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Kim Clijsters rallied from a set down against Venus Williams to advance to the final of the U.S. Open with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory.

In Friday's opener at Ashe Stadium, Russian Vera Zvonareva reached her second straight Grand Slam final by upending top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki, last year's runner-up, in quick fashion, 6-4, 6-3.

The third-seeded Williams, who was playing in her eighth U.S. Open semifinal, won the only break chance in the opening set to take the early lead. Clijsters came back and solved Williams' serve to go up 4-2 in the second, but failed to serve out the set four games later with several unforced errors.

The dual two-time champions here, who had split 12 previous meetings, eventually went to the tiebreaker, where Williams double faulted on her first two serves en route to quickly losing her first set of the tournament.

A deft drop shot at the net gave Clijsters a break chance with the score 1-1 in the final set, and Williams hit a baseline shot into the net on the next point to give the Belgian star the lead.

Clijsters, seeded second, was well long on an easy potential winner to make it 4-4 later on, but broke back immediately, winning the last point with a lob over an exhausted Williams.

On match point, Clijsters, who also won this title in 2005, had Williams on the run and put in a backhand winner to seal a fifth straight win over the American.

Williams had won this Grand Slam in 2000 and 2001 and was runner-up in 1997 and 2002.

The seventh-seeded Zvonareva zipped past a sluggish Wozniacki in just 1 hour, 25 minutes, simply out-classing the top-seeded player on Day 12 as the determined Russian got the service breaks she needed and closed things out on her first match point when her Danish counterpart netted one final weak forehand.

Wozniacki sprayed 31 unforced errors and had her serve broken four times, while a determined Zvonareva was broken only once en route to victory.

The emotional Zvonareva is now 3-2 lifetime against Wozniacki, including a 2-1 mark this year.

Wozniacki had not dropped a set at this '10 Open before Friday and lost a 13- match overall winning streak, which included hardcourt titles in Montreal and New Haven.

"She played a really good game, definitely," said a stunned Wozniacki. "You know, she was not missing a lot. She was going for her shots. Most things were going in. You know, I had chances, and I don't know, I made some mistakes today that I usually don't do. Yeah, it was a tough day for me in the office, and unfortunately it was today. That's the way tennis is sometimes."

Zvonareva will appear in her second career major final and 25th overall championship match (10-14) on the WTA Tour. She titled in Pattaya City earlier this season and has been a three-time runner-up in 2010, including a loss to Wozniacki in a title tilt in Montreal last month.

The 26-year-old Zvonareva also played in July's Wimbledon finale, losing to world No. 1 superstar Serena Williams. She is 2-5 lifetime against Clijsters, though she has won the last two meetings, including a quarterfinal win at Wimbledon earlier this year.

Saturday's big winner at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will collect $1.7 million.

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2007 Academy Award Betting : Oscars odds

The 79th Annual Academy Awards odds , which will air February 25th, is sparking an interest throughout the nation with the announcement of its nominees. As the public chooses their favorites, sportsbooks are creating odds for one of the biggest entertainment betting nights of the year.

Whether its at a “Oscar Party” or in an on line sportsbook, entertainment gambling on award shows represent a huge increase in betting. As the public speculation mounts, MySportsbook.com, the largest and most respected sportsbook on the web, posted odds on who is going home with a “Golden Best Friend.”

“ We see a majority of our entertainment wagers come from the Academy Awards,” said MySportsbook.com spokesperson, Tim Dalton. “This is a competition that applies to everyone. These are the people that entertain us on a daily basis and you want to see them win.”

MySportsbook.com posted the following odds for Academy Awards:

Odds to win the Achievement in Directing:

Alejandro González Iñárritu "Babel": 8/1

Martin Scorsese "The Departed": 2/17

Clint Eastwood "Letters From Iwo Jima: 4/1

Stephen Frears "The Queen": 12/1

Paul Greengrass "United 93": 15/1

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond": 11/1

Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson": 20/1

Peter O’Toole in "Venus": 16/5

Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness": 16/1

Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland": 1/11

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:

Penélope Cruz in "Volver": 18/1

Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal": 15/1

Helen Mirren in "The Queen": 1/50

Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada": 10/1

Kate Winslet in "Little Children": 20/1

Best Animated Feature Film:

"Cars": 1/3

"Happy Feet": 2/1

"Monster House": 20/1

Best Foreign-Language Film of the Year:

"Water" – Canada: 22/1

"The Lives of Others" – Germany: 7/2

"After the Wedding" - Denmark: 24/1

"Days of Glory (Indigenes)" – Algeria: 23/1

"Pan's Labyrinth" - Mexico: 1/10

Odds to win the Best Live-Action Short Film:

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)": 6/5

"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)": 7/2

"Helmer & Son": 5/2

"The Saviour": 6/1

"West Bank Story": 7/2

Odds to win the Best Original Screenplay:

"Babel": 7/4

"Letters From Iwo Jima": 3/1

"Little Miss Sunshine": 21/20

"Pan's Labyrinth": 11/4

"The Queen": 5/4

Best Motion Picture of the Year:

"Babel": 11/4

"The Departed": 1/2

"Letters from Iwo Jima": 15/2

"Little Miss Sunshine": 17/10

"The Queen": 20/1

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:

Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 11/10

Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children": 10/1

Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond": 9/1

Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls": 2/5

Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed": 5/1

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:

Adriana Barraza in "Babel": 14/1

Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal": 11/1

Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine": 2/1

Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls": 1/8

Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel": 11/1

Film To Win Most Oscars:

Dreamgirls: 2/3

Pans Labyrinth: 6/5

The Departed: 6/1

The Queen: 11/1

Babel: 15/1

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 11/1

Little Miss Sunshine: 15/1


Additional sports and entertainment odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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