[jjgold]

Sold out also 20,000

My line would be Federer -110, it is that close. They played I believe 3 times last year, Sampras won one and Fed one two close others. Anyone have a line on this? I love Sampras here.

[Tchocky]

Roger is a huge favorite at -376. All the money has been coming in on Pete. You have to be a real degenerate to bet on exhibition games. Pete is currently +346. The Tennis Channel will be broadcasting this match live at 7:35 EST. Roger is recovering from mononucleosis. The crowd should be behind Pete.

[jjgold]

where did you see that line?

[rjt721]

where did you see that line?

Fed -376 at Pinny.

[diamond]

Strange that Fed is competing here, after he recently suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome..not sure he actually still has it, he got it just after Australian Open, and he definetely not had time to recover..could take from 6 months to 2 years.

[diamond]

Roger is a huge favorite at -376. All the money has been coming in on Pete. You have to be a real degenerate to bet on exhibition games. Pete is currently +346. The Tennis Channel will be broadcasting this match live at 7:35 EST. Roger is recovering from mononucleosis. The crowd should be behind Pete.

Sorry Tchocky, did not see you mentioning it. Thanks for an update on the English word of this illness

[Tchocky]

where did you see that line?

Pinny. Here is the link:

http://www.pinnaclesports.com/League...n/3/Lines.aspx

These exhibition matches are usually fixed. I think Roger will win in 3 sets.

[Sportsgirl]

Agent: Federer sick with mononucleosis during Australian Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Federer couldn't figure out why he felt so sluggish at the start of this season. His doctors eventually gave him an explanation: The world's No. 1 tennis player had mononucleosis.
"Roger found out he had mono, and didn't know it. He found out a couple of weeks ago. That's probably what was wrong with him," Federer's agent, Tony Godsick, said Friday. "He doesn't want to make any excuses and take anything away from anybody. In hindsight, had (his doctors) known he had mono, they wouldn't have let him play."
Federer lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals in January, then didn't play again until this week, when he was upset by Andy Murray in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer had not lost in the first round of a tournament since 2004.
He was diagnosed with mononucleosis last month after seeing doctors in Switzerland and Dubai, Godsick said. Mononucleosis is an infection caused by a virus. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headaches and feeling tired.
"This gave him a reason for why he wasn't able to move and why he wasn't able to recover," Godsick said. "It was annoying for him to not have reasons for why his body wasn't responding."
Federer was cleared to start practicing five days before the start of the Dubai tournament.
Godsick said Federer is "over it now," and will play Monday night against Pete Sampras in their exhibition match at Madison Square Garden.
"It's good to get an extra match under his belt," Godsick said. "He's looking forward to the Garden, 19,000 people, playing his idol. He's been somewhat down because he didn't know what was wrong with him."
Federer owns 12 Grand Slam singles titles, two away from Sampras' career record.
"I was feeling so great in December up until the moment I got sick, so this has been my problem the last couple weeks: really getting back on track," Federer told The New York Times for a story posted on its Web site Friday. "I haven't practiced and couldn't really work out the way I wanted to, because you have to be very careful with mono."

[hoopster42]

if federer cares, he will blow out sampras, the question is does he care?

[Shark79]

Sampras will win

[hoopster42]

Sampras will win

u must have some inside info that federer doesnt care about the match, lol, because if he does, sampras has no shot

[BuddyBear]

That's a lot of chalk on Federer but it is well worth it IMO. If R.F. was -110 against a 36 year old retired tennis player who has not been active in years, then it is time to go to the bank and get a loan.

If R.F. wants to he could destroy Sampras something like 6-1, 6-2. Sure, that might not be the case if we got a 28 year old Sampras who was the best player at the time but we have basically tonight a marketing gimmick.

You have tennis which is a dying sport with an apathetic fan base trying to add a little excitement and expand the U.S. market. Outside of hardcore tennis fans, very few people actually know who Roger Federer is and he's been the #1 player for the past 3+ years!

Put it this way, if R.F. (the world #1 and greatest player the past 5 years) somehow loses to a retired player (albeit maybe the greatest ever) tennis is either dead (b/c of the poor quality of athletes if their #1 loses an exhibition match) or should initiate a probe for match fixing. I'd put Sampras's chances at < 10 % tonight to win but to be fair he should have the crowd solidly behind him and yes Federer has been ill but he's played 2 tennis matches the 50 days so he shouldn't be too fatigued.

Put $50 on Federer and you'll win back enough to take you and a girl out to lunch tomorrow.

[jjgold]

I took Sampras small

[Shark79]

u must have some inside info that federer doesnt care about the match, lol, because if he does, sampras has no shot

[BuddyBear]

well Sampras is being steamed big time.

For a guy who hasn't played professionally in years and now is playing against the world #1, this is literally amazing to see this level of backing that Sampras is getting. Perhaps Federer has been instructed by the ATP to throw this match.

[hoopster42]

That's a lot of chalk on Federer but it is well worth it IMO. If R.F. was -110 against a 36 year old retired tennis player who has not been active in years, then it is time to go to the bank and get a loan

aampras has been active actually, playing on the older guys circuit

If R.F. wants to he could destroy Sampras something like 6-1, 6-2. Sure, that might not be the case if we got a 28 year old Sampras who was the best player at the time but we have basically tonight a marketing gimmick.

sampras in his prime would have given roger great matches, probably won 4 out of 10 vs roger consistently.

You have tennis which is a dying sport with an apathetic fan base trying to add a little excitement and expand the U.S. market. Outside of hardcore tennis fans, very few people actually know who Roger Federer is and he's been the #1 player for the past 3+ years!

i can name 10 friends of mine who are not diehard tennis fans but theyve all known about roger for at least a year now

Put it this way, if R.F. (the world #1 and greatest player the past 5 years) somehow loses to a retired player (albeit maybe the greatest ever) tennis is either dead (b/c of the poor quality of athletes if their #1 loses an exhibition match) or should initiate a probe for match fixing. I'd put Sampras's chances at < 10 % tonight to win but to be fair he should have the crowd solidly behind him and yes Federer has been ill but he's played 2 tennis matches the 50 days so he shouldn't be too fatigued.

federer lost to sampras last year in one of these exhibitions

Put $50 on Federer and you'll win back enough to take you and a girl out to lunch tomorrow.

[hoopster42]

shark, why do i think ur full of shit?

[BuddyBear]

Well your points are well taken, however:

1) Playing on the older guy circuit and playing on the ATP are two different things. It's like professors who have the title "emeritus"...sure they are technically professors but their responsibilities and expectations are far different.

2) Just b/c you have 10 friends who know of Federer doesn't mean tennis is wildly popular. In fact, your surveying members of your social network is a relatively poor way in which to generalize onto a broader target audience. Federer is very popular abroad, but his appeal in the U.S. is very low. One of the main reasons for this exhibition tonight is to "introduce" Federer to a larger audience. Tennis, as a whole, is slumping in terms of ratings, interest, and is now mired in a gambling scandal that could really hurt it.

It also does not help that Roger Federer has the personality of an ironing board.

3) Sure, he lost to Sampras but still he remains the #1 player and should be in better form than Sampras although admittedly Roger might be rusty having played only 2 matches the past 6 weeks. Money is coming on Sampras like crazy. R.F. down to -250 @ pinnacle.


Good luck Hoopster...

[Shark79]

shark, why do i think ur full of shit?

[hoopster42]

Well your points are well taken, however:

1) Playing on the older guy circuit and playing on the ATP are two different things. It's like professors who have the title "emeritus"...sure they are technically professors but their responsibilities and expectations are far different.

you were making it seem like sampras has been in a rocking chair for the past 6 yrs of his retirement, which is untrue. my sources in l.a. tell me that he is seen often playing at ucla.

2) Just b/c you have 10 friends who know of Federer doesn't mean tennis is wildly popular. In fact, your surveying members of your social network is a relatively poor way in which to generalize onto a broader target audience. Federer is very popular abroad, but his appeal in the U.S. is very low. One of the main reasons for this exhibition tonight is to "introduce" Federer to a larger audience. Tennis, as a whole, is slumping in terms of ratings, interest, and is now mired in a gambling scandal that could really hurt it.

my friends are all americans, and none of them follow tennis closely, yet they have all been aware of the dominant roger federer, and been so for about a year. i did not tell them, rather i waited for them to find out how incredible he is. they are aware.

women's tennis might be slumping, but as far as men's tennis is concerned, you could not be further from the truth. nadal's dominance of federer at the french and close matches at wimbledon, have re-energized men's tennis, go ahead and check the tv ratings for 2007. the us open last aug/sept had the highest tv ratings of a us open in years.

It also does not help that Roger Federer has the personality of an ironing board.

they said the same thing about pete. federer has a similar personality to tiger woods, what do people want, federer and tiger jumping up and down like monkeys? will that create interest? perhaps being disrespectful to the game like johnnie mac was? how about leading by example? federer is a god on the tennis court

3) Sure, he lost to Sampras but still he remains the #1 player and should be in better form than Sampras although admittedly Roger might be rusty having played only 2 matches the past 6 weeks. Money is coming on Sampras like crazy. R.F. down to -250 @ pinnacle.

if federer cares, he will dominate pete, but pete still has a pretty good serve after being arguably the greatest server of all time, so he can make things happen as he practices regularly and is only 36. connors competed at flushing meadow at age 40+


Good luck Hoopster...

Good luck to you, too. nothing personal, you just made some untrue statements.

interest is down in boxing and hockey. interest is UP in men's tennis, the tv ratings last yr alone prove it. wimbledon and us open got enormously high ratings when compared to recent yrs tennis tournaments

[BuddyBear]

[B]

Good luck to you, too. nothing personal, you just made some untrue statements.

interest is down in boxing and hockey. interest is UP in men's tennis, the tv ratings last yr alone prove it. wimbledon and us open got enormously high ratings when compared to recent yrs tennis tournaments

Well, sure boxing and hockey are down and horse racing too if you want to add that...but that is largely irrelvant to this topic. Of course the grand slams are big attractions for tennis....outside of those 4 events, there is very little if any interest in tennis in the United States. That is well known.....

[hoopster42]

Well, sure boxing and hockey are down and horse racing too if you want to add that...but that is largely irrelvant to this topic. Of course the grand slams are big attractions for tennis....outside of those 4 events, there is very little if any interest in tennis in the United States. That is well known.....

non grand slam events have never really mattered in tennis, not anywhere in the world. tennis fans, casual or hardcore, have always cared the most about the grand slam events.

[BuddyBear]

It's official, the Russian Mafia has gotten to Federer too.

WTF, i go shower and he is up 2-0 in the 3rd set and come back he's down 5-2, losing 18 of the last 22 points????

After the 1st set, you knew Sampras was going to take the 2nd set...Federer was ****ing around the whole time in the 2nd set and trying to give the fans "their money's worth" but then he can't get serious in the 3rd set?

If there was any doubt tennis was fixed this is the proof. This entire match was coreographed from the beginning.

[jjgold]

Who won?

[myr10]

its tied 5-5 in the 3rd set

[BuddyBear]

Federer has come back...it's now 5-5 with Sampras serving up 30-15

[BuddyBear]

40-15 Sampras

[BuddyBear]

Anyone who is watching this has to arrive at the conclusion that it is fixed.....no other way to put it.

[BuddyBear]

The idea here is to have a close match to A) give the fans a good show and B) set up a rematch that will sell tickets for next time.

[myr10]

ya cant get any closer... tiebreaker in the 3rd set

[BuddyBear]

6-6, going to a tie breaker. This is going to be good.....

[BuddyBear]

2-1 Federer (up to 7)

[BuddyBear]

3-2 Sampras (Federer now serving)