Kvitova, Sharapova, Serena reach Aussie round of 16

Tennis Betting Lines

01/21/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Petra Kvitova, fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova and five-time champion Serena Williams were a trio of third-round winners Saturday at the Australian Open.

The Wimbledon and WTA Championships titlist Kvitova was pummeling 27th- seeded Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 1-0 when the Russian glamour girl retired because of a thigh injury on Day 6 of the fortnight.

Kvitova is one of four women who could be No. 1 at the end of this fortnight.

"I don't know who lost and who win," Kvitova said. "No, really, for me doesn't care."

Kvitova's fourth-round opponent will be former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic.

Sharapova, who was last year's Wimbledon runner-up to the left-handed Kvitova, leveled 30th-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2 in 87 minutes.

The former world No. 1 Sharapova, who captured the 2008 Aussie Open for her third career Grand Slam championship, will take on tough German Sabine Lisicki here on Monday.

A 12th-seeded Williams, meanwhile, dominated helpless Hungarian Greta Arn 6-1, 6-1 in a mere 59 minutes at Melbourne Park.

Leading 5-0 and a point away from winning the opening set, the former top- ranked Williams set-up for an overhead smash, only to shank it wide of the court. The powerful American screamed and put a hand over her face.

"It was an awkward smash. Then she missed one and I felt a little better," Williams said. "I felt like, 'Am I losing my mind out here?' Everyone sometimes hits a shot that's a little bit insane -- you just got to allow yourself to get over it."

The 13-time major champion Williams has now won her last 17 matches in Melbourne, where she titled back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 before missing last year's event because of a series of health issues.

"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," Williams said. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty -- just trying to play through my rust."

Up next for Williams will be surprise Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who stunned her seventh-seeded compatriot Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1. Zvonareva was a Wimbledon and U.S. Open finalist in 2010.

Another upset came when ninth-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France was ousted by surging Chinese Zheng Jie 6-3, 6-3. Zheng captured a title in Auckland just two weeks ago.

A 14th-seeded Lisicki needed all three sets to overcome 18th-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, while the 21st-seeded Serbian Ivanovic was a straight-set winner over American Vania King, 6-3, 6-4. The former top- five star Kuznetsova is a two-time major champ. The former No. 1 Ivanovic was the '08 Aussie runner-up to the Russian Sharapova.

Also advancing Saturday was Italian Sara Errani, who rallied for a 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 6-2 victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea. Errani will meet Zheng in the round of 16.

The fourth round will get underway on Sunday, including matches for top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki and reigning Aussie champ Kim Clijsters.

The former U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki will face 13th-seeded former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, while the 11th-seeded Clijsters will battle fifth- seeded Chinese Li Na in a rematch of last year's Melbourne finale, which was won by Clijsters in three sets. Clijsters is a four-time Grand Slam champ, while Li captured her first-ever major title at the French Open last spring.

Also on Sunday, third-seeded Belarusian slugger Victoria Azarenka will face veteran Czech left-hander Iveta Benesova and eighth-seeded Pole Aggie Radwanska will encounter 22nd-seeded German Julia Goerges.

Azarenka titled in Sydney last week by beating Li in the marquee finale.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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