Monfils wins Madrid opener

Tennis Betting Lines

05/10/2010 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Athletic Frenchman Gael Monfils was among Monday's first-round winners at the $3.6 million Madrid Open, a clay-court French Open tune-up.

The 12th-seeded Monfils handled fellow Frenchman Stephane Robert 6-2, 7-5 at the Magic Box. Monfils is playing his first tennis in two months after being sidelined with a hand injury.

"For me, Madrid is the first tournament since coming back, so my top expectation is to get back in the game and find a rhythm on the court," said Monfils. "I don't have any expectations other than to play tough, solid tennis. If I can get some matches under my belt, it will be good for the French next week."

Meanwhile, Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo overcame German Philipp Kohlschreiber 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; German Benjamin Becker doused fading former world No. 1 Spaniard Carlos Moya 6-0, 6-2; Austrian Jurgen Melzer topped South African qualifier Kevin Anderson 6-2, 2-6, 6-4; and Spain's Nicolas Almagro handled Serbia's Viktor Troicki 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). The 33-year-old Moya entered the draw as a wild card this week.

Additional Day-2 wins came for Ukrainian qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., Argentine Leonardo Mayer and Spain's Feliciano Lopez, who blew past Poland's Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 6-3 to set-up a second-rounder against fifth-seeded American star Andy Roddick. Dolgopolov Jr. should have his hands full with Spanish hero Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.

This week's top seeds are the great Roger Federer, Nadal and 2008 Madrid titlist Andy Murray. Federer upset Nadal in last year's finale here. The reigning world No. 1 Federer also titled here in 2006 and was the runner-up in 2007. The former top-ranked Nadal was the Madrid champ back in 2005.

Federer will open his 2010 stay here against the aforementioned Becker on Tuesday.

The 2010 French Open will commence May 23 in Paris.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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