Djokovic propels Serbia past U.S. in Davis Cup

Tennis Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals.

The Serbs have an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five showdown at Belgrade Arena.

The world No. 2 Djokovic got everything he could handle from the 6-foot-9 Isner in the first reverse singles rubber, as the former Australian Open champion barely snuck out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6-9), 6-4 decision on the Americans' least-favorite surface, red clay.

Djokovic prevailed in 4 hours, 16 minutes against Isner, who made his Davis Cup debut with a singles loss against Viktor Troicki here on Friday.

A dead rubber will closeout this week's festivities on Day 3.

The Serbs will battle Croatia in the quarters in July.

On Saturday here, an American doubles team of Isner and Bob Bryan got the United States on the scoreboard (1-2) with a clutch four-set doubles victory over a Serbian tandem of Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic. Bryan played without his twin brother Mike on Day 2, as the towering Isner was a late substitute after Mike fell ill due to some food poisoning.

The triumphant Serbs are captained by Bogdan Obradovic, while Team USA is led by Patrick McEnroe, who guided the U.S. to a record 32nd Davis Cup title in 2007.

The Americans have now been relegated to World Group playoffs, as they'll have to qualify for the 2011 World Group.

The U.S. played without its top gun this week, Wimbledon runner-up Andy Roddick, who decided against playing in the prestigious international team event this year.

This marks the first-ever Davis Cup meeting between Serbia and the U.S.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.