Venus returns from 2-month hiatus, wins (AP)
Venus returns from 2-month hiatus, wins (AP)
NEW YORK (AP)—Playing her first match in two months, Venus Williams powered her way to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over a travel-weary Vesna Dolonts of Russia at the U.S. Open on Monday night. Williams hit six aces and 28 winners against the 91st-ranked Dolonts, who caught a 4 a.m. EDT flight from Moscow and didn’t arrive at the tournament site until about four hours before her match. She had flights canceled Saturday and Sunday because of Tropical Storm Irene, which caused New York airports to be closed. “I’m not sure I expected to be so sharp,” Williams said. Venus Williams celebrates match point against Vesna Dolonts during Day 1 of the U.S. Open.(Getty Images) All in all, Williams looked far more dangerous than the average unseeded player does. She is unseeded at Flushing Meadows because she’s ranked only 36th after entering the tournament having played 10 matches over the past 50 weeks. “I just want to play tennis,” said Williams, whose seven Grand Slam singles titles include the 2000 and 2001 U.S. Opens. “It doesn’t matter what the tournament is, I just want to play. Obviously the Open is huge, but I just want to play.” “I just need a chance to play. So the season hasn’t really even started yet for me,” she added. “It’s been like a blip here and a blip there.” The 31-year-old American hadn’t played a match since June 27, when she lost in the fourth round at Wimbledon. After that, she missed the recent hard-court tuneup tournaments because of a viral illness. She wouldn’t say exactly what she was diagnosed with, but described it as “energy sucking.” After withdrawing from the Australian Open in January because of a hip injury, Williams missed about four months, then came back at a grass-court tournament in England a week before Wimbledon. [Related: Venus Williams’ curious take on the little black dress] “No one is more in ‘one match at a time’ mode than me now,” she said. Then again, Williams is accustomed to missing time but still playing well. In 2010, she was sidelined between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open by a left knee injury, yet made it all the way to the semifinals in New York. “Last year, I had little-to-no-preparation also, too, so I hope can I play just as well as I did last year,” Williams said. “There’s been some unlucky summers.” [Photos: See more of U.S. tennis star Venus Williams] Because she’s unseeded, Williams could face some tough tests this week. She might meet 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki, a semifinalist at Wimbledon, in the second round, and 14th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in the third round. So a promising opening performance—even if it came against the 91st-ranked Dolonts, who wasn’t necessarily in position to provide a lot of resistance. “Confidence comes with execution. So, I mean, to come out and win a first-round match, that helps a lot. Being in tight situations helps a lot,” Williams said. “But the good part is that at least I have experience, and that helps with my confidence, that I know how to handle situations and scenarios.” Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:• Nationals Park beer vendor saves choking child• Heisman history isn’t on Andrew Luck’s side• Video: Ray Lewis’ awkward attempt at play-by-play
Payment picks statistics updated
Payment picks statistics updated
Written by Betting-RSS admin on 27 August 2011. The statistics for the payment picks have been updated to include 26.08.2011. For the past weeks things got a little rough. Guess it’s the correction I was talking about. Having over 30% yield is not something ordinary. Now the yield is back to 10%. Hope we maintain it like this or even increase it in this final weekend action. Formula 1 is back and you can expect some bets from there too. It’s the only sport where we have an impressive yield of over 40%. The only problem are the low limits bookmakers impose for this sport. Good luck and have a great weekend.
Jays tag Weaver for 3 HRs, rout Angels (AP)
Jays tag Weaver for 3 HRs, rout Angels (AP)
TORONTO (AP)—Adam Lind(notes) hit a grand slam, Edwin Encarnacion(notes) and Mark Teahen(notes) also went deep and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-2 on Saturday. All three homers came off Angels ace Jered Weaver(notes), who allowed eight runs and eight hits, both season highs, in 4 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the year. The right-hander, who had won eight of his previous nine decisions, saw his AL-leading ERA rise from 1.78 to 2.13. Weaver (14-6) was pitching for the first time since Aug. 5 after serving a six-game suspension for throwing over the head of Detroit’s Alex Avila(notes) in a July 31 loss. The Angels ace originally appealed the suspension, but decided last Saturday to serve his punishment in full. Riding a streak of 15 consecutive quality starts, Weaver was in trouble from the get-go against Toronto, surrendering a two-run shot to Encarnacion in the first, the 10th homer of the season for the Blue Jays infielder. Toronto added one more in the second on back-to-back doubles by Rajai Davis(notes) and John McDonald(notes), then blew it open with a five-run fifth. Yunel Escobar(notes) hit a one-out double before walks to Eric Thames(notes) and Encarnacion loaded the bases for Lind, who drove Weaver’s first pitch over the wall in right for his 20th homer and third career grand slam. One out later, Teahen chased Weaver with a solo drive to right, his fourth. The slumping Lind had collected just eight hits in his previous 58 at-bats before the grand slam. He went deep for the first time since July 26 against Baltimore. The beneficiary of Toronto’s offensive outburst was Ricky Romero(notes), who won his fourth straight start for the second time in his career. The left-hander allowed one run and two hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out three. Romero (11-9), who also won four straight in his 2009 rookie season, has an ERA of 1.15 over his past four outings and has allowed just 11 hits in 31 1-3 innings in that span. The lone Angels run against Romero came on a leadoff homer by Alberto Callaspo(notes) in the fifth. The Blue Jays piled on with three more in the sixth against reliever Joel Pineiro(notes). McDonald singled and went to third when shortstop Andrew Romine(notes) made a throwing error on a potential double-play grounder. Thames walked to load the bases for Encarnacion, who drove in a run with a sharp infield single to third. Lind followed with a sacrifice fly and J.P. Arencibia(notes) capped it with an RBI single to center. Trever Miller(notes) worked a scoreless eighth and Luis Perez(notes) gave up a sacrifice fly to Mark Trumbo(notes) in the ninth. NOTES: Toronto OF Jose Bautista(notes), OF Colby Rasmus(notes) and 2B Aaron Hill(notes) were all held out of the starting lineup. … OF Bobby Abreu(notes) and SS Erick Aybar(notes) did not start for the Angels. … Blue Jays LHP Brett Cecil(notes) (4-5) faces Angels RHP Dan Haren(notes) (12-6) in Sunday’s series finale.
