Federer outguns Karlovic to reach hometown final

Tennis Betting Lines

10/27/2007 - Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Roger Federer outslugged Croatia's Ivo Karlovic to advance to the final of his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors.

The top-seeded Federer earned a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5) victory Saturday in the semifinals and will next meet Finland's Jarkko Nieminen, who earlier had posted a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 triumph over Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Federer was unable to break the serve of the 6-foot-10 Karlovic, but was able to prevail in a pair of tiebreakers to reach the final of this event for the second straight year. He beat Fernando Gonzalez to capture last year's crown.

Karlovic, who banged out 16 aces to Federer's 10, failed to convert a set point in the opener and Federer stormed to a 5-2 lead in the first tiebreak. Karlovic won the next two points and soon after staved off a set point for Federer.

Federer gained another set point shortly after and converted with a serve and volley.

The second set stayed on serve, although Federer had a pair of match points that he was unable to convert while Karlovic was serving at 4-5. Again Federer jumped out to an early lead in the tiebreak at 4-1 and was able to finish it off.

Federer is now just one victory away from securing the year-end No. 1 ranking for a fourth straight year. He will be a heavy favorite with the crowd behind him against an opponent that has never beaten him.

Nieminen is 0-7 lifetime against Federer and has never taken a set from the Swiss superstar. The two haven't met since a semifinal encounter two years ago in Bangkok -- a 6-3, 6-4 Federer victory.

Federer, a runner-up in this event in 2000 and 2001, will be gunning for his 52nd career ATP singles title and seventh of 2007. He lost to David Nalbandian in the final last week at the Madrid Masters.

Nieminen has just one career title, winning last year in Auckland, and Sunday will mark his first final of 2007. His best previous finishes this year were semifinal losses in Halle and Marseille. The loss in Marseille came at the hands of Baghdatis.

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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.