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06/20/2007 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer and Justine Henin have been installed as the top seeds at Wimbledon, which begins next Monday at the venerable All England Club.
Federer enters the third Grand Slam event of the year as the four-time defending champion, but comes off a disappointing loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. The Swiss superstar will try to become the first man to win five straight Wimbledon crowns since the great Bjorn Borg accomplished the feat from 1976-80, and he will attempt to do so without a grass-court tuneup.
After the loss to Nadal in Paris, Federer skipped his usual Wimbledon tuneup in Halle, Germany and is not playing either of the two warmup tournaments this week.
Nadal has been seeded second at Wimbledon. The reigning three-time French Open champ reached the final at the All England Club last July, but lost to Federer in four sets.
American Andy Roddick, a two-time runner-up to Federer on the hallowed grounds of the London suburb, has been seeded third, followed by Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Chile's Fernando Gonzalez, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, Britain's Andy Murray, American James Blake and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.
Wimbledon seeds its players by using the ATP rankings. The top 32 ranked players are seeded, but rearranged on a surface-based system. For example, Berdych is ranked 11th by the ATP, but seeded seventh at Wimbledon.
Henin, coming off her third straight French Open crown, is the top women's player in the world and earned the top seed for Wimbledon despite never winning the title.
The Belgian star is a two-time runner-up, though, losing to France's Amelie Mauresmo in a three-set thriller last year and falling to American Venus Williams in another three-setter in 2001.
Russia's Maria Sharapova, the 2004 champion, is this year's second seed, while rising Serb star Jelena Jankovic is third. Jankovic is coming off a victory over Sharapova in the title match of the grass tuneup in Birmingham after losing to Henin in the French semifinals.
Mauresmo, who has struggled to recover from an appendectomy earlier this year, will defend her Wimbledon crown as this year's fourth seed. She will be followed by Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova and French runner-up Ana Ivanovic of Serbia.
Two-time Wimbledon champ Serena Williams is seeded seventh. She won the coveted crown in 2002 and 2003, beating sister Venus both times, then lost to Sharapova in the '04 final.
Russia's Anna Chakvetadze, 1997 champ Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia round out the top 10 seeds.
Venus Williams, the champion here in 2000, 2001 and 2005, is seeded 24th.
The draw is scheduled to be released on Friday.
<< Clark, Young lift D-Backs over D-Rays
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Young's two-run homer in the bottom of
the 10th inning capped a late rally and sent Arizona to a 10-8 victory over
Tampa Bay in the middle contest of a three-game interleague set.
Conor Jackson beg
<< Predators ink Smithson
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators made a move to
replace a pair of players traded on Monday by signing center Jerred Smithson
to a two-year contract. The deal will pay him $475,000 for next season and
$525,00
<< Lee leads Astros over Angels in LA
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Lee homered and knocked in four runs
while Hunter Pence had three hits including a tie-breaking two-run homer, as
the Houston Astros downed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 9-5, in the
second
<< UC Irvine, UNC advance at CWS; Louisville & ASU eliminated
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Linton hit the game-winning single in the
bottom of the 10th inning to lift the UC Irvine Anteaters to a come-from-
behind 8-7 win over the now-eliminated Arizona State Sun Devils in College
World S
Fightin Phils wrap up set with Tribe >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Howard is hitting his stride and will try to continue
the power surge tonight when the Philadelphia Phillies play the rubber match
of their three-game set with the Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field.
Howard had thr
Bonderman leads Tigers in finale at D.C. >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Bonderman will try for his eighth straight winning
decision tonight when his Detroit Tigers wrap their three-game series with the
Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium.
Bonderman opened the season with five straigh
Streaking Red Sox wrap set with Braves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox are back in the swing of things and will
shoot for another win this evening in the finale of a three-game interleague
series with the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Boston has won four of its last five
Pettitte toes the rubber as Yanks clash with Rockies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Pettitte tries to win back-to-back starts for the
first time all season and stretch his unbeaten streak to four games in the
process when the New York Yankees continue their three-game series with the
Colorado Rockies th
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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