Simon, Kiefer into semis; Blake exits at Rogers Cup

Tennis Betting Lines

07/25/2008 - Toronto, ON (Tennis Betting) - Frenchman Gilles Simon continued his impressive play, while seventh-seeded American James Blake lost in Friday afternoon's quarter-final action at the $2,615,000 Rogers Masters in Toronto.

Unseeded Nicolas Kiefer easily downed Blake 6-1, 6-2. Prior to the match, Blake held a 3-0 lifetime record against Kiefer.

The German Kiefer will be appearing in his second semifinal of the year. He lost in the semis earlier this season to Roger Federer at the Gerry Weber Open. The 31-year-old Kiefer is the oldest player left in the draw.

Meanwhile, Blake's unimpressive season continues. Although Blake has a 36-17 record this season, he has yet to win a title this year. His last title came last year in New Haven.

In a battle of unseeded players, Simon fought back to defeat Marin Cilic of Croatia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Simon improved to 3-0 lifetime against Cilic.

The 23-year-old Simon shocked the crowd here on Wednesday, when he stunned world No. 1 Federer in second-round action. Federer was playing in his first match since losing to Rafael Nadal in this year's epic Wimbledon final.

The world No. 22 Simon has now won 11 consecutive matches, including a title in Indianapolis last week. His last loss came against fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round at Wimbledon. Simon improved his season record to 30-16, including a 19-8 record on the hard courts.

Simon and Kiefer will meet in Saturday's semis. The two players have never met before.

It will be a star-stuttered night of tennis this evening, with world No. 2 Nadal and world No. 3 Novak Djokovic highlighting tonight's two remaining quarter-final matches.

The defending champion Djokovic will start the night off with his match against eighth-seeded Andy Murray. Nadal and Gasquet will follow that match. The action is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. (et).

In the next few weeks, Federer may find himself in an unusual position. Federer's grasp on the top ranking took a major hit with his departure against Simon in the second round. Should Nadal now go on and win the Rogers Cup this week, Nadal would have a chance next week in Cincinnati to dethrone Federer, who has held the world No. 1 for 234 consecutive weeks (since February 2004). Nadal is 770 points behind Federer this week but could cut that lead to a mere 275 points should he win the Rogers Cup, which he did in Montreal in 2005.

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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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