Kvitova, Sharapova reach QFs; Serena shocked at Aussie Open

Tennis Betting Lines

01/23/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and former Melbourne titlist Maria Sharapova reached the quarterfinals, while five-time titlist Serena Williams was a stunning fourth-round upset victim Monday at the Australian Open.

An error-prone Williams was knocked out by Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-3 on Day 8 of the fortnight.

The 12th-seeded Williams misfired for 37 unforced errors and double-faulted seven times in her 82-minute setback at Rod Laver Arena.

"I'm not physically 100 percent, so I can't be so angry at myself, even though I'm very unhappy," said Williams, who suffered an ankle injury a few weeks ago. "I know that I can play a hundred times better than I did this whole tournament."

The 23-year-old Makarova will now appear in her first-ever major quarterfinal, and it will come against her compatriot Sharapova on Wednesday.

Barely able to get her first serve in half the time, Williams tallied 20 of her errors and four of her double faults in the second set.

"She went for broke on a lot of her shots. I made 37 errors," Williams said. "That kind of tells the story of the match."

Makarova called Williams "a great player" and said she was surprised to beat her.

"It's really tough to play against her," Makarova said. "But, I don't know, I just feel so good and so focused. So I played my game, and that's it. I won against Serena. That's amazing."

Williams owns 13 major titles, including five here in Melbourne. She was riding a 17-match winning streak here, having captured back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 before missing last year's Grand Slam of the Pacific because of health reasons.

Meanwhile, the second-seeded Czech Kvitova continued her winning ways with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) straight-set win over 21st-seeded former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. The match ended in 85 minutes at Laver.

The former French Open champion Ivanovic was the 2008 Aussie runner-up to Sharapova.

The 21-year-old Kvitova, who beat Sharapova in last year's Wimbledon finale and is also the reigning WTA Championships titlist, fired seven aces among her 30 winners, converting three of her six break points, and moved on to face Italian Sara Errani, who cooled off Chinese Zheng Jie 6-2, 6-1. Zheng had won her first eight matches of 2012, including a title in Auckland to open her season.

The women's quarters will commence Tuesday, as top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki will meet 11th-seeded reigning Aussie Open champ Kim Clijsters and third- seeded Victoria Azarenka will encounter eighth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska.

The former world No. 1 Clijsters is 2-0 lifetime against Wozniacki, as the Belgian bested the Dane in the 2009 U.S. Open final and the 2010 Tour Championships title tilt.

Azarenka is 6-3 versus Radwanska, including a victory in a semifinal in Sydney two weeks ago. The Belarusian went on to title in Sydney.

Clijsters beat Chinese Li Na in last year's finale to capture her first-ever Aussie title and fourth Grand Slam championship.

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Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS

NFL Sports Betting

NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.

Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.

There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.

Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.

The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

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