Sharapova, Clijsters win hot Aussie openers

Tennis Betting Lines

01/16/2007 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With temperatures soaring over 100 degrees, top-seeded Maria Sharapova and former runner-up Kim Clijsters snuck in first-round wins Tuesday at the Australian Open.

The 2006 U.S. Open champion Sharapova survived a scare from Camille Pin, as the Russian battled off both the sweltering heat and her French counterpart to post a grueling 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory at Melbourne Park.

A struggling Sharapova won despite piling up a whopping 65 unforced errors, including 24 miscues in the first seven games. She ultimately wound up winning the final set 9-7 after running out to a 5-0 lead in the stanza, advancing on her fourth match point of the day. The Russian superstar battled stomach cramps and took a 10-minute heat timeout during the uncomfortable encounter.

"It's inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat," Sharapova said. "I don't think our bodies were made to do that. I was so delusional I couldn't think."

The 19-year-old two-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova's second-round opponent on Thursday will be her fellow Russian Anastassia Rodionova.

Play was temporarily suspended Tuesday when tournament officials invoked their "extreme heat policy." Sharapova played with the retractable roof open for the first match at Rod Laver Arena. The roof was then closed in time for the next match.

Twelve of Tuesday's scheduled 32 women's singles matches were postponed until Wednesday.

A fourth-seeded Clijsters destroyed Russian Vasilisa Bardina 6-0, 6-0. Clijsters is fresh off her title in Sydney, while Bardina was a surprise runner-up last week in Hobart.

The 23-year-old Clijsters, playing in her final WTA Tour season, was the 2004 Aussie Open runner-up to her countrywoman Justine Henin-Hardenne.

The former U.S. Open titlist Clijsters' second-round opponent will be Japan's Akiko Morigami.

Sixth-seeded Swiss Martina Hingis drove past France's Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 6-2. The former world No. 1 and five-time Grand Slam champion Swiss reached six straight Aussie Open finals from 1997-2002, winning back-to-back-to-back titles here from '97-99.

Hingis will battle Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the round of 64.

Eighth-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder and ninth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina had their openers pushed back until Day 3 because of the oppressive Day-2 heat.

Twelfth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze got past Austrian Sybille Bammer 6-4, 7-5 and 13th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic drilled American Vania King 6-2, 6-0. Chakvetadze was last week's champion in Hobart.

Additional seeded winners on Day 2 were No. 24 Aussie Samantha Stosur, No. 29 Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko and No. 30 Italian Tathiana Garbin. Stosur stopped Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-1 to please the home faithful.

Mild upsets came when Estonian Kaia Kanepi knocked out 28th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) and Japan's Aiko Nakamura erased 32nd-seeded Greek Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-0.

Ten other women notched opening-round wins, including the aforementioned Rodionova, Kudryavtseva and Morigami, American Laura Granville, Aussie Alicia Molik and Indian Sania Mirza. Meghann Shaughnessy, the highest-ranked American in the women's draw (39th), was dismissed by Czech Renata Voracova 7-5, 6-3.

Tuesday action wrapped up early Wednesday morning at Melbourne Park.

Wwwsportinglife Tennis Betting News

<< Rockets land in Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southwest Division rivals battle tonight, as the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets put their four-game winning streaks on the line at American Airlines Center. On November 4th, Yao Ming poured in 36 points as the Rocke

<< Cavs continue road trip in Seattle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers continue their road trip, as they visit the Seattle SuperSonics tonight at KeyArena. The Cavaliers are 2-1 on their season-long seven-game road trip. Superstar LeBron James had 28 points, six rebo

<< Hornets, Magic battle at Ford Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Southeast Division-leading Orlando Magic try to halt a two-game losing streak when they close out a four-game road trip this evening against the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at the Ford Center. Orlando, which le

<< Parsons loses battle with lung cancer
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former NASCAR Series champion and current broadcaster Benny Parsons died on Tuesday after being hospitalized at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte the day after Christmas. Parsons has been par

<< Indians, Michaels agree on two-year deal
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians and outfielder Jason Michaels have agreed to a two-year deal worth $4.25 million. The Akron Beacon Journal also reported that Michaels received a $100,000 signing bonus and th

Isles slide into Pittsburgh >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders will try to avoid a third consecutive loss tonight, when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at Mellon Arena. After dropping an overtime decision to visiting New Jersey on Saturday, the Isles lost an

Thrashers welcome Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers will try to win consecutive games for the first time in 2007, as they welcome the Los Angeles Kings to Philips Arena this evening. The Thrashers are just 2-3-2 since the start of the new calendar year

Habs play host to red-hot Canucks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will try to continue their recent surge tonight, when they visit the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. The Canucks have won eight of their last nine games and are closing in on the top spot in t

David Beckham, more PR than superstar >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer made the biggest transaction in its 11-year history this past Thursday when the Los Angeles Galaxy signed Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham to a five-year contract that co

Panthers open doors for Hurricanes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes will try to bounce back from a tough loss this evening, when they visit the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center. The Hurricanes last played on Saturday and had a chance to gain ground on divisi

Credit Card Betting: Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Online Sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard

MySportsbook.com is the best at processing US credit cards for deposits. Welcome to the most player friendly online sportsbook on the planet!

The principals behind MySportsbook are obviously a management group that understands the players needs as evidenced by their commitment to provide easy depositing with their high credit card acceptance rate and free weekly $10 bets they offer to clients with active betting accounts.

The perks don't end there! MySportsbook offers casino, poker and horses as well. Twice named Best Sportsbook by eGaming Review, this place is rock solid financially so you don't ever have to sweat the payout as you may with some other online bookies operating with less betting volume and client base.

Sign up today and grab your share of a 10% bonus that is added instantly to your betting account. Enjoy 52 risk free bets throughout the year as well!

Reasons to Play There: You have to see their no hitter, cycle hitter and slaughter rule promos for baseball. Worth a laugh and probably a few bucks throughout the MLB season. They offer supersized bonuses of 15% if you up your minimum deposit to $500 or more. Lay -105 on Friday NBA! Contests during the NFL football season!