Davydenko wins; Gasquet, Nalbandian fall in Halle

Tennis Betting Lines

06/12/2007 - Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko recorded a first-round victory, while fifth-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet and seventh-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian came up losers Tuesday at the $900,000 Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up.

Davydenko, who was struck in the eye by a served ball on Day 2, got past Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-2 at Gerry Weber Stadium.

The world No. 3 Davydenko was leading Melzer 5-2 in the third set when the Austrian's serve bounced into the Russian's left eye.

"If my eye gets swollen and blue, I have to seriously consider if I can play," Davydenko said afterwards.

Davydenko, who lost to Roger Federer in last week's French Open semis, is the highest-standing seed here following the withdrawal of the reigning four-time Halle titlist Federer here on Monday.

Up next for Davydenko will be German crowd favorite Florian Mayer.

Gasquet gave way to little-known Pakistani qualifier Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 7-6 (10-8), 6-4, while Nalbandian succumbed to Frenchman Marc Gicquel 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

The German faithful were treated to a trio of victories on Tuesday, as qualifier Simon Stadler dropped his wild card compatriot Mischa Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), Philipp Kohlschreiber topped Dutch qualifier Raemon Sluiter 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 and Mayer bested his wild card countryman Michael Kohlmann 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.

Other Day-2 wins came for Romanian lucky-loser Andrei Pavel, Finn Jarkko Nieminen and veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, the 2001 Halle runner-up.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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