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06/17/2007 - Birmingham, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jelena Jankovic of Serbia rallied to beat Russia's Maria Sharapova in Sunday's final at the weather-plagued DFS Classic.
The rain finally held off Sunday and allowed play at this Wimbledon tuneup to finish, as one quarterfinal first needed to be completed before the semifinals and championship match were staged.
Jankovic, seeded second, notched a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 triumph for her fourth title of 2007 and the fifth of her career.
After Marion Bartoli finished off Daniela Hantuchova in the quarterfinals, Sharapova and Jankovic both won semifinal matches. The top-seeded Sharapova toppled a tiring Bartoli with a 7-5, 6-0 triumph and Jankovic knocked off eighth-seeded Mara Santangelo, 6-1, 7-5.
Sharapova and Jankovic then took the court again later in the afternoon and played a thriller that lasted just five minutes shy of two hours.
Two breaks of serve gave Sharapova the first set, and the second set featured five breaks. Jankovic broke three times, including once to take a 5-3 lead. She finally held again to send the match to a decisive set.
Sharapova then raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third, but Jankovic rallied to win the next three games. A break in the 11th game gave Jankovic the lead once more and she quickly won the first three points on her serve in the next game before finally finishing it off to beat Sharapova for the first time in four all-time meetings.
The two hadn't faced each other since Sharapova claimed a three-set triumph in the final at this event two years ago. Sharapova also won this tournament in 2004.
Jankovic is having a stellar season. She won earlier this year in Auckland, Charleston and Rome, and lost a title match in Sydney.
Sharapova, who won the Wimbledon crown in 2004 and was a semifinalist in each of the past two years, is still trying for her first title of 2007. Her only other appearance in a final came at the Australian Open in January.
<< Becker, Haase win Ordina openers
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany's Benjamin Becker
and Robin Haase the Netherlands were first-round winners Sunday at the Ordina
Open.
Becker polished off Belgium's Olivier Rochus, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), while Haas
<< Donnelly placed on DL
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox placed relief pitcher
Brendan Donnelly on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to June 11, with a
right forearm muscle strain.
The right-hander has made 27 relief appearances th
<< Phillies place Rosario on 15-day DL
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies placed
right-handed reliever Francisco Rosario on the 15-day disabled list with an
undisclosed injury Sunday.
The 26-year-old Rosario is 0-3 with a 6.64 earned run a
<< Chakvetadze rallies to win Ordina opener
's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russia's Anna Chakvetadze
rallied for a three-set triumph on the first day of play at the Ordina Open.
The third-seeded Chakvetadze posted a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Victoria
Azaren
Zimmerman, Nationals down Blue Jays >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Zimmerman homered to help the Washington
Nationals avoid the sweep by edging the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, at Rogers
Centre.
Frank Thomas made some history in defeat, hitting his 244th home run a
Toronto hammers Hoops >>
Toronto, Ontario (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Toronto FC scored a franchise-high four
goals en route to a 4-0 win over FC Dallas at BMO Field on Sunday.
Maurice Edu, Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson and Jeff Cunningham each found the
back of the ne
Carmona, Indians top Braves to avoid sweep >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fausto Carmona pitched seven-plus strong
innings, as the Cleveland Indians avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-2
victory over the Atlanta Braves at Jacobs Field.
Carmona (8-2) gave up two runs
Nady lifts Pirates past ChiSox >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Xavier Nady snapped a seventh-inning tie
with a two-run single and Jason Bay made a game-saving catch in the ninth, as
the Pittsburgh Pirates held on for an 8-7 victory over the Chicago White Sox
in the
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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