Almagro stays hot in Buenos Aires

Tennis Betting Lines

02/21/2012 - Buenos Aires, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off his title in Sao Paulo last week, reigning Buenos Aires champion Nicolas Almagro continued his winning ways Tuesday with a first-round victory at the Copa Claro tennis event.

The second-seeded Almagro fought back to beat Italian Potito Starace 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in 2 hours, 7 minutes on the red clay at Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.

Almagro topped Argentine favorite Juan Ignacio Chela in last year's Buenos Aires finale and bested Italy's Filippo Volandri in last week's title tilt in Sao Paulo.

Up next for the world No. 11 Almagro will be Argentine Federico Delbonis.

Meanwhile, third-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon handled Portuguese Rui Machado 6-3, 7-5, fifth-seeded Argentine favorite Juan Monaco leveled the aforementioned Volandri 6-1, 3-1, retired, and seventh-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco dismissed France's Eric Prodon 6-4, 6-1. Monaco titled here in 2007 and was the runner-up in 2009.

An upset came when Spaniard Albert Ramos upended an eighth-seeded Chela 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Additional Day-2 wins came for the qualifier Delbonis, Russian qualifier Igor Andreev and Frenchman Benoit Paire.

The 2012 Buenos Aires champion will earn $82,900.

Nikkansport Tennis Betting News

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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.