Ivanovic, Kuznetsova among first-day winners in Doha

Tennis Betting Lines

02/13/2012 - Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia were among the winners Monday on the first day of main draw action at the Qatar Open.

The 13th-seeded Ivanovic was ahead 6-1, 4-1 when Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro retired because of a right hip injury, while the 14th-seeded Kuznetsova also knocked out a Spaniard with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. Kuznetsova was the Doha runner-up in 2004 and 2007.

Ivanovic and Kuznetsova, each former French Open champions, are two of the five Grand Slam champions in this week's field. Victoria Azarenka, coming off her first major championship at the Australian Open, is this week's top seed, while other Grand Slam winners scheduled to play this week are former French champ Francesca Schiavone and reigning U.S. Open winner Samantha Stosur.

The top eight seeds -- Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki, Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Marion Bartoli, defending Doha champion Vera Zvonareva, Schiavone and Jelena Jankovic -- all have byes into the second round. Zvonareva, also the Doha runner-up in 2010, beat Wozniacki for last year's title.

There was just one other seeded winner Monday, as China's Peng Shuai -- the 12th seed -- notched a 6-0, 7-5 victory over wild card Fatma Al Nabhani. Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 10th seed, was handed an early exit by Kazakhstan's Ksenia Pervak, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Romania's Monica Niculescu cruised past Russia's Elena Vesnina, 6-1, 6-0, while Israel's Shahar Peer had an even easier time with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of wild card Nadia Lalami.

American Christina McHale also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over South Africa's Chanelle Scheepers, while Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova notched a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Slovenia's Polana Hercog.

Other winners included Germany's Mona Barthel and qualifiers Kateryna Bondarenko of the Ukraine, Anne Keothavong of Britain and American Varvara Lepchenko.

The 2012 champion will earn a first prize of $385,000.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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