Serena leads U.S. past Belarus; Venus returns

Tennis Betting Lines

02/05/2012 - Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Serena Williams recorded a singles victory on Sunday to move the United States into the Fed Cup World Group Playoffs.

The 2011 U.S. Open runner-up Williams improved to 2-0 this week by overcoming Anastasiya Yakimova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 at DCU Center in Worcester. The victory gave the host Americans an insurmountable 3-0 lead in their best-of-five World Group II battle against Belarus, which was forced to play without world No. 1 star and Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who is nursing a back injury after beating Maria Sharapova in last week's Aussie Open finale.

Williams blew a 4-1 lead against Yakimova in the opening set on Sunday, but cruised after dropping the opening stanza by winning 12 of the next 14 games.

The former No. 1 and 13-time Grand Slam champion Williams and Christina McHale were a pair of singles winners on Saturday, as McHale beat Yakimova and Williams topped Olga Govortsova, in straight sets. McHale improved to 2-0 for the week on Sunday with a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing of Belarus' Darya Kustova to give the U.S. a laughable 4-0 margin.

The festivities in Worcester wrapped up with a dead doubles rubber, which the U.S. won 6-1, 6-2 with Venus Williams and Liezel Huber blasting Kustova and Yakimova to polish off a 5-0 win. It marked Venus' first tennis since pulling out of last year's U.S. Open in the second round as she battled Sjogren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.

Venus, like her young sister Serena, is a former world No. 1 and owns seven major singles titles.

This was the first-ever Fed Cup meeting between the 17-time champion U.S. and Belarus.

Team USA advanced to the World Group playoffs where it will meet a World Group first-round loser in April and needs to win in order to have a chance to compete for the Fed Cup title next year.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.