Federer lands in Cincy SFs

Tennis Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer was a straight-set quarterfinal winner Friday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.

The third-seeded Federer got past sixth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-5 on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The Swiss native improved to 7-2 in quarterfinal matches this season and 14-2 against Davydenko.

The 16-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Federer has won three of the last five titles in Cincy (2005, 2007, 2009), including a victory over Serb Novak Djokovic in last year's finale.

Federer's semifinal opponent will be the winner of the evening session between Rafael Nadal and Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal is seeking his first trip to the final at this Cincy Masters event.

Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick and a hot Mardy Fish will meet in an all- American semifinal on Saturday.

The ninth-seeded Roddick handled Djokovic, this week's second seed, 6-4, 7-5 on Day 6 here. The big-serving American popped eight aces and cruised in 1 hour, 23 minutes.

Djokovic broke Roddick when the American was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but Roddick broke right back and then held to close out the bout.

The former Aussie Open champion Djokovic appeared in the last two Cincy finals, losing to Federer here last year and British star Andy Murray in '08.

The former U.S. Open champion Roddick, who titled in Cincinnati in 2003 and 2006 and was the runner-up here in 2005, will next face his good friend Fish for a place in the final. Fish won their most-recent head-to-head battle in Atlanta last month.

The wild card Fish, meanwhile, went the distance to outlast the fourth-seeded Murray, 6-7 (7-9), 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Fish overcame the Australian Open runner-up Murray in just under three hours with the help of 13 aces, and the hard-serving American held his serve throughout the hard-fought affair.

The 28-year-old Fish converted on his first match point when Murray netted one final return. Fish is now 3-0 against Murray this season.

Murray required some medical attention on his leg during the lopsided second set for Fish.

The 2003 Cincinnati runner-up Fish has won 15 of his last 16 matches overall, which includes titles in Newport and Atlanta.

Murray, who upset Federer in last week's blockbuster finale at the Canadian Masters event in Toronto and was this year's Aussie Open runner-up to the Swiss icon, was the Cincinnati champ in 2008.

The 2010 Cincinnati titlist will claim $443,500.

Jazzspots Tennis Betting News

<< Snedeker ties Atwal for Wyndham lead
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Brandt Snedeker carded a five-under 65 on Friday to tie Arjun Atwal for the 36-hole lead at the Wyndham Championship. Atwal, the first-round leader, had a 67 to match Snedeker at 12-under

<< A's place Jackson back on DL, recall Larish
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics have placed outfielder Conor Jackson on the 15-day disabled list with a lower abdominal strain. The 28-year-old outfielder was sidelined from July 1 through Sunday with a strained r

<< Mountain West, C-USA work on path to BCS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -The commissioners of the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA have spoken about staging a postseason game between their champions in hopes of securing an automatic berth to the Bowl Championship Series.C-USA comm

<< Demichelis walks out on Bayern Munich
Mainz, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Argentina defender Martin Demichelis refused to attend Friday's Bundesliga season opener for club team Bayern Munich after being left out of the starting lineup. Bayern coach Luis van Gaal selected Daniel

<< Sadler takes Nationwide pole at Bristol
Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elliott Sadler will start on the pole for Friday's Food City 250 Nationwide Series race after posting the quickest lap in qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sadler, who is driving the No.33 Chevr

Penguins sign Asham away from divisional rival Flyers >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Arron Asham to a one-year, $700,000 contract. The 32-year-old posted 10 goals and 14 assists in 72 regular-season games for Philadelphia last season an

Favre to play Sunday vs. 49ers >>
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though he has officially been back for several days, Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre will play in the Vikings' preseason game Sunday at San Francisco. Vikings head coach Brad Childress said Frid

Rockies designate Flores, recall Herrera >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies designated left-handed reliever Randy Flores for assignment and recalled infielder Jonathan Herrera from Triple-A Colorado Springs to fill his roster spot Friday. Flores has pitched

Johnson tops in qualifying at Bristol >>
Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmie Johnson picked up his first pole of the season by winning Friday's qualifying for the IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Johnson, who won at Bristol for the first time in Marc

Stockton, Prouty join Grube for Seaforth lead >>
Seaforth, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brady Stockton fired an eight-under 63 and Brian Prouty shot a 64 Friday to join Rob Grube in the lead after two rounds of the Seaforth Country Classic. Grube, the 18-hole leader, had a 67 to end the

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.