Croatia, Japan split opening Davis Cup singles

Tennis Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Hyogo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatia and Japan split the opening singles matches in their first-round Davis Cup tie on Friday.

Japan picked up the first point of the day when Go Saeda made a stunning rally for a 6-7 (3-7), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Ivan Dodig, but Ivo Karlovic quickly halted the host nation's momentum with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Kei Nishikori.

The best-of-five will continue on Saturday with the doubles match that is scheduled to feature the Japanese tandem of Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita versus a Croatian duo of Karlovic and Lovro Zovko, while Sunday's reverse singles currently call for Nishikori to battle Dodig and Karlovic to take on Soeda.

Dodig appeared to have control of the opening match, as he raced out to a 4-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker and picked up a late break of serve in the second set.

Soeda, though, broke Dodig in the 10th game to win the third set and carried the momentum into the fourth by winning the first three games. After Dodig broke back in the fifth game, Soeda broke serve again for 4-2 and went on to square the match.

Each player broke serve once midway through the fifth set, which went to 5-5 before Soeda set up another break point with a backhand. Dodig then sent a forehand long and Soeda cemented the incredible comeback with a hold at love in the final game of the more than four-hour match.

"I think it was my best win ever," said Soeda, who also beat Dodig last month in the second round of the Chennai Open en route to a semifinal appearance.

Karlovic, much like Dodig, also won the first two sets in the second match of the day, but he didn't allow Nishikori a chance to get close. He closed out the third by winning the final four games with a pair of breaks.

"I tried to mix a lot and not rally a lot with him," said Karlovic, who used his booming serve to his advantage. "I try to win as quickly as I can on every point and I was trying to be as aggressive as I could."

The 6-foot-10 Karlovic banged out 18 aces and didn't face a break point during the match. Nishikori won a mere 12 points on Karlovic's serve.

Team Croatia is captained by Zeljko Krajan, while Japan is led by Eiji Takeuchi. This marks the first-ever meeting between the two nations.

Croatia captured its lone Davis Cup title in 2005, while Japan has only ever reached one final, and that resulted in a loss against the 32-time champion United States way back in 1921.

The Croatia-Japan winner will meet the Argentina-Germany victor in the quarterfinals in April.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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