Ljubicic wins Zagreb opener

Tennis Betting Lines

01/30/2012 - Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatian tennis hero Ivan Ljubicic was a hard-fought opening-round winner Monday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis event.

The top-seeded Ljubicic slammed 16 aces and held off Slovak Karol Beck 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-3 in 2 hours, 18 minutes on the indoor hardcourts at Dom Sportova. The former top-five star Ljubicic captured this tournament back in 2006.

A Croat has won four of the six titles here.

Fifth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi handled German Daniel Brands 6-4, 7-6 (7-1), while seventh-seeded Dutchman Robin Haase moved on with a 6-2, 6-3 pasting of Croatian wild card Kristijan Mesaros.

Additional first-round wins came for German Matthias Bachinger and Slovak Lukas Lacko.

Wednesday's schedule will feature matches for second-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr., third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, sixth-seeded former champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus and eighth-seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic. The former Australian Open runner-up Baghdatis was the Zagreb champ in 2007.

This week's titlist will collect $90,000.

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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.