Roddick is again King of Queen's

Tennis Betting Lines

06/17/2007 - London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Andy Roddick saved a match point and rallied for a three-set victory over unseeded Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to capture the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club.

The second-seeded Roddick earned a 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-2) triumph to claim the Wimbledon tuneup event for the fourth time in five years.

"It's nice winning at tournaments that you really enjoy playing at," said Roddick. "I think this place is and will continue to have a special place in my heart just because I have so many great memories from here. To have won four is great. I'll have a number of chances to get five."

The former world No. 1 won this crown three straight years from 2003-05, but has still yet to parlay it into a Wimbledon championship.

Roddick was a semifinalist at the All-England Club after his Queens victory in 2003, then reached the Wimbledon final in both 2004 and '05. Last year, he lost in the semifinals at the Queen's Club and only made it as far as the third round at Wimbledon.

Sunday's win allowed Roddick to join John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Lleyton Hewitt as four-time winners at the Queen's Club. The other three have all won on the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon.

This year's third Grand Slam event begins a week from Monday.

Mahut, who beat three-time French Open champ and last year's Wimbledon runner- up Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, was in position to pull off another huge upset.

After taking the first set, Mahut was ahead in the tiebreak and had a match point at 7-6, but Roddick stormed back to win the next three points.

The third set also went the distance and Roddick simply dominated the tiebreak. He won the first five points and finally closed out the match with his 24th ace.

"I don't know if I was on top up until maybe 3-0 in the breaker," added Roddick about how he played Sunday. "I felt like I returned pretty well. That was just a volleying display I felt like he put on there today. I was lucky to get out of there."

Roddick earned a first prize of $107,000 for his first title of 2007. He had just one previous appearance in a final, losing to Tommy Haas in Memphis in February, and was coming off a dreadful clay season that ended with a first- round loss at the French Open.

Mahut, meanwhile, was playing in his first career ATP final. Ranked 106th in the world, he entered this event with a record of just 6-11 in singles play and will now try to qualify for Wimbledon next week.

"I'm really disappointed," stated Mahut. "I was one point away to put my name on the trophy. It's one of the greatest tournaments of the tour. You know, I had match point. It's really hard now."

Roddick improved to 2-0 lifetime against Mahut, also prevailing on carpet two years ago in Lyon.

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.