At the Net: Raonic on the rise

Tennis Betting Lines

02/20/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you're trying to find young tennis stars from Canada (or anywhere else for that matter), look no further than Milos Raonic.

Okay, Raonic (pronounced Rau-nitch) plays under the Canadian flag on the ATP World Tour, although he was born in Montenegro and resides in Monaco and/or Spain, in addition to Thornhill, Ontario.

FYI: Montenegro was once part of the former Yugoslavia.

Moving on.

The 21-year-old Raonic, who moved to Canada with his parents at the tender age of three, is an all-courter who prefers hardcourts and possesses a wicked and accurate serve which has helped him climb back up to No. 32 in the world. He is Canada's second-highest-ranked ATP singles player since the computer rankings began in 1973. (Greg Rusedski peaked at No. 4 in 1997.)

Raonic just titled in San Jose over the weekend, as he became a repeat champion at the SAP Open by straight-setting Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the finale at HP Pavilion. It marked his third career title, which have all come over the last 12 months.

He was also a runner-up in Memphis last season.

The big-serving Raonic managed just seven aces in the San Jose final on Sunday, but one of 'em checked in at 150 mph in a service game that was clearly too much for the 58th-ranked Istomin. The Canadian slugger won all 10 of his service games and lost just four points, including one in a first-set tiebreak. In 41 service games in San Jose, Raonic was broken only once.

Raonic joined the likes of Andy Murray (2006-07), Andy Roddick (2004-05), Mark Philippoussis (1999-2000) and boyhood idol Pete Sampras (1996-97) as a back- to-back champ in San Jose.

The 6-foot-5 Raonic joked at the trophy presentation on Sunday that he likes San Jose so much he might consider moving there.

"It's amazing. If the real estate wasn't so expensive here, maybe I'd buy a place," he said.

The force that is Raonic may have even more titles to his credit had he not been sidelined last season after requiring surgery for a hip injury he sustained after slipping on the grass at Wimbledon in June.

"It was the toughest time and it was probably the hardest thing I hope I'll have to go through," he said of his surge-slowing injury. "These kind of moments make you forget that. It's in the past.

"I just hope to keep playing good tennis. Hopefully, the things go my way. Hopefully, people will judge me that way (as having) a breakthrough year. Hopefully, on to better and bigger things."

A healthy Raonic now has his eyes set on a run into the land of the big boys.

Raonic reached a career-high No. 25 in the world in May of last year and appeared to be on his way to the top 20, for sure, before the Wimby mishap. At one point last season, he rose from No. 152 in the world to No. 37 in a month.

"I think last year I was a lot more unaware of what was really going on," Raonic said. "This year, I have a lot higher expectations. I know how to prepare, I know how to deal with things and I feel like I'm a much better tennis player than I was last year."

Early 2012 has been good so far to the formidable Canadian, as evidenced by a brilliant 11-1 record and a pair of championships. He also titled at an Australian Open tuneup in Chennai, India last month. Unfortunately for Raonic at the Aussie Open, Aussie hero Lleyton Hewitt upended him in the third round Down Under.

Did You Know?: Raonic is the only two-time winner so far on the ATP this year.

If there has been any area of concern for Raonic thus far, it has been his performance at the Grand Slams, having suffered first- or second-round losses in three of his first five majors. His best showing has come in Melbourne, where he reached the third round this year after making a trip into the fourth round there a year ago.

In my humble opinion, there are four young guys to really keep your eye on, and, in no particular order, they are Aussie Bernard Tomic, American Ryan Harrison, Bulgarian Grigor "Baby Federer" Dimitrov... and Raonic. And I believe two of these guys can actually make it all the way to the top. And those two are Tomic... and Raonic.

If Raonic can keep the wins coming, he'll be able to afford that home in Silicon Valley... and anywhere else for that matter.

Wwwmindspring Tennis Betting News

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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