Azarenka pulls out of Dubai

Tennis Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 star Victoria Azarenka decided to pull out of the $2 million Dubai Duty Free Championships, citing a left ankle injury.

The Belarusian Azarenka suffered the injury during a semifinal match in Doha last week.

"Obviously it's very disappointing, but, I mean, it's life. It's sport. I just have to take care of it and that's it," Azarenka said. "I take a couple of days off just to see and hopefully it will settle down for as long that I don't need to take a scan or anything.

"But I just need to have my peace of mind and probably will still do the same just to make sure there is nothing really serious. But it has to be taken care of right away."

The 22-year-old Azarenka is off to a sizzling 17-0 start this year, which includes three titles. She captured her first-ever Grand Slam championship at the Australian Open last month, which propelled her to the top of the rankings, where she supplanted Danish star Caroline Wozniacki.

Azarenka, who was the 2010 runner-up in Dubai, was last week's big winner in Doha.

Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, French Open titlist Li Na and former Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Vera Zvonareva were also forced to pull out of Dubai because of injury or illness.

Lucky-loser Casey Dellacqua replaced Azarenka in the Dubai draw and the Aussie promptly lost to German Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-2 in the second round on Wednesday. Azarenka had received a bye into the second round.

Also on Wednesday, fourth-seeded U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur saved all nine break points she faced and reached the third round with a hard-fought 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 victory over Czech Lucie Safarova on the hardcourts at Dubai Tennis Stadium. The Aussie Stosur lost to Azarenka 6-1, 6-2 in last week's finale at the Qatar Open.

In other action involving seeds in Dubai, No. 5 Pole Agnieszka Radwanska downed Israeli Shahar Peer 7-5, 6-4, No. 8 Serb Jelena Jankovic handled Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-2, and No. 9 German Sabine Lisicki whipped Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-3. The former No. 1 Jankovic was the Dubai runner- up in 2005.

Meanwhile, another former world No. 1 Serb and former French Open champion, Ana Ivanovic, got past Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) on Day 3.

The reigning Dubai titlist and former No. 1 Wozniacki is also on Wednesday's schedule, as the Dane will take on Romanian Simona Halep. Wozniacki topped Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in last year's finale here.

The 2012 Dubai champ will earn $446,778.

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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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