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Estoril Open saw Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the third seed dished out a 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 second-round defeat of Ivan Navarro at a rain-hit Estadio Nacional. The 22nd-ranked Wawrinka needed one hour to get through the first set against a clay specialist ranked 232 and playing only his second ATP-level match of the season. He is seeded behind Frenchman Richard Gasquet, and Juan Martin Del Potro.

At the Estoril Open, Gasquet powered past Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-1, 6-1 to reach his fifth quarterfinal of the season. In the opening set, the second-seeded Frenchman broke twice and three times in the second to close out a commanding performance on clay in 66 minutes. In the 2007 Estoril final, Gasquet hit 24 winners, lost to Novak Djokovic.

Daniel Munoz de la Nava of Spain knocked out eighth-seeded Flavio Cipolla of Italy 6-4, 6-4 and Sixth-seeded Robin Haase of the Netherlands topped Spain’s Inigo Cervantes 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Italy’s Roberta Vinci moved on to the quarter-finals of the Estoril Open after beating the Portuguese “wild card” Maria Joao Koeher 6-2 6-0. With Vinci seeded 1 and Koeher seeded 227, there was too much difference between the players. Vinci waits for the winner of the Russian Nadia Petrova, seeded 7, and the Australian Jarmila Gajdosova.

Spanish qualifier Daniel Munoz-De La Nava upset Italian eighth seed Flavio Cipolla 6-4, 6-4 and Dutch sixth seed Haase battled past Spaniard Inigo Cervantes 5-7 6-4 6-2. American Bobby Reynolds beat Hungarian Attila Balazs 6-3 6-4 in a first-round match. Heather Watson’s Estoril Open was beaten in straight sets by Petra Cetkovska in Portugal and her campaign came to an end.

Silvia Soler-Espinosa beat third-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in an all-Spanish match and Italy’s Karin Knapp rallied to defeat second-seeded Maria Kirilenko 1-6, 6-1, 7-5. Sixth-seeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia ousted Vania King of the United States 6-4, 6-4, while fourth-seeded Petra Cetkovcka of the Czech Republic downed Britain’s Heather Watson 6-3, 6-1. Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva knocked out 2006 champion Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-1.

WTA Estoril Open Outrights for Men have Juan Martin del Potro-5/6, Richard Gasquet-7/2, Stan Wawrinka-11/2, Albert Ramos-12, Albert Montanes-16.

WTA Estoril Open Outrights for Women have Roberta Vinci-9/4; Kaia Kanepi-5/2; Carla Suarez Navarro-11/4; Galina Voskoboeva-8; Silvia Soler-Espinosa-14.

In the Southeast Division, rivals Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals will battle for the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference at Verizon Center (Thu, Apr 5 7:00 PM ET). This is their sixth and the final meeting of the season. In this season, the Capitals have won three of five. The Capitals have not scored a goal, although the Panthers won in their two previous trips to Washington this season. The best odds from various sportsbook have Panthers 5/4, while Capitals 5/7.

The Panthers get an opportunity to take care of business against the squad that has won the Southeast each of the past four seasons and stays alive for a fifth straight crown, after spending a golden prospect Tuesday to not only secure a playoff berth for the first time in 12 years but succeed in the first division title in franchise history.

If Florida gets the job done, no one is going to complain, but this is hardly the way the Panthers wanted to enter the playoffs. They maintained their lead over the Capitals by picking up extra-time points in five of those defeats, although they have lost four in a row and seven of eight. When Tomas Fleischmann’s goal 25 seconds in the second period gave the Panthers a 3-0 edge, it looked for all the world Tuesday like a party was ready to start at BankAtlantic Center. The home team got new life when Tomas Kopecky scored with 3:53 remaining, after the Jets stormed back with four straight. However, Andrew Ladd’s second of the night 3:12 into overtime sent the Panthers to a 5-4 defeat.

From Washington’s standpoint, this game is much more than simply remaining alive for the division title. It is far from a guarantee they will even make the playoffs if they do not win their final two games, as much as the Capitals would love to claim the No. 3 seed and have home ice in the first round. That is because the teams tied for eighth with 88 points after Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Lightning combined with an overtime win by the Sabres on Tuesday. With more non-shootout wins and control their own destiny, the Caps have the tiebreaker, but that could change if they lose to the Panthers.

For the Panthers, Fleischmann has scored in consecutive games and five goals in his last seven. Alexander Semin has registered 2 goals and 6 assists in his last seven games and he has come to life for the Capitals.

Washington goalie Tomas Vokoun (groin) and defenseman John Erskine (lower body) are out of the lineup. Forwards Jack Skille (shoulder) and Matt Bradley (upper body) are sidelined from the Florida squad.

Tonight, St. Louis Blues and Los Angeles Kings will go head to head in the fourth and final meeting (10:30 PM ET, March 22, 2012) at Staples Center, Los Angeles, California . The Kings have the lead in the series with two wins. St. Louis has won the Round 3 in a 1-0 victory at the Scottrade Center on Feb. 3. The online sports betting sites have St Louis Blues (20/19) and Los Angeles Kings (5/6).

This is another big game for the Kings. In the Western Conference, they have moved back into playoff position with five wins in a row. However, the Kings have quite a distance to cover. They will enter the action tied match on Thursday, which will be crucial for the team. They are behind the ninth-place Phoenix at 84 points. No. 10 San Jose and No. 11 Calgary are both just two points behind. Los Angeles will face the League-leading Blues and then host Boston on Saturday. It certainly does not get any easier.

St. Louis failed to protect three separate leads and ultimately suffered a 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center, although they had every chance to come away with two points Wednesday night. The Blues are with 100 points and sit atop the Western Conference. On their seven-game road trip, they have now lost three of four.

Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo said that blowing three one-goal leads is very uncharacteristic for the team. He added that his team has been good at that all the year. It was couple of mental breakdowns and mental mistakes that cost them the match.

On Tuesday night, Los Angeles had a solid 5-2 victory against the Sharks at the Staples Center, making it five in a row. The Kings also notched a 4-2 win against Nashville last Saturday and Thursday marks the third of a five-game home stand for them.

After helping the club beat San Jose, Anze Kopitar said that the team was definitely showing signs. He added that there is always room for improvement. He said further that his team was aware what was at stake and the win was because of the full-team effort. This is what the tam will be continuing to do down the road.

Blues rookie Jaden Schwartz seems to be the man to deliver some exciting hockey. In his first two NHL games, he scored in each of them and those goals came on his first two shots. Kings center Jeff Carter, in his last six games has 4 goals and 3 assists, while winger Justin Williams has 6 goals and 6 assists in his last 11 contests.

This weekend the Boston Red Sox will host the Chicago Cubs. They do not have a ton of history as they play in different leagues while these teams are two of the older teams in the Major Leagues. We get the chance to see two of the classic franchises in Major League Baseball square off with interleague play.

On Friday the series is scheduled to start. It will end on Sunday night as it will be a three game series.

Closer to the series opener Friday, get MLB Odds for this matchup.

At this point the Red Sox and Cubs are moving in opposite directions. The Red Sox have bounced back and they are now over .500 while they started off the season playing terribly. Despite being in one of the tougher divisions in Major League Baseball, they have won 4 games in a row and they are getting ready to compete for the division.

The Cubs seem to be falling steadily as they are now 5 games below the .500 mark. They are currently on a two game losing streak as they have lost 6 of their last 10 games.

The Cubs don’t have enough pitching to win games and that is the problem for them. In the National League only one team has allowed more runs than the Cubs. This season in just 39 games, they have been outscored by their opponents by 32 runs already.

For Adrian Gonzalez the resurgence of the Red Sox can be partially credited to the coming out party. Even though Gonzalez has been on fire for the last couple of weeks and looks like the player that the Red Sox expected him to be, he started out the season slowly. In baseball picks, the odds for this matchup have not yet published.

In Friday’s second semifinal at Barcelona Open clay-court event, a sixth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci outlived Spanish crowd favorite Laura Pous-Tio 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). The Italian made a comeback and pocketed a critical break to level the match at one set a piece, after losing the first set 6-4. Until the tie-break, the decider exceeded all expectations and saw high quality tennis, where Vinci took control to complete the 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) win in two hours and 35 minutes of play.

With sixteen service and return games per player, Pous-Tio lost the match in eight games. Vinci had won an extraordinary 53 percent of the total points at the end of the tie-breaking set. Overall, in the entire match, she won 115 of 224 points. She saved seven of thirteen break points and scored a total of two aces.

In last year’s all- Italian Barcelona finale, Vinci lost to French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and she was the titlist here in 2009. Seeking a fourth title, the 28-year-old Vinci will appear in her fifth career final.

Czech Lucie Hradecka will be Vinci’s opponent in the 2011 final. Hradecka thrashed Sara Errani, the No.5 seed in straight sets with a 6-1, 7-5 scoreline, thereby ending the hopes of an all-Italian final. The 25-year-old Prague native is 0-3 in her previous career WTA finals.

The internet sportsbooks have seen quite an exciting time. Tennis fans until now had a good run in the tennis betting arena. The best odds for Lucie Hradecka are 4/6 and Roberta Vinci 24/17.

On Thursday the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins are set to renew what is perhaps the NHL’s most heated rivalry when the two teams open up their 2010-2011 Stanley Cup playoff series.

Even though Montreal enters the playoff series as a decided underdog as many experts believe Boston will win the best of seven series, they won the season series four games to two.

Boston is a -210 favorite to win the series in hockey betting lines, whereas the Bruins are a -190 favorite to win Game 1 in sports picks.

As these two teams played a few of the most memorable games of the season including a fight filled contest on February 9th, 2011 that saw Boston win 8-6, the regular season series between these two original six rivals had full of excitement and energy. Zdeno Chara check Montreal forward Max Pacioretty into a stanchion, severely injuring his neck in the process in the rematch of that February 9th contest which was played a month later on March 8th and saw. Chara has been even more hated in the city of Montreal, and the fans are sure to let him know of their displeasure since that moment.

This one between Montreal and Boston figures to be one of the more hard hitting, intense series of all of the first round playoff matchups. Between Montreal’s speed and Boston’s size, the contrasting styles of play should make for some memorable games. By forcing both teams to really earn each victory, the goaltending of Boston’s Tim Thomas and Montreal’s Carey Price should also be excellent. The Bruins should move on to the second round as in the end Boston’s physical play should prove to be too much for the Canadiens in this best of seven series though.

On Friday night at Philips Arena, Vancouver Canucks scored two second-period goals en route to a 3-1 triumph over the Atlanta Thrashers. In the playoff race, the Thrashers now move a step nearer to elimination after the loss to the top team in the NHL.

With eight games remaining, the Thrashers (31-31-12, 74 points) are 11th in the Eastern Conference. They are nine points behind Buffalo for the eighth. On Friday, Buffalo defeated Florida 4-2 and augmented their advantage over other teams behind them. Carolina defeated Tampa Bay, which consequences in the Thrashers falling further behind ninth-placed Carolina.

In the Western Conference standings, the Canucks are miles ahead and the Thrashers are Eastern Conference also-rans. The Eastern Conference leading Flyers have two games in hand and they are nine points back of Vancouver.

In the first period, the Canucks did not really look ready to play, apart from Luongo. Making a series of big-time saves, it was up to him to hold the team in the game and he achieved in doing the same. Mason Raymond, Alex Bolduc and Alex Burrows were the ones who got goals for the Canucks into an empty net. Over Philadelphia, they now lead the Presidents’ Trophy race by nine points.

Nine-game point streak for Daniel Sedin is over, although with 95 points, he still leads the NHL scoring race. Both brother Henrik and Steven Stamkos of Tampa were held off the score sheet because they did not pass to gain ground.

Vancouver Canucks will be facing Columbus Blue Jackets on 27 March 2011 and the betting odds for Canucks are 7/17, while for Blue Jackets 42/41. On the same day, Atlanta Thrashers will play against Ottawa Senators too and the odds are 4/13 and 42/41 respectively.

This weekend, the Toronto Maple Leafs will battle against the Boston Bruins. In the Eastern Conference, the Bruins are currently the 2nd seeded team. To this point in the season they have a 38-20-8 record. By trailing Buffalo by 4 points, the Maple Leafs are just outside of the playoff picture. This season the Maple Leafs have a 29-28-10 record.

At 25-1, Boston is one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup in NHL hockey odds.

By going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, the Bruins have been very good as of late. They have lost two games in a row while they have been good overall. In their last 10 games, the Maple Leafs are 5-1-4.

In this game the Maple Leafs will be the home team. This season they are 15-12-7 while playing at home. While playing on the road than at home this season, interestingly enough, the Bruins are actually a much better team. While playing at home this season, the Bruins are 22-8-4 while playing on the road compared to earning just a 16-12-4 record.

Even though the Maple Leafs have been outplayed by their opponents this season, they have a solid record. Over the course of the season they have been outscored by 30 goals. This year the Bruins have been dominant on offense and on defense for now. This season they have allowed just 156 goals, which is the lowest total in the NHL.

If Toronto hopes to sneak into the playoffs, the season is running short and they will need to beat some of the best teams in the league, such as the Bruins. If the Maple Leafs hope to take out the Bruins, they will need James Reimer to be healthy. Even though Reimer is expected to play in this game, they recently injured his hand in a game.

In the national hunt season, the Racing Post Chase is one of the most significant races. Annually in February, the race is run and the race features the flair of runners, who endeavor at triumph in Cheltenham Gold Cup or Grand National. This Saturday, the Racing Post Chase takes places at Kempton.

The Racing Post Chase is hosted by Kempton Park racecourse over a distance of 3 miles. It is a Grade 3 steeplechase handicap race. 5 year old and older national hunt racehorses can take part in the Racing Post Chase, which are required to clear 18 fences through the course of the competition. On the national-hunt racing calendar, the Racing Post Chase is a comparatively new fixture, which was conceived of and sponsored by the Racing Post daily. In 1988, it had the first run.

Paul Nicholls disclosed that AP McCoy would ride his very promising Fistral Beach in the race. In the ante-post betting market even, the horse is at present the 6/1 betting favorite for the race even though it was the 3/1 horse betting favorite last year.

Following a fresh breathing operation and respectable conquest at Wincanton last month, Ruby Walsh is still recuperating from injury. Two years ago, Tom George’s grey was victorious in the Grade Three handicap and over the same course and distance in the King George VI Chase, it was last seen finishing fourth.

The trainer has a second string to his bow in Mount Oscar, while a fortnight after scoring at Warwick, Colin Tizzard’s Hey Big Spender is turned out under a penalty. Quinz and Bakbenscher are other noteworthy acceptors, while Paul Nicholls-trained Fistral Beach heads the market. The consistent Safari Adventures receives weight from all his contenders and carries just 10st, while Sagalyrique and Polyfast are a duo who could make their presence felt from down near the bottom of the handicap.

Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt is back to his Pittsburgh Steelers connections to hire Ray Horton as defensive coordinator.

For 17 seasons, Horton has coached in the NFL, including seven with the Steelers and the past four as defensive backs coach. Horton replaces Bill Davis, who was fired after two seasons on the job. Horton has played in the NFL for 10 seasons.

When Whisenhunt was hired as Arizona head coach in 2007, he was the Steelers offensive coordinator. He retained Clancy Pendergast as defensive coordinator, with the Cardinals but fired him following the team’s run to the Super Bowl in the 2008 season.

With Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, at Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, Horton worked for 11 years. In the development of 2010 AP Defensive Player of the Year and perennial All-Pro safety, he was also instrumental. As perennial All-Pro safety, Troy Polamalu has been selected to six consecutive Pro Bowls.

The Steelers have ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in total defense each season, since Horton arrived in 2004, including finishing in the top five six times and as the league leader on three different occasions. Horton coached the secondary for the Detroit Lions for two seasons (2002-03) and defensive backs for the Cincinnati Bengals for five seasons (1997-2001), prior to joining the Steelers as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2004. For three seasons beginning in 1994, his first coaching opportunity came with the Washington Redskins as an assistant defensive backs coach.

In the NFL as a defensive back, Horton spent 10 seasons, including six with the Cincinnati Bengals (1983-88). Out of the University of Washington, in the second round of the 1983 NFL Draft, Bengals selected him. With the Dallas Cowboys (1989-92), he also spent four seasons. He appeared in 2 Super Bowls as a player, Super Bowl XXIII with Cincinnati and XXVII with Dallas and in 147 career games (99 starts).