07/05/2009 - Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer captured his sixth Wimbledon title Sunday with a thrilling five-set victory over Andy Roddick and established a record with his 15th career Grand Slam title.
Federer earned a 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14 triumph to capture the championship at the storied All England Club for the sixth time in the last seven years. His only blemish in that span came in last year's brilliant five- set final against Rafael Nadal, who was unable to defend this year because of tendinitis in both knees.
The Swiss superstar won his 14th major title last month with a victory at the French Open, finally completing a career Grand Slam with a long-awaited triumph at Roland Garros. That win also tied him with Pete Sampras for the most Grand Slam titles all-time. Sampras, himself a seven-time winner at Wimbledon, was in attendance Sunday to watch his record fall.
Roddick, meanwhile, lost in the Wimbledon final for the third time. All three defeats have come at the hands of the great Federer, who also beat Roddick for the title in 2004 and 2005.
Federer has dominated Roddick with a lifetime record of 19-2, including 4-0 in major title matches. In addition to the two previous Wimbledon finals, Federer also beat Roddick for the 2006 U.S. Open title.
Sunday's win also moved Federer back into the world's top ranking, supplanting Nadal.
<< Kaymer beats Westwood in Paris playoff
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Kaymer defeated Lee Westwood in a
playoff Sunday to win the Open de France, rolling in a lengthy par putt on the
first extra hole to claim his third European Tour victory.
Kaymer closed with a th
<< Marlins sign P Donnelly
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins made a move to bolster their
bullpen Sunday, signing free agent pitcher Brendan Donnelly.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 38-year-old Donnelly has yet to pitch in the major
<< Red-hot Rangers go for sweep of Rays in Arlington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The red-hot Texas Rangers will try to collect a three-
game sweep over the Tampa Bay Rays when the two teams collide this evening in
Arlington.
The Rangers will send Scott Feldman to the hill, who is coming off a solid
<< Oswalt and the Big Unit square off in San Francisco
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roy Oswalt and Randy Johnson will have a tough time
duplicating the magnificent performance from Tim Lincecum on Saturday when the
two starters face off this afternoon in the finale of the three-game set
between the Houston A
Phils activate reliever Eyre off DL >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies activated
lefty reliever Scott Eyre from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday.
Eyre hit the DL June 12 with a strained left calf. He is 1-1 with a 2.57
earned run av
Cardinals' Pujols headlines 2009 All-Star starters >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Baseball has announced the
rosters for the 2009 All-Star Game, and the squads are filled with many
familiar names, as only a pair of first-time starters were selected.
The 80th Mid
Wilson cruises to victory at Watkins Glen >>
Watkins Glen, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Wilson put on a dominating
performance and easily held off Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon in the closing
laps to win Sunday's Camping World GP at The Glen at Watkins Glen
Interna
McNair's death ruled a homicide >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The shooting death of former Tennessee Titans
and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair has been ruled a homicide.
McNair and a female friend were found shot to death Saturday at a Nashville
condominiu
Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"
A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."
Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.
In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.
"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."
Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.
But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"
Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.
This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.
Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.
In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.
No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.
And that's all any bettor can ask for.
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