Berdych, del Potro land in Rotterdam quarters

Tennis Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.

The second-seeded Berdych, fresh off his title in Montpellier, France two weeks ago, was leading former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis 3-0 in the first set on Thursday when the Cypriot retired due to a calf injury.

Berdych will encounter Italian Andreas Seppi in the quarters. Seppi handled German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4, 6-2 on Day 4.

The third-seeded del Potro popped nine aces in handling Slovakian qualifier Karol Beck 6-4, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet secured a berth in the quarters with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. on the indoor hardcourts at Ahoy Stadium. Gasquet's opponent on Friday will be fellow former top-10 star Nikolay Davydenko of Russia.

Another quarterfinal on Friday will pit Swiss icon Roger Federer against Finnish veteran Jarkko Nieminen.

The top-seeded former world No. 1 Federer received a walkover into the round of eight here on Wednesday night when Russian Mikhail Youzhny pulled out of their scheduled Thursday second-round match, citing a left foot injury. Youzhny was the Rotterdam champion in 2007 and runner-up in 2010.

The 16-time major champion Federer was the Rotterdam titlist the last time he played here back in 2005.

The 2012 Rotterdam winner will collect $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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.