Russia, Argentina tied at 1-1 in Davis Cup QF

Tennis Betting Lines

07/09/2010 - Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Friday's opening singles winners in the best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal between visiting Argentina and host Russia were David Nalbandian and Mikhail Youzhny, respectively.

The oft-injured former Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian got the Argentines on the board first by straight-setting world No. 6 Nikolay Davdyenko 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6) on the indoor hardcourt at Moscow's Olympic Stadium. The capable former top-five star Nalbandian prevailed in 2 hours, 47 minutes on Day 1.

The 14th-ranked Youzhny then leveled the tie for Russia with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Leonardo Mayer. The uneventful bout was over in 2 hours, 7 minutes, as Mayer was unable to break Youzhny's serve, while the Russian tallied five breaks in 13 Mayer service games.

Saturday's pivotal doubles rubber will pit a Russian duo of Teimuraz Gabashvili and Igor Kunitysn against an Argentine duo of Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos, while Sunday's reverse singles currently pit Davydenko against Mayer and Youzhny versus Nalbandian.

Team Russia is captained by long-time skipper Shamil Tarpischev, while the Argentines are led by Tito Vazquez, who also has Eduardo Schwank at his disposal this weekend.

Russia is 3-2 all-time versus Argentina, including a home victory in the final here back in 2006. The Russians captured their first Davis Cup title back in 2002.

Snake-bitten Argentina is still seeking its first-ever championship in this storied sporting event. The Argentines are three-time runners-up.

The winner here will face two-time defending champion Spain or France in September's semifinals.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.