Woodies, Fernandez, Zvereva enter Tennis HOF

Tennis Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Newport, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doubles greats Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva headlined this year's class enshrined at the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.

The Australians Woodbridge and Woodforde, nicknamed "The Woodies," piled up a record 61 doubles titles on the ATP, including a whopping 11 major championships, which is second only to fellow Aussies John Newcombe and Tony Roche's record of 12. Woodbridge and Woodforde also enjoyed stays inside the Top-20 in singles.

The Woodies were the first tandem to corral five straight Wimbledon titles and are the only team in the Open Era to win at least one major title in six straight years.

In Olympic competition, the Woodies captured gold in 1996 and silver in 2000.

The 39-year-old Woodbridge holds the ATP record with 83 doubles titles in the Open Era and played on Davis Cup championship teams for Australia in 1999 and 2003.

The 44-year-old Woodforde captured 67 doubles titles and held down the No. 1 ranking for doubles for 84 weeks during his career. He played for a Davis Cup winner in 1999, along with Woodbridge.

The 46-year-old Puerto Rican native Fernandez and Belarusian Zvereva amassed 38 doubles titles together, including 14 Grand Slam wins. From 1992-93, they tallied six straight major titles at one point.

Beatriz "Gigi" Fernandez, a mother of twins, colleted 68 doubles titles on tour, including 17 majors, while the 39-year-old Zvereva piled up 18 major doubles championships. Fernandez captured Olympic doubles gold medals in 1992 and 1996 and was a two-time Fed Cup champion for the United States (1990, 1996).

Zvereva won 20 Grand Slam doubles titles overall, including a pair of mixed ones, and also reached the Top-10 as a singles star, including a career-high No. 5 spot in 1989.

Others inducted to the Tennis Hall on Saturday were men's and mixed doubles specialist Owen Davidson, of Australia, in the Master Player category; wheelchair tennis pioneer Brad Parks, of the United States, in the Contributor category; and the late Derek Hardwick, who entered via the Contributor category as the former chairman of the British Lawn Tennis Association.

The class of 2010 now gives the Tennis Hall of Fame 218 legends, representing 19 nations.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.