Wozniacki, Clijsters could meet in Open final rematch

Tennis Betting Lines

08/26/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded 2009 runner-up Caroline Wozniacki and second-seeded reigning champion Kim Clijsters could meet in a rematch of last year's final, as the women's draw was revealed Thursday for the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam event of the year.

Wozniacki, who was installed as the top seed in New York after world No. 1 Serena Williams pulled out of the 2010 U.S. Open last week, will open her stay against American wild card Chelsey Gullickson, while the two-time champion Clijsters will take on Hungarian Greta Arn in her opener next week.

The 13-time major champion and reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open titlist Williams will be the first women's world No. 1 to miss the U.S. Open, as she continues to recover from some foot surgery that was required after she cut herself on some broken glass in a restaurant last month.

Wozniacki could face former U.S. Open champion and former No. 1 Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, while potential quarterfinal opponents could be another former New York winner, Svetlana Kuznetsova, or eighth-seeded Chinese Li Na. The 14th-seeded three-time major champion Sharapova will open up against Aussie Jarmila Groth, while the 11th-seeded two-time Grand Slam titlist Kuznetsova will be opposed by 39-year-old Japanese Kimiko Date Krumm in round one and the Aussie Open semifinalist Li will encounter Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko.

The world no. 2 Wozniacki's semifinal opponent could be fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic or seventh-seeded Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva. The former world No. 1 and 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic and Zvonareva could square off in the quarters. Jankovic will face Romanian Simona Halep in her opener, while Zvonareva will battle a qualifier.

The former No. 1 Clijsters could face the likes of fifth-seeded French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur or 12th-seeded 2004 U.S. Open runner-up Elena Dementieva in the quarters. Stosur will meet Russian Elena Vesnina, while the two-time major runner-up Dementieva will tangle with Belarusian Olga Govortsova in round one.

Potential semifinal opponents for Clijsters could be third-seeded two-time U.S. Open champ and former top-ranked star Venus Williams, sixth-seeded French Open titlist Francesca Schiavone or 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka. Venus, who will open up against Italian Roberta Vinci, and Schiavone, who will be opposed by Japan's Ayumi Morita in the round of 128, could meet in the quarterfinals.

Clijsters was a straight-set winner against Wozniacki in last year's finale here and became the first mother to capture a Grand Slam title in 29 years in the process.

The U.S. Open will get underway Monday in Flushing Meadows.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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