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06/21/2010 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on the ropes but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game Colombian Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon. Last year's runner-up Andy Roddick joined Federer in the second round on Monday.
The 60th-ranked Falla stunned Federer by winning the first two sets on Day 1 and served for the match in the fourth set, but the super Swiss staved off his Colombian counterpart to record a gutsy 5-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0 victory on the famed Centre Court at the storied All England Club.
The reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion Federer found a way to win on a day where he clearly was not at his best. He avoided losing in the first round here for the first time in eight years.
"I live another day," Federer said. "This one is one I should have lost. That's sometimes how grass-court tennis works."
The lefthanded Falla played the match of his life on Monday, which included the unlikely two-sets-to-none lead.
The 26-year-old Colombian played some brilliant baseline tennis for the first four sets. He broke the mighty Federer with a backhand volley in the first set to grab a 6-5 lead, and then held serve to capture the opening stanza.
In the second set, the surprising Falla recorded another huge break when the world No. 2 Federer netted a forehand on his way to a 3-4 deficit. Falla consolidated the break on his way to a stunning 6-4 set victory. Federer saved a pair of set points, at 4-5 in the second, but Falla ultimately prevailed on a fourth set point with a quality forehand volley winner.
After going up by two sets, Falla summoned a trainer to work on his left leg, which required treatment on a couple of occasions in the opening-day duel.
In the third set, Falla had chance to break for a 5-4 lead, but the Swiss great, down love-40 at one point, wound up saving four break points to assume a 5-4 lead. Federer then broke Falla to win the third set, which he did with a much-needed forehand winner.
In the fourth set, Falla broke for a 1-0 lead, but Federer held tough and would get the break back nine games later to pull even at 5-all. Falla was serving for the match, leading at 5-4.
The 16-time major champion Federer managed to force a fourth-set tiebreak, which he won easily, and then dominated the fifth set at love to breath a sigh of relief. The Basel native wound up winning 10 of the last 11 games.
This marked Federer's sixth career win after falling behind two-sets-to-love.
"He played great," Federer said. "He was the one who put me in that kind of a score. I thought I was actually playing decent. Credit to him."
Federer, who tallied seven double faults on Monday, needed 3 hours, 18 minutes to advance, which he did with the help of 21 aces and five service breaks. Falla settled for three breaks in the round-of-128 tussle.
The 28-year-old Federer is now 3-0 versus Falla this season, including a second-round victory at the French Open.
Federer improved to 52-5 lifetime at Wimbledon.
The top-seeded Federer has appeared in the last seven finals here, winning six of them. He beat Roddick in last year's memorable finale, which featured a grueling 30-game fifth set. With the win last year, Federer became the men's all-time leader with a 15th major title.
Federer's second-round opponent on Wednesday will be Serbian Ilia Bozoljac.
The fifth-seeded Roddick cruised past fellow American Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. The former world No. 1 and former U.S. Open champion Roddick lost to Federer in three of the last six finals here.
Roddick fired 13 aces at Ram, who failed to enjoy even one break-point chance against his fellow countryman.
The 27-year-old Roddick's second-round opponent will be last week's Eastbourne grass-court titlist Michael Llodra of France.
Seventh-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko, like Federer, was also in survival mode on Day 1, as the speedy star came from way behind to outlast big-serving South African Kevin Anderson 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 9-7. The gritty Davydenko needed 4 hours, 13 minutes to advance, and withstood 36 aces from the 6-foot-8 Anderson.
Davydenko is still on the mend after suffering a broken wrist earlier this season. The Russian, who typically struggles on grass, has never gotten past the fourth round at Wimbledon.
In other action involving top-16 seeds, German Florian Mayer toppled No. 11 Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), No. 12 Czech Tomas Berdych blitzed Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-2 and No. 16 Austrian Jurgen Melzer topped Jamaican Dustin Brown 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. The Croatian Cilic was an Aussie Open semifinalist back in January. Melzer reached the French Open semis earlier this month.
Mild upsets came when Poland's Michal Przysiezny took out 17th-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin dismissed 20th- seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 and Aussie Peter Luczak overcame 30th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 7-5. The former top-five star Ljubicic has never advanced beyond the third round here.
Other seeded Day-1 winners were No. 21 Frenchman Gael Monfils, No. 22 Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, No. 28 Spaniard Albert Montanes and No. 31 Romanian Victor Hanescu. Lopez dismissed American Jesse Levine in four sets.
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NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
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