France clinches upset of Spain at Davis Cup

Tennis Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Clermont-Ferrand, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - France rode the doubles team of Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra to victory Saturday as it clinched the win over reigning two-time champion Spain in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

Benneteau and Llodra took a 6-1, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5) decision over the Spanish duo of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco in the decisive doubles rubber.

France had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five matchup Friday thanks to singles wins from Gael Monfils and Llodra.

The resounding victory is France's first over Spain since 1923, which was the first meeting between the two nations. Spain, which was without world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, had been 5-1 all-time versus France.

Early in Saturday's match it looked like Benneteau and Llodra would roll to victory, as they easily captured the first two sets. Lopez and Verdasco battled back and sent the following two sets into a tiebreak, but the Frenchmen ultimately prevailed in a little more than three hours.

France advances to September's semifinals and will meet the Argentina-Russia victor.

Sunday's reverse singles currently pit Monfils against Verdasco and Llodra versus David Ferrer.

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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.