Dementieva cruises in Madrid, advances to second round

Tennis Betting Lines

05/09/2009 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Elena Dementieva of Russia had little trouble disposing of American Bethanie Mattek-Sands in first round action at the inaugural $4.5 million Madrid Open.

The third-seeded Dementieva needed just under 80 minutes in the 6-4, 6-1 victory on the red clay at La Caja Magica.

Two other ranked players in the French Open tune-up came away victorious, while 11th-seeded Marion Bartoli of France was ousted by Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Nadia Petrova, the eighth seed from Russia, was ahead 6-0, 2-1 before Iveta Benesova retired in the second set, and Zheng Jie, the 15th seed from China got the better of Russia's Maria Kirilenko, 6-4, 6-4.

In other first-round action, Anna Chakvetadze defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-4, 6-3, Virginie Razzano advanced past Tamarine Tanasugarn, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, and Alisa Kleybanova upended Silvia Soler Espinosa, 6-3, 6-4.

Mysportsbooj Tennis Betting News

<< Vancsik still on top at Italian Open
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a long weather delay Saturday, Daniel Vancsik closed out a two-under 69 to finish three rounds with a one-stroke lead at the Italian Open. Vancsik completed 54 holes at 11-under-par 202. He wi

<< Gerrard helps Liverpool continue winning ways
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steven Gerrard scored a pair of first-half goals to lead Liverpool to a comfortable 3-0 win over West Ham at Upton Park on Saturday. The win moves Rafael Benitez's team to the top of the league table

<< Berdych and Youzhny to play for Munich title
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Russia's Mikhail Youzhny won semifinal matches Saturday and will play for the title on Sunday at the BMW Open. The fourth-seeded Berdych earned a 6-1, 5-7, 6-2

<< Safina blasts Kuznetsova for Rome title
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dinara Safina got the better of her fellow Russian this week with a straight-set victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final at the Italian Open. The top-seeded Safina rolled to a 6-3, 6-2 win on Saturd

<< Gomez scores four times as Stuttgart topples Wolfsburg
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mario Gomez thrashed Wolfsburg for four goals as he led Stuttgart to a 4-1 win over the Bundesliga leaders at Mercedes Benz Arena on Saturday. Gomez scored twice in the opening 20 minutes, and after

Reyes, Mets handle struggling Pirates >>
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Reyes went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored as the New York Mets pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-1, in the second of a three-game set at Citi Field. Carlos Beltran hit a solo home run and

Davydenko-Blake match suspended, Montanes rolls in Estoril >>
Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time finalist Nikolay Davydenko and fourth-seeded American James Blake had their match suspended due to darkness, but seventh-seeded Spaniard Albert Montanes made short work of Chilean Paul

Suns agree to three-year deal with Gentry >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns removed Alvin Gentry's "interim" tag on Saturday, agreeing to a three-year contract with the former assistant to be the club's head coach. Gentry became Phoenix's interim head coach a

Sampdoria routs 10-man Reggina >>
Genoa, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reggina's survival hopes took a major hit on Saturday as the club suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat to Sampdoria at Comunale Luigi Ferraris. Daniele Dessena scored his first goal of the campaign in the open

Mariners activate Morrow, place Silva on DL >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated hard- throwing closer Brandon Morrow from the 15-day disabled list Saturday and placed righty Carlos Silva on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflamm

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.