Croatia takes 2-1 advantage over Japan in Davis Cup

Tennis Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Hyogo, Japan (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivan Dodig and Ivo Karlovic downed the Japanese tandem of Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita on Saturday to give Croatia a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup.

The two nations entered play tied at 1-1 after splitting Friday's singles matches, but Dodig and Karlovic gave Croatia the lead in the best-of-five tie with a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the host nation's pairing of Ito and Sugita.

The Croats converted on just 3-of-14 break chances, but reeled off 24 aces en route to the win.

Croatia will now look to take the first meeting between the two nations with Sunday's reverse singles, which currently call for Japan's Kei Nishikori to battle Dodig and Karlovic to take on Go Soeda.

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.

Wwwlassiters Tennis Betting News

<< Westbrook, Thunder cruise past Jazz
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 28 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised to a 101-87 victory over the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena on Friday. Kevin Durant added 19 points and Serge Ib

<< Sharks outlast struggling Blackhawks
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Benn Ferriero's goal early in the third period proved to be the winner, as the San Jose Sharks kept the Chicago Blackhawks reeling with a 5-3 victory at HP Pavilion. Justin Braun, Dan Boyle, Joe Thornton a

<< Kings place Stoll on IR
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings placed center Jarret Stoll on injured reserve Friday with an abductor muscle injury. Stoll suffered the injury in the latter stages of the third period of Thursday's 3-1 loss

<< O'Reilly's late goal leads Colorado past Carolina in OT
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan O'Reilly scored the game-winner with 1.2 seconds left in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. With time winding down, O'Reilly picked the pocket of Jus

<< Detroit edges Anaheim in SO, extends home win streak
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Todd Bertuzzi supplied the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout, as the Detroit Red Wings edged the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, to push their franchise-record home winning streak to 19 games. Following an e

Korda takes lead at Women's Australian Open >>
Victoria, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On a Saturday when many players near the top of the leaderboard struggled, Jessica Korda shot an even-par 73 to claim the lead after three rounds of the Women's Australian Open. The American Ko

Thunder's Brooks to coach West All-Stars >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma City's Scott Brooks will coach the Western Conference at the All-Star Game later this month. The Thunder's 101-87 win over Utah on Friday enabled Oklahoma City to clinch the conference's best r

Westwood vaults into Dubai lead >>
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lee Westwood fired a five-under 67 on Saturday to vault into the lead at 15-under par after three rounds of the Dubai Desert Classic. Westwood was three shots behind Rory McIlroy and Thom

Hantuchova to face Kirilenko for Pattaya crown >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova and Maria Kirilenko were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Pattaya Open. The third-seeded Hantuchova eased past Taiwanes

Thrashers activate Stapleton off IR >>
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Jets have activated center Tim Stapleton off injured reserve. Stapleton had been sidelined since January 20 with a lower body injury. He has appeared in 37 games this season, entering Saturda

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


With all the style and sex appeal of Las Vegas, MySportsbook.com is without a doubt the coolest online sportsbook on the Internet.

At MySportsbook.com, players get to enjoy the luxury of a five star sportsbook, a racebook that's second to none, a casino with all the bells and whistles, and a swanky new poker room!

MySportsbook also has a unique games room where players can go head-to-head for cash playing such things as sports trivia and fantasy games, popular arcade games, word and memory games, and more.

Throughout MySportsbook, visitors and members are treated to informative sports news and sports betting stats Sports matchup reports and sports betting trends as well as entertaining columns written by colorful personalities.

The management at MySportsbook has been in the online gaming business since 1997. As a result of this success, management has earned a coveted spot on eGaming Review's "Power 50" list, which recognizes leaders in online gaming.

With MySportsbook.com , management's goal is to provide players with an exciting place to experience the thrill of gaming in a safe and trustworthy environment.

Thus, players at MySportsbook are assured of getting top notch customer service while having a wickedly good time.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.