There were definitely some highs and lows in Wimbledon as the women faced off in their Semifinal round.  Starting things off at centre court was a definite high as Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva battled it out in the best match of the tournament so far.  It also happened to be the longest women’s Semifinal match in open era tennis, coming in at two hours and 49 minutes.

Dementieva hit the ground running, proving that she wasn’t going to go down easily.  Her excellent serve and accurate groundstrokes showed Serena, and the packed stands, that she was a force to be reckoned with.  However, as fine as Dementieva was playing, Serena was upping her game at all the right moments.  She served 20 aces, had 45 winners and 28 unforced errors.  Dementieva had 27 winners, 26 errors and eight double-faults.  In the end, Serena fought off a match point in the tenth game of the final set and went on to take the 7-6, 5-7, 6-8 win.

Next up, a bit of a low for the world no. 1 Dinara Safina as she faced off against grass court wonder woman Venus Williams.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the epic battle that some may have been hoping for.  Venus ousted the Russian no. 1 in just 51 minutes with a 6-1, 6-0 win.  Venus left no question in anyone’s mind as to who was better on the grass courts.  With serves clocking in at 122, 124 mph and only one unforced error, she gave Safina a thorough thrashing.  The older Williams sister barely broke a sweat while ensuring that this year will be another all Williams Final.

The only question left is which one will win it?  This is the fourth time that Venus and Serena will face off in Wimbledon.  And while Venus has been dominating on the grass courts of the All England Club in recent years, Serena actually holds the lead at 2-1 in Wimbledon matches against her sister.  Venus holds the slight edge over her sister at BetUS, but before her highly dominant performance over Safina, many sportsbooks had Serena as the favorite.

These two competitors are very evenly matched and neither has been showing any weakness in their grass court game.  Venus has had some heavy strapping on her leg for the last half of Wimbledon, but she’s not giving up much information as to why.  The problem with her knee, if there is one at all, certainly hasn’t been affecting her game up to this point.  And, while Serena had a tougher Semifinal match, it’s definitely not a reflection on her lack of skills, but rather how good of an opponent Dementieva is.

The smartest bet would be Serena.  In a situation like this, it’s best to go with the underdog at the better price.  But, I’m going to say Venus will take the match to become the first woman since Steffi Graf to win Wimbledon three years in a row.

BetUS is currently offering the following odds:

Venus Williams v Serena Williams
Moneyline
Venus: -150
Serena: +110

The women’s Finals get started on Saturday, July 4, so get to BetUS before then to put down a wager at the abovementioned odds.  You can also check out the latest odds on the men’s Semifinals which start up on July 3.

Just realized the AT&T National event hosted by Tiger Woods starts today. There are plenty of big names out in the field including last month’s US Open winner Lucas Glover.

The four-day event will be contested by plenty of PGA Tour stars, and I’m sure Anthony Kim will be looking to defend his 2008 title. The youngster only joined the Tour in 2007 and this year has already finished pretty well in the Majors: 20th at the Masters and 16th at the US Open. If he can emulate last year’s two-strokes win he should be a major contender for the upcoming British Open Championship.

BetUS has posted every 1st Round and Tournament matchup, so head on over if you want to take on an interesting wager. Sportsbook.com has also posted Futures To Win for every player. Some of the best include:

Anthony Kim: +2000
Lucas Glover: +4000
Jim Furyk: +1500
Vijay Singh: +3000

And of course the host, Tiger Woods, is sitting on a pretty +175.

Well it’s the middle of the Major League Soccer season and, now that the Con- federations Cup is over, most clubs are returning to full strength.

Although Landon Donovan played incredibly well in South Africa last month, his LA Galaxy are lingering at the bottom end of the table for a fourth consecutive season. Becks will be heading back to Los Angeles during the middle of July and it can’t seem to come soon enough for the Galaxy. Beckham had a great loan spell at AC Milan last season and, although I think he’s disappointed not to be staying with the Italian giants, he’s enough of a professional to want his club to succeed.

Newcomers Seattle Sounders have had an incredibly good start to their inaugural season, currently sitting third overall. The buying power of the owners has really proven to be a success with former legend Freddie Ljungberg turning on the class every time he takes to the field.

The New York Red Bulls have had a dire first half to their 2009 campaign, currently occupying last place with only two wins from 18 matches. It seems they are destined to follow in the same footsteps as the Galaxy after they purchased David Beckham. The Red Bulls bought Juan Pablo Angel in the hope that the former Aston Villa scoring machine would provide them with some much needed success; and, although they were finalists in last year’s MLS Cup, they have failed to produce any consistent form over the course of each season.

The results from this weekend’s matchups will be a great indicator of who will qualify for the playoffs come November. DC United are top of the Eastern Conference standings and last night progressed to the quarterfinals of the US Open Cup, along with only two other MLS teams. However, tonight was a much better performance for the Major League with Houston and Seattle both taking relatively comfortable victories. It might be a long shot, but I’m predicting that we’ll see at least two of the four lower-division squads in the semis.

BetUS has posted odds on this weekend’s games:

Friday

Real Salt Lake: -140
Draw: +240
San Jose Earthquakes: +330

Saturday

Columbus Crew: +110
Draw: +215
DC United: +215

Colorado Rapids: +120
Draw: +220
Chicago Fire: +190

FC Dallas: -160
Draw: +235
New York Red Bulls: +375

Kansas City Wizards: +160
Draw: +220
Houston Dynamo: +140

Los Angeles Galaxy: Even
Draw: +220
New England Revolution: +230

Dr’s Note: The Kansas City Wizards are fresh off their third round US Open Cup victory and look to be finding some form. They’re playing at home against the Houston Dynamo who were upset by the Galaxy in their last game, and are on the road for four weeks straight. The Wizards are slight underdogs, but I think that with Houston’s tough away schedule and demanding Cup matches, KC will come through with a tight win.