Ivanovic blasts Sharapova to reach French final

Tennis Betting Lines

06/07/2007 - Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ana Ivanovic steamrolled Maria Sharapova with a straight-set victory in the semifinals of the French Open.

The seventh-seeded Ivanovic needed just 65 minutes in a 6-2, 6-1 rout to reach a Grand Slam final for the first time in her young career. The 19-year-old Serb had advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros two years ago for her best previous finish in a major.

Now she has a chance to win her first Grand Slam crown and will play either fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic or three-time French Open champ Justine Henin of Belgium in Saturday's final.

Sharapova was trying to reach her third straight Grand Slam final. She had captured the U.S. Open crown last summer with a victory over Henin in the final and was dispatched by American Serena Williams in the title match at the Australian Open earlier this year.

The second-seeded Russian, however, was no match for Ivanovic on the red clay Thursday.

Ivanovic simply dominated from the start. She won the first three games, including a break of Sharapova's serve with blistering forehand winner. A double-fault by Sharapova gave Ivanovic a second break and a 5-1 advantage.

However, Sharapova got that break back in the next game before another double- fault gave Ivanovic the first set in 32 minutes.

The second set was more of the same, as Ivanovic held at love to start it and again broke Sharapova's first service game of the set to take control. It was 5-0 Ivanovic before Sharapova finally held again, but Ivanovic ended the set the way she started it, holding at love to complete the annihilation.

The Serbian star fired five aces and broke Sharapova's serve five times, while the helpless Russian piled up 30 unforced errors in only 15 games of tennis on Day 12 of the fortnight.

Ivanovic has now won her last 12 matches. She captured the German Open in Berlin before embarking on her sensational run here at Roland Garros.

The surging Ivanovic will appear in her fifth career final, seeking a fourth title (3-1). The Belgrade native is 1-1 in her 2007 finales, with that victory coming in Germany.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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