Murray sets up Quarter-final Clash with Nadal

British hopes for a local Wimbledon win are still alive after Scot Andy Murray battled back from the brink of defeat to beat Richard Gasquet in an epic five-set clash on Centre Court.

Murray looked down and out when his French opponent served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but an incredible turn of events saw him claim a magical 5-7 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 6-4 triumph late on Monday evening.

The final set was played with the light fading out on court and the patriotic crowd were roaring Murray towards the finish line.

He will now meet second seed Rafael Nadal of Spain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

RELATED LINKS :
Tennis Betting Previews on the main site
Wimbledon Tennis Live Scores on the Guide
Wimbledon Tennis Live Betting Odds at BookieLabrat.com

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Wimbledon Mens Open - Top Players

Top contenders for the Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club

No. 1 ROGER FEDERER ----- Age: 26. Major titles: 12
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Going for a sixth straight Wimbledon title. In the past 100 years, only Federer and Bjorn Borg (1976-80) have won five in a row. Has won 59 straight matches on grass, the longest streak in the 40-year Open era.

Ranked No. 1 since Feb. 2, 2004, the longest consecutive stay atop the rankings.

No. 2 RAFAEL NADAL ----- Age: 22. Major titles: 4
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Second man to win four consecutive French Open titles (Borg did it from 1978-81) and this year's French Open win against Federer was most lopsided men's Grand Slam final since 1984.

Last week became the first Spanish man in 36 years to win a grass-court title, beating Novak Djokovic in the Queen's Club final.

Lost Wimbledon final to Federer last two years.

No. 3 NOVAK DJOKOVIC ----- Age: 21. Major titles: 1
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Has lost to Nadal in his past three tournaments but has been a semifinalist or better at each of past five major championships.

No. 4 NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO ----- Age: 28. Major titles: 0
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Second only to Nadal on the men's tour in total number of match wins this year. ATP still investigating irregular betting on a match he played in August 2007.

No. 6 ANDY RODDICK ----- Age: 25. Major titles: 1
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Missed the French Open with a shoulder injury but has managed to beat Federer, Nadal and Djokovic this year. Ranks second on tour with 380 aces - a huge weapon on grass.

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Ana Ivanovic wins French Open

Ana Ivanovic confirmed her status as the new world number one with her first Grand Slam title at the French Open.

The 20-year-old second seed beat Russia's Dinara Safina 6-4 6-3 to become the first Serbian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.

In a tense opening set, Ivanovic got the better of five breaks of serve.

And two breaks in the second were enough for Ivanovic to make up for her heavy defeat by Justine Henin in last year's final.

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Ana Ivanovic French Open favourite after Serena beaten

Ana Ivanovic is the new favourite for the women's singles at the French Open following the shock exit of Serena Williams.

Williams had been the market leader heading into the tournament - but she crashed out in the third round at the hands of Katarina Srebotnik. It was Williams' earliest exit from Roland Garros since 1999 and she is the highest seed so far to leave the women's draw.

And it means that Ivanovic, a beaten finalist last year, now tops the betting at 4.00 at BoyleSports.

She's followed by Jelena Jankovic at 5.00 ( Bet365 ), Maria Sharapova at 7.00 ( VC Bet ) and Svetlana Kuznetsova at 8.50 ( VC Bet ).

The rest of the field are all over 10.00.

RELATED LINKS :
BookieLabrat - Live Betting Odds on Womens French Open Title
GoonersGuide - Live scores from the French Open at Roland Garros

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A win at last - after 3 years of trying

Three years after setting out as a professional tenis player, Briton Robert Dee finally recorded a victory after 54 consecutive straight sets defeats.

His trail of defeats have Dee the dubious honour of holding the worst record in professional tennis losing each of his 108 contested set since his first tournament in Mexico.

The 21-year-old player finally was rewarded last weekend when he defeated Arzhand Derakhshani of the United States 6-4, 6-3 during qualifying for a Futures tournament in Rues (near Barcelona) in Spain.

However, his moment in the sun did not last long - he promptly lost 6-3 6-1 to Artur Romanowski in the second round.

The victory means he remains joint holder of the record for the longest losing streak in the history of the pro game with Diego Beltranena of Guatemala.

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US Open : Oops Serena's done it again

I don't write about tennis too often - as despite being a recreational player - I find it a difficult sport to watch with any enthusiasm.

However, I notice that once again Serena Williams has displayed a graceless and classless performance in her post-match interview after being beaten 7-6 6-1 in the quarter-finals by Justine Henin.

Sullen Serena. Snippy Serena. Snarly Serena - these were the headlines afterwards as Williams seems to think that if she can't get headlines for winning games then she will be the "bad girl" to get publicity.

Yet of course she'll chase the media soon - to sell endorsements, books, and anything else to make a buck. You can't have it both ways girl.

Anyway - ignoring the sad sulky loser - we now get back to the tennis news on court - and it's the business end of the tournament with Roger Federer the standout $1.30 favourite in the mens event, while on the Womens side the two favourites are Justine Henin (1.86) and Venus Williams (3.50) who are due to clash in the first semi-final.

RELATED LINKS :
US Open Tennis Live Scoring,
Mens 2007 US Open Betting Odds,
Womens 2007 US Open Betting Lines

(interestingly it was the same player - and the same reaction that last caused me to post on tennis - click the tennis label below to see how she handled her exit at Wimbledon)

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Wimbledon : One Williams Out - One Williams through

The ladies took centre stage on Wednesday at Wimbledon with the Williams sisters featuring in two clashes.

Younger sister Serena Willams showed little sign of the calf injury she sustained on Monday but in the end had to bow to top seed Justine Henin, who won an exciting quarter-final 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Serena was graceless in post match interviews however - claiming to be only 40-50% fit and saying that she definately would have won if not injured - a total lack of class demonstrated once again.

However, her older sister Venus did her talking on the court thrashing Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-3 with an impressive performance in the last 16.

In the day's other ladies' singles match, French 18th seed Marion Bartoli came from a set down against Michaella Krajicek to set up a semi-final meeting with Henin. The surprise package of the ladies' draw followed up her victory over third seed Jelena Jankovic with a 3-6 6-3 6-2 win on Court Two.

LATEST WINNER ODDS:
Justine Henin .... 1.44 @ PinnacleSports
Venus Williams ... 5.09 @ PinnacleSports
Nicole Vaidisova . 17.00 @ SportingOdds
Svetlana Kuznetsova 24.95 @ PinnacleSports
Ana Ivanovic ... 25.45 @ PinnacleSports
Marion Bartoli ... 67.00 @ Gamebookers

Check out the latest Ladies Open odds for outrights and match betting at Bookielabrat.com

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Wimbledon : Federer rolls on - Hingis falls

Defending Wimbledon Mens open champion Roger Federer reached the fourth round at Wimbledon with a straight-sets victory over Marat Safin.

Safin finally began to match Federer in the third set, which went with serve, but by that stage it was already too late and some erratic shots in the tie-break allowed Federer to close out a 6-1 6-4 7-6 win.

Next up for Federer is a meeting with Tommy Haas, the 13th seed, who came from a set down to win in four against Dmitry Tursunov.

BEST ODDS :
Roger Federer 1.40 @ BetFred
Rafael Nadal 9.20 at Betfair (be quick)
Andy Roddick 15.00 @ BetFred
Lleyton Hewitt 21.00 @ SportingOdds

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In the upset of the day, former champion Martina Hingis crashed out at the third-round stage, losing in straight sets to Laura Granville.

Hingis had not played for a month before coming to SW19 because of injury but after having had to fend off match points against UK player Naomi Cavaday in her opening match, she seemed to regain some of her sharpness in her second-round win over Aiko Nakamura.

However, Granville never looked back after securing an early break of serve as she recorded a 6-4 6-2 victory. The unseeded American needed to fend off three break points early in the second set as Hingis briefly rallied but once that was achieved she cruised to victory.

BEST ODDS :
Justine Henin-Hardine 2.50 @ SportingOdds
Serena Williams 5.00 @ SportingOdds
Amelie Mauresmo 7.00 @ Ladbrokes
Maria Sharapova 9.20 at Betfair (be quick)

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RELATED LINKS :
Live Odds - Wimbledon Mens Open
Live Odds - Wimbledon Ladies Open

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Tiger Tim bows out of Wimbledon

Tim Henman's latest agonising exit from Wimbledon proved a rollercoaster ride for punters as over £16million was traded on Betfair.

The British number two lost his second-round clash against Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-2 1-6 to the dismay of the Centre Court crowd.

Henman was the clear favourite on Betfair at the outset at 1.68 while Lopez was trading at 2.46. But with the Spaniard taking the first two sets those odds quickly changed, Lopez being backed in to 1.07 while Henman drifted out to 13.

However just before Henman started his recovery he was matched at as high and 23 and those who backed him at that price were on good terms with themselves when he levelled the match at 2-2.

Heading into the deciding set the odds had flip-flopped yet again but this time Henman didn't have the necessary reserves as Lopez raced to victory. A massive £16.3million was traded on the game at the betting exchange and around £900,000 of that was matched on Henman at odds of 1.5 and lower.

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And Henman has been expensive for punters over the years with Ladbrokes reckoning that Henman has cost British punters an estimated £50 million during his 14 years of Wimbledon failure and near-misses.

David Williams of Ladbrokes said: "The Tiger is now extinct and deep down we're a bit gutted. We hoped he'd make it to the second week if only to keep the dream alive.

"Where there's Henman there's always been hope but we'd be astonished if punters were willing to give him any more chances.

"He now joins the likes of snooker's Jimmy White and golf's Colin Montgomerie as an incredibly expensive nearly-man.

"He's given us countless sleepless nights down the years but ultimately we've kept the cash. We might just send him some bubbly to help ease the pain of defeat."

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There should be one final hurrah for Henman who is 1/3 (1.33) with Eurobet to play at Wimbledon at least once more and 2-1 (3.00) not to return to SW19.

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Is Wimbledon Over? Paddy Power pays out !!

We told you that our favourite Irish bookie (rated at 93%) was a little bit Crazy - and Paddy Power has shown it again by paying out on Roger Federer as this year's Wimbledon champion, believing the SW19 contest is over before a ball is served.

The rain delayed Roger Federer from getting his defence under way today, but Paddy Power believe only bad luck can prevent him equalling Bjorn Borg's Wimbledon record of five in a row.

The payout looks set to cost the Irish layers close to a six-figure sum whilst they are also refunding all bets on Brit Andy Murray following his 11th hour withdrawal yesterday.

Paddy Power, spokesman for the self named bookmaking firm, said: "No matter what the odds punters only wanted to back Federer. Wimbledon trophies are as regular as Swiss clockwork for the ace and once again it looks as much a certainty this year as rain stopping play."

Paddy Power is already offering just Evens that Federer goes on to break Borg's record with six in a row by winning the title this year and again in 2008.

RELATED LINK :
Our full page review of Paddy Power bookmakers.

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Henin wins Eastbourne to cement Wimbledon favourtism

Justine Henin made a statement ahead of Wimbledon by beating reigning Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-2) in the final at Eastbourne.

Mauresmo began the stronger in difficult, blustery conditions and led 4-1 in the opening set but Henin broke twice to take the early initiative.

The Belgian claimed an early break in the second but Mauresmo battled back to force a tie-break which she took 7-4 after opening up a 6-1 lead.

The exciting match swung once more in the decider and Mauresmo seemed well on top as she gave herself the chance to serve for the title.

But world number one Henin upped her game to break back and then ran away with the deciding tie-break.

Henin will now go to Wimbledon as a strong favourite for the title.

BEST ODDS TO WIN 2007 LADIES WIMBLEDON TITLE :
Justine Henin 3.25 @ Bet365
Serena Williams 4.33 @ PremierBet
Kim Clijsters 8.00 @ Canbet
Maria Sharapova 8.00 @ SportingOdds
Amelie Mauresmo 10.00 @ Betsson

RELATED LINKS :
Tennis Live Score and Results
Last 2007 Wimbledon Ladies Open Betting Lines

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Wimbledon Betting Promotions

Are you having a punt on Wimbledon this year?

If so then you may want to check out a couple of cash back promotions that the guys over at BookieLabrat.com found that might appeal.


Paddy Power - SETS APPEAL OFFER
If your Wimbledon bet loses in five sets then PaddyPower will give you a free bet to the same value on any other wimbledon match.

Gamebookers - STAKE BACK PROMOTION
If you bet on a top 5 seed and they lose in the first three rounds then Gamebookers will give you your stake back !!

Those are a couple of reasons to check out their sites and see if you might do some of your tennis betting at this bookmakers over the next fortnight.

RELATED LINKS :
Check out the Wimbledon promotions post at BookieLabrat for details.
Or visit Gamebookers and Paddy Power directly now!

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Wimbledon Draw sees Murray Odds drifting

UK hope Andy Murray has slid out to 25/1 at Ladbrokes for the Wimbledon men's singles following the draw for the tournament.

The British number one has been drawn against unseeded Nicolas Lapentti in the first round. But with major doubts over his recovery from a wrist injury he sustained on May 15th the 20-year-old is friendless in the market.

Ladbrokes spokesman Robin Hutchison said: "We can't lay Murray for love nor money at the moment. I don't think that's anything to do with a lack of patriotism, more a bout of pragmatism. If he was fully fit he'd eat Lapentti for breakfast but it's a whole different ball game if he's hampered by injury."

The two players at the head of the betting - Roger Federer (1.45 at VC Bet) and Rafael Nadal (7.60 at Canbet) remain unchanged, but American Andy Roddick has drifted from out from 10/1 to a best priced 17.00 at Bet365 after being placed into Federer's side of the draw.

Over in the womens event Justine Henin is favourite (3.50 at Bet365) and Serena Williams close behind at 4.33 at PremierBet.

Last year's winner Amelie Mauresmo, who beat Henin in the final, is fifth favourite at 10.00 at Betsson but it hasn't stopped punters getting with her Belgian rival.

Hutchison added: "Following her form at Eastbourne, the world and his wife wants to be on Henin and we have laid several large bets including £6,000 at 9/4."

RELATED LINKS :
2007 Wimbledon Live Scores (from Monday)
Latest 2007 Wimbledon Mens Open Odds
Latest 2007 Wimbledon Womens Open Odds
2007 Wimbledon Mens Preview from Simon

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French Open - SportingOdds Free Bet Promo.

2007 French Open - SportingOdds Free Bet Promo

I'm not a great tennis fan - but I do like a good free bet offer !!

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