Bartoli moves on; Wickmayer exits New Haven

Tennis Betting Lines

08/24/2010 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli advanced, while 2009 U.S. Open semifinalist Yanina Wickmayer went by way of the opening-round upset Tuesday at the $600,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final hardcourt U.S. Open tune-up.

The sixth-seeded Bartoli, of France, barely snuck past Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, while the fifth-seeded Wickmayer, of Belgium, succumbed to Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-1 at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale. Bartoli needed 2 hours, 39 minutes to stave off a game Bondarenko.

Bartoli's second-round opponent will be Aussie Anastasia Rodionova.

Seventh-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta reached the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 decision against Russian Alisa Kleybanova.

Additional opening-round wins came for the aforementioned Rodionova, Belarusian Olga Govortsova and Russian Maria Kirilenko, who bested last year's New Haven runner-up and fellow Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. Vesnina, a qualifier this week, lost to U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki in last year's Pilot Pen finale.

Wozniacki, this week's top seed, is the two-time reigning New Haven champ and fresh off her title in Montreal on Monday.

The 2010 Pilot Pen champion will collect $98,500.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.