Murray eases into second round at the Open

Tennis Betting Lines

09/01/2010 - Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former runner-up Andy Murray was an easy opening-round winner Wednesday at a very hot U.S. Open.

The fourth-seeded Murray mauled helpless Slovakian Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 51 minutes on yet another scorching day in the Big Apple. The British star doused Lacko with the help of six service breaks in the predictable encounter at Ashe Stadium, where the on-court temperature soared over 100 degrees for a third straight day.

Murray was the 2008 U.S. Open runner-up to Swiss icon Roger Federer and also lost to Federer in this year's Australian Open title tilt.

Up next for Murray will be rising 6-foot-5 Jamaican Dustin Brown.

An eye-catching upset came when tough French lefthander Michael Llodra ousted seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 in 2 hours, 26 minutes. Llodra required a trainer to work on his foot during the second set, but the Frenchman returned to the court, unfazed by the ailment.

The stunned Berdych was unable to break Llodra's quality serve on Day 3.

The 6-foot-5 Berdych reached the semifinals at the French Open back in June and landed in his first career Grand Slam final at the All England Club in July, losing to world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal.

American teenager Ryan Harrison, making his U.S. Open debut, upset 15th-seeded former top-five star Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4, while 20th-seeded American Sam Querrey got past fellow American Bradley Klahn 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Ljubicic was a Masters event champion at Indian Wells earlier this season who struggled against the intense heat and the 18-year-old Harrison. Querrey is a four-time champion on the ATP World Tour this year.

Fourteenth-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro came from behind to best Italian Potito Starace 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), while 25th-seeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka waltzed past Kazakhstan's Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Additional opening-round wins came for the aforementioned Brown, Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky, Romanian Victor Hanescu and Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. The hot Stakhovsky, who topped Aussie Peter Luczak in four sets on Wednesday, is fresh off his hardcourt title in New Haven last week.

The 2010 U.S. Open titlist will claim at least $1.7 million.

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Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.