Djokovic wins opener in rainy Rome

Tennis Betting Lines

04/28/2009 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Novak Djokovic was the lone second-round winner Tuesday at the $3.645 million Italian Masters tennis event.

Djokovic of Serbia got past Spaniard Albert Montanes 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 on the red clay at Foro Italico to advance to the third round. The world No. 3 Djokovic defeated Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka in last year's Rome finale.

Fourth-seeded Andy Murray's second-round match versus Juan Monaco and 15th- seeded Marin Cilic's second-round contest against Christophe Rochus were both postponed until Wednesday due to rain/darkness.

In first-round action, thirteenth-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo came from behind to beat big Russian Marat Safin 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Safin was making his last appearance at this event, as he expects to retire from the ATP World Tour at the end of this season.

Twelfth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile handled Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-1. German Philipp Kohlschreiber overcame Italian Simone Bolelli 4-6, 6-1, 6-0, while Italian Andreas Seppi came from behind to beat American Sam Querrey 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Day 2 here. Seppi is rewarded with a second-round match against world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal.

Additional wins came for Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, German Mischa Zverev, Serbian Janko Tipsarevic, Austrian Jurgen Melzer, Russian Mikhail Youzhny, Swede Robin Soderling, American Mardy Fish, Italian Fabio Fognini, and Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.

Six matches were either suspended or postponed because of rain here on Monday, and rain/darkness forced three first-round matches to be either suspended or postponed on Tuesday.

This week's top seeds are Nadal and former world No. 1 Roger Federer. The reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Olympic champion Nadal, who has won three of the last four titles in Rome, is fresh off his fifth straight Barcelona and fifth consecutive Monte-Carlo clay-court championships. Federer is a two-time Rome runner-up, including in 2006 against Nadal.

The 2009 Rome titlist will take home $565,000.

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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.

Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.

MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .

''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''

Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.

He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.

''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''

Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.

Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.

With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.

Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

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