Italy sneaks past Ukraine to reach Fed Cup semis
Tennis Betting Lines
02/05/2012 - Biella, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy got a big doubles win from Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci in Sunday's fifth and deciding rubber in their Fed Cup quarterfinal against visiting Ukraine, as the Italians won the best-of- five encounter, 3-2.
Italy headed into Sunday in a 1-1 deadlock with the Ukrainians after Sara Errani and Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko posted singles victories on Saturday.
In Sunday's first reverse singles rubber, last year's French Open runner-up and 2010 Roland Garros titlist Francesca Schiavone came from behind to beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-4 to give the Italians a short-lived 2-1 edge. The upstart world No. 121 Tsurenko, who stunned the 11th-ranked Schiavone 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday, then flattened Sara Errani, 6-1, 3-0, when Errani retired from their bout with a right knee injury on Day 2, leaving the series knotted at 2-2 at Biella's Lauretana Forum.
In the final rubber of the weekend, Pennetta and Vinci broke the deadlock by holding off a Ukrainian duo of Tsurenko and Olga Savchuk 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 to send Italy into the semifinals. Pennetta replaced Errani in the doubles match.
The powerful Italians have won three of the last six Fed Cup titles, including back-to-back crowns in 2009 and 2010. They are now 4-0 all-time against Ukraine in Fed Cup play.
Up next for Italy in April will be the reigning Fed Cup champion Czech Republic.
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Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.