Bryans reach eighth Aussie doubles final

Tennis Betting Lines

01/26/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The world No. 1 twin Bryan brothers, Bob and Mike, were come-from-behind semifinal winners Thursday at the Australian Open.

The Bryans saved a match point and overcame a 2-5 deficit in a third-set tiebreak before sneaking past a seventh-seeded team of Swede Robert Lindstedt and Romanian Horia Tecau 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) at Melbourne Park.

"Played kind of our best tennis at the very end," Mike Bryan said. "Bob reflexed an unbelievable shot to get to 5-3. They're a big serving team. It's tough. I thought they played well. I think they're the most improved out on tour."

The 33-year-old Bryans own 11 Grand Slam doubles titles, including the last three Aussie Open crowns. They have won five of the last six Aussie titles and are also the reigning Wimbledon champs.

The Bryans are also an eight-time Grand Slam doubles runner-up.

Up next for the mighty Bryans will be an unseeded duo of Indian Leander Paes and Czech Radek Stepanek, who fought back to upend a second-seeded tandem of Belarusian Max Mirnyi and Canadian Daniel Nestor 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Paes was a runner-up to the Bryans, playing alongside fellow Indian Mahesh Bhupathi, in last year's Aussie doubles finale. The 38-year-old is a six-time Grand Slam doubles champion and three-time Aussie doubles runner-up. Stepanek is a former U.S. Open doubles runner-up (2002).

Saturday's winning team will split $475,000.

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Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

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He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

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With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

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