Hantuchova advances, Zvonareva retires in Pattaya City

Tennis Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defending champion Daniela Hantuchova was among the quarterfinal winners Friday at the Pattaya Open, while two-time winner Vera Zvonareva was forced to retire from her match because of a hip injury.

Hantuchova, this year's third seed, battled past Vania King, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, giving the Slovakian a 7-0 career mark against the American. The two also met earlier this year in the second round of the Australian Open tuneup in Brisbane.

Next up for Hantuchova, who lost to Kaia Kanepi in the Brisbane final, will be Taiwanese qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh, a 7-5, 6-3 winner over India's Sania Mirza.

Mirza was the 2009 Pattaya runner-up, losing to Zvonareva in the final. The top-seeded Russian also won this title in 2010. Friday's quarterfinal against Romanian Sorana Cirstea was all even when Zvonareva called it quits.

Cirstea, who reached the quarterfinals earlier this season in Hobart, took the first set on Friday, 6-2, before Zvonareva captured the second, 6-4. It was 2-2 in the third when the two-time Grand Slam runner-up decided she could not continue.

The seventh-seeded Cirstea will next play another Russian in the semifinals, as fourth-seeded Maria Kirilenko earned a spot in the final four with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 victory over Thai crowd favorite Tamarine Tanasugarn. Tanasugarn has been a runner-up at this event twice, first back in 1996 and again last year.

Kirilenko, a third-round loser to Petra Kvitova at the Australian Open, hasn't won a WTA crown since 2008.

The 2012 champion will collect $37,000.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.