Gonzalez, Montanes roll in Vina del Mar openers

Tennis Betting Lines

01/31/2012 - Vina del Mar, Chile (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Four-time tournament champion Fernando Gonzalez and fifth-seeded Albert Montanes each posted opening-round victories Tuesday at the $398,250 VTR Open tennis event.

Gonzalez handled Pere Riba of Spain 6-4, 6-4 in his 2012 season debut at Club Naval de Campo Las Salinas. The former top-five star and former Australian Open runner-up missed most of the 2011 season with a knee injury.

The Chilean last won this event in 2009 and was a runner-up here in 2005.

The two-time VTR Open semifinalist Montanes handled qualifier and fellow Spaniard Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-2, 6-4.

Meanwhile, seventh-seeded Argentine Carlos Berlocq moved on with a 7-5, 6-0 decision against Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver.

Federico Del Bonis of Argentina took down two-time Vina del Mar finalist Nicolas Massu 6-0, 6-3.

Other first-round winners were Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, Portuguese Frederico Gil, Argentines Horacio Zeballos and Diego Junqueira and Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Da Silva.

The 2012 Vina del Mar champion will collect $71,900.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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