Clijsters, Wozniacki into QFs; Dementieva upended in Montreal

Tennis Betting Lines

08/20/2010 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters was an easy third-round victor, while defending Rogers Cup champ Elena Dementieva was an upset victim Thursday at this $2 million Canadian event, a U.S. Open tune-up.

The fifth-seeded former world No. 1 Clijsters pummeled Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 6-1 on the hardcourts at Uniprix Stadium. The big-serving Kanepi was a surprise Wimbledon quarterfinalist last month.

Clijsters is the reigning U.S. Open champ and fresh off her title in Cincinnati last week. She captured this Rogers Cup tournament, in Toronto, in 2005.

Up next for Clijsters in Friday's quarterfinals will be quality Russian Vera Zvonareva.

Chinese Zheng Jie stunned a fourth-seeded Dementieva in 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 fashion. Zheng was a surprise Aussie Open semifinalist back in January.

The two-time major runner-up and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Dementieva beat former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in last year's all-Russian Rogers Cup finale in Toronto, as this event shifts between Toronto and Montreal each year.

In a later contest, Danish Caroline Wozniacki, who was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Clijsters, needed more than two hours to subdue Italian Flavia Pennetta, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Francesca Schiavone, seeded sixth, downed former world No. 1 Dinara Safina, 6-4, 6-3. Also on Thursday, former top-10 star Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her recent winning ways by ousting seventh-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 on Day 4. The 11th-seeded two-time major champion Kuznetsova corralled her eighth win in nine tries on Thursday and was a titlist in San Diego two weeks ago.

Kuznetsova's quarterfinal opponent will be Zheng.

The aforementioned eighth-seeded Zvonareva added another win to her great summer, as she cooled off red-hot Hungarian Agnes Szavay in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. Szavay had won her last 12 matches heading into Thursday and was seeking a third title in three events, with recent titles coming in Budapest and Prague.

Zvonareva was the Wimbledon runner-up to the great Serena Williams last month.

Meanwhile, surging 10th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka drilled ninth- seeded Chinese Li Na 6-3, 6-3, and 17th-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France leveled Czech qualifier Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-1. The lefthanded Benesova stunned top-seeded former world No. 1 Serb Jelena Jankovic here in the second round.

The world No. 13 Azarenka titled in Stanford three weeks ago and has now won eight of her last nine matches.

Azarenka and Bartoli will lock horns here on Friday.

This week's winner will earn $350,000.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.