Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Murray reach Cincy QFs

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08/19/2010 - Mason, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal, two-time runner-up Novak Djokovic and former champion Andy Murray recorded third-round victories, while reigning titlist Roger Federer entered the quarterfinals via walkover Thursday at the $3 million Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, a U.S. Open Series event.

Nadal survived a second-set tiebreak before getting past game Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. Benneteau swatted 12 aces, but also piled up 10 double faults and had his serve broken six times. The Frenchman did manage to break Nadal's formidable serve on five occasions in a losing effort.

The reigning Wimbledon and French Open champion Nadal is seeking his first trip to the final at this Cincy Masters event.

Up next for Nadal will be former Australian Open runner-up Marcos Baghdatis, as the Cypriot toppled seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4. Berdych was last month's Wimbledon runner-up to the amazing Nadal.

A third-seeded Federer had the day off after his scheduled third-round opponent, German Philipp Kohlschreiber, pulled out of the draw, citing a right shoulder injury.

The 16-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Federer has won three of the last five titles in Cincy (2005, 2007, 2009), including a victory over Djokovic in last year's finale.

The second-seeded world No. 3 Djokovic cooled off Argentine star David Nalbandian 6-1, 7-6 (9-7) in 1 hour 37 minutes, while a fourth-seeded Murray came from behind to best talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in just over 2 1/2 hours on the hardcourts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. The oft-injured Nalbandian had won 13 of his previous 14 matches, including a quality title in Washington, D.C. two weeks ago.

Murray, who upset Federer in last week's blockbuster finale at the Canadian Masters event in Toronto and was this year's Australian Open runner-up to the Swiss icon, was the Cincinnati champ two years ago. The Brit's quarterfinal opponent will be surging American Mardy Fish.

Djokovic has played in the last two Cincy finals, losing to Federer here last year and Murray in '08.

The hot Fish handled former top-10 Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-2 on Day 5. The wild card Fish, who has now won 14 of his last 15 matches, including titles in Newport and Atlanta, was the Cincinnati runner-up back in 2003.

The 2010 Cincinnati titlist will claim $443,500.

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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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