Hot Fish pulls out of LA event; Blake advances

Tennis Betting Lines

07/28/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot American Mardy Fish pulled out of the $700,000 Farmers Classic tennis event on Tuesday, citing fatigue and an ankle injury.

An eighth-seeded Fish was scheduled to meet German Benjamin Becker in an opening-round match Tuesday night, but was replaced in the draw by Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador.

"Due to fatigue and a sprained ankle in Atlanta, I am not in good shape to play," Fish said. "I need to rest in order to compete at a high level."

Becker beat Lapentti, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), in the final match of the night on the hardcourts at the Los Angeles Tennis Center.

Fish has won his last 10 matches, including two titles in his last two events. He titled on grass in Newport two weeks ago and was last week's big winner on the hardcourts in Atlanta, where he overtook 6-foot-9 fellow American John Isner in the final amid some oppressive heat.

The 28-year-old Fish suffered the ankle injury during his second-round match against fellow American Robby Ginepri last week.

American James Blake, the runner-up here in 2007, beat Argentine Leonardo Mayer, 6-1, 6-4. Blake is ranked No. 117, his lowest since the week of May 30, 2005 when he was No. 127. He came back in June after missing two months with a right knee injury and now has a second-round match against Becker.

Additional Day-2 wins came for South African Kevin Anderson, Ginepri and fellow Americans Tim Smyczek and Ryan Sweeting, Colombian Alejandro Falla and India's Somdev Devvarman.

This week's top seed is Australian Open runner-up Andy Murray. No. 2 seed and defending champion Sam Querrey, No. 3 Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and No. 6 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia highlight Wednesdays second round action. Querrey, who bested Aussie Carsten Ball in last year's finale, will meet Anderson.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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