Safina, Kuznetsova will clash in all-Russian Rome finale

Tennis Betting Lines

05/08/2009 - Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in seven days, world No. 1 Dinara Safina and fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova will battle in a clay- court final.

On Friday in Rome, Safina came from behind to beat fourth-seeded American Venus Williams and a seventh-seeded Kuznetsova handled sixth-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in semifinal action at the $2 million Internazionali BNL d'Italia tennis event.

The Australian Open and French Open runner-up Safina outdueled the former world No. 1 Williams 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 in an epic affair on the red clay at Foro Italico. The 2006 Rome runner-up Safina picked up her first-ever victory in three tries against Williams.

Safina needed a whopping 3 hours, 9 minutes to outlast Williams.

The reigning Wimbledon champion Williams titled here in 1999 and was the Rome runner-up in 1998.

The other semi saw the 2007 Rome runner-up Kuznetsova douse the 19-year-old Azarenka 6-2, 6-4. The steady Russian is now 4-1 all-time against the Miami champion Azarenka, who upset Kuznetsova in a semifinal in Miami earlier this season.

Safina is 7-5 lifetime against the St. Petersburg native Kuznetsova, who upset the Muscovite in last week's all-Russian title bout in Stuttgart. They've split a pair of matches here in Rome, with Safina claiming a semifinal victory in 2006 and Kuznetsova prevailing in a quarterfinal in 2007.

The 23-year-old Safina is 9-10 in her career finals, including a disappointing 0-3 record this year, while the 23-year-old world No. 8 Kuznetsova is 10-17 in her title tilts, including a 1-0 mark in 2009.

Saturday's winner will collect $350,000.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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