Fine Action Found In The Wee Hours Down Under

          Smooth Dave has always enjoyed individual sports, gathering cockeyed stares at bars on the 4th of July and Labor Day for requesting televised coverage of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon along with the standard fare of MLB day games. "Why do you want to watch that shit?" I've heard more times than I could ever recall over frothy beers in frosty glasses (Smooth Dave takes whiskey breaks on the holidays).

          Well, I'll tell you why, Bubba: The women wear tight shorts and miniskirts while they play, string bikinis and sometimes less when they're posing for calendar shoots in Bora Bora, and play with all the style diversity of the latest run of Ka at The Wynn. The men hit the ball as fast as all hell, scorching the fuzz millimeters over the net with furious repetition, bludgeoning their way to victory with 140+ MPH serves and smartly-angled groundstrokes.

          And other than the French Open, which has all the predictability of being chased by bulls in Pamplona without the ever-present threat of intestinal goring, the majors give us three prime windows a year for gambling:

Take (6) Li Na (+115) over (1) Victoria Azarenka in the Ladies' Championship, most likely in straight sets. Li has taken command of her forehand, punishing Maria Sharapova with an onslaught of winners in the semis. Az struggled to overcome 19 year-old American phenom Sloane Stephens, taking consecutive injury timeouts because she felt herself choking on court. This isn't Smooth Dave speculation: she admitted as much on ESPN after serving to close out the match in straight sets. Such antics won'y fly against this age-defying (HGH-using?) Chinese sensation.

Prior to the tournament I touted (2) Andy Murray at 3/1 to win the men's draw over (1) Novak Djokovic, then at 6/5. Remarkably, neither of their prices has changed all that much as they've made their way into the Championship Match, with Novak now -185 (5/9) and Murray reduced to +155 (essentially 3/2). Bookies set the odds maddeningly low on these guys the entire tourney, and those willing to lay -6600 or -2500 in early rounds were indeed (pitifully) rewarded. I'm glad I waited: Murray had to exhaust himself today in beating Federer in 5 sets, and had Murray not had such a dominant serve when it mattered most, it's likely the aging but dangerous Federer would have advanced to his 24th final. That serve will buy Murray a set, but no more, as Djokovic takes victory in four sets for his 7th Grand Slam title.