Delpo eyeing return?

Tennis Betting Lines

08/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Earlier this week, 2009 U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro was spotted back on a tennis court with a racquet in his hand.

That's very good news for the sport, especially if you're interested in seeing someone other than Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer nail down a major tournament.

The 21-year-old "Delpo" has missed just about all of this 2010 campaign because of a lingering right wrist injury that required surgery in May. The 6-foot-6 Argentine star hasn't played an ATP match since losing to Croatia's Marin Cilic in the fourth round at the Aussie Open more than six months ago.

The big-hitting del Potro was riding a 10-match Grand Slam winning streak before falling at the hands of Cilic back in January.

Delpo stunned the tennis world last September when he came from behind to beat the then-reigning five-time champion Federer in the men's final at the U.S. Open. And his semifinal victim there was Nadal, as he became the first- ever player to slay both Roger and Rafa in the same major.

Wow!

The Tandil native has been a top-10 stud since 2008, as he possesses one of the biggest games on the planet. Del Potro flat-out mashes all of his strokes -- forehand, backhand, serve, whatever. He was a three-time winner and five- time finalist on the tour last year, which, in addition to his U.S. Open victory, included a run into the final at the prestigious year-ending ATP World Tour Finals, where, unfortunately, he lost to determined Russian star Nikolay Davydenko, who has also missed time with a wrist injury this season.

Coincidence?

Of course it is.

Did You Know?: Del Potro tallied the second-longest winning streak in 2008, and the second longest by a teenager in the Open Era (behind only Nadal), when he rattled off 23 straight match wins over a five-tournament span.

Delpo, who has reached at least the quarterfinals in four of his last six Grand Slam events, is currently ranked seventh in the world (due to the inactivity) after entering '10 as the No. 5 dude on the planet. He was ranked as high as No. 4 in January.

And JMdP's the only player not named Nadal or Federer to capture a Grand Slam title since the spring of 2008. (Time to pick-up the pace, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray).

Since Djokovic captured the '08 Oz Open, Nadal and/or Federer have accounted for nine of the last 10 major titles. And the Nadal-Federer domination dates back much further than 2008...that's for sure.

When Delpo stunned the Fed at last year's Open (the U.S. one), he halted the supreme Swiss' unrivaled 41-match Open Era winning streak in the Big Apple, where Roger is a tremendous 51-5 overall. (Delpo's 13-3 at the Open?)

Last month, the USTA said that del Potro was "expected to return to Grand Slam competition" this month, August.

But Delpo's trainer wasn't so sure at the time.

"Nothing is sure," Diego Rivas said, less than two weeks ago. "The goal is to return in Bangkok."

The Bangkok event, which believes that JMdp will make his return to the tour there in Thailand, starts in the last week of September, about two weeks after the Open concludes.

Will del Potro be ready in time to defend his title in New York?

Who knows ... not even Delpo at this point.

Cbssportskine Tennis Betting News

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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.