Nadal, Murray, Roddick advance; Djokovic stunned at Indian Wells

Tennis Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick were among the top seeds to move on, while No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic was sent packing in Wednesday's fourth-round action at the upset-plagued $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open.

After World No. 1 Roger Federer was upset in third-round play on Tuesday, the second-seeded Djokovic was ousted by 20th-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5, 6-3 a day later. The veteran Croat sent the Serbian star packing in 1 hour, 44 minutes with the help of 13 aces and three service breaks.

Other top seeds competing at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden this week avoided a similar fate as third-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal defeated 15th-seeded American John Isner, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; fourth-seeded Scot Andy Murray advanced, 6-2, 1-0 over Nicolas Almagro, who retired with a left ankle injury.

American seventh seed Andy Roddick got by Austria's Jurgen Melzer, the 22nd seed, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Nadal, who beat Murray in last year's Indian Wells finale and titled here in 2007, will meet No. 19 Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals after the Czech cruised past 29th-seeded Serb Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-3.

Murray, this year's Aussie Open runner-up to Federer, will next match up with sixth-seeded Swede and last year's surprise French Open runner-up Robin Soderling, who downed No. 9 Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 6-4.

Meanwhile, the 27th seed Marcos Baghdatis, who took out Federer here on Tuesday, was taken out himself by the 18th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4. Robredo will face off against Roddick in the quarters.

Ljubicic's quarterfinal opponent will be 21st-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco, who overcame Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on the hardcourts here on Day 7.

This week's winner will collect $605,500.

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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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