Almagro to face Gasquet for Gstaad crown

Tennis Betting Lines

07/31/2010 - Gstaad, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nicolas Almagro of Spain and France's Richard Gasquet were semifinal winners Saturday and will meet for the title at the Swiss Open Gstaad.

The second-seeded Almagro earned a 7-6 (9-7), 3-6, 6-3 victory over fellow Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver, while the seventh-seeded Gasquet advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Kazakhstan's Yuri Schukin.

Almagro needed to save a set point in the first-set tiebreaker before winning it, but Gimeno-Traver saved a pair of break-point chances against his serve in the second set and converted one of his two to even the match. Almagro then opened a quick 3-0 lead in the third and closed out the match in two hours to advance to his second ATP final in the past three events.

The world's 18th-ranked player notched his sixth career title and first of 2010 two weeks ago by stunning crowd favorite Robin Soderling in the final at the Swedish Open.

Almagro is 6-2 all-time in ATP finals, all of which have come on clay.

Gimeno-Traver was denied his first-ever ATP final for the second straight event. He lost to Gael Monfils in the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup two weeks ago.

Gasquet will appear in his third final of the year. He lost to Marcos Baghdatis in Sydney back in January and beat Fernando Verdasco in Nice just before the start of the French Open.

Saturday's match against Schukin, who was playing an ATP semifinal for the first time after Friday's stunning quarterfinal win against top-seeded Mikhail Youzhny, was not too difficult for the 47th-ranked Frenchman.

A break in the eighth game enabled Gasquet to take the first set and he broke again for a 4-3 lead in the second, then finished the match in just 88 minutes.

Gasquet is 6-7 all-time in ATP finals and won this tournament back in 2006.

Almagro won the lone previous meeting with Gasquet, rallying from a set down to capture a second-round match in Acapulco back in February.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.