NEW YORK Staring at his racket, Andre Agassi could see the end coming. So could every other person packed into Arthur Ashe Stadium. Summoning all the strength and spirit that always made him such a riveting champion, Agassi somehow outlasted Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 as Thursday night became Friday at a U.S. Open thriller.

“In most cases, I prefer to live without the drama,” he kidded later. “It just seems like it’s getting better and better.”

The day featured blowouts on the women’s side Maria Sharapova and former Open champions Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Svetlana Kuznetsova all breezed and a notable upset: eighth-seeded Martina Hingis fell to Virginie Razzano. Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo and Serena Williams also advanced, all before Agassi and Baghdatis played an all-timer at Flushing Meadows.

Baghdatis reached across the net and tapped Agassi on the heart as they walked off to a roaring, standing ovation.

“I wanted to just die on the court. I wanted to do anything to win,” Baghdatis said.

He nearly did, too, overcoming a strain and cramps in his thighs that got so bad he could barely run to return shots. Seeded eighth, he summoned the strength to play a memorable match.

But at 36, and boosted by a cortisone injection, Agassi was equal to the task. Stretching and reaching, he put on a performance for the tennis ages in his 21st straight Open count that one for each year of Baghdatis’ life.

“I know I’m going to work hard and try, but you’re not guaranteed that moment,” Agassi said.

That said, he will now play on. Next up is a third-round match against German Benjamin Becker no relation to Boris who is ranked 112th. Beyond that, a possible match against Andy Roddick looms.

At the start, Agassi made it seem this would be easy. He won the first two sets and, after losing the third set, rushed to a 4-0 lead in the fourth set. But two games from closing it out, Agassi saw things beginning to slip away.

“It wasn’t my back getting tight. It was my throat, my breathing,” Agassi said.

hochzeits dj
Baghdatis reached across the net and tapped Agassi on the heart as they walked off to a roaring, standing ovation.

Baseball betting revolves around the money line. Unlike football and basketball, which use spreads, in baseball sports bettors simply need to pick the real game winner of each event. The “spread” is worked in the money that must be laid or taken for each side. For example, let’s say that the New York Yankees are playing the Kansas City Royals. Let’s assume that the Yankees are having a great year and the Royals not so much. You might see a line like this: Yankees -300 Royals +270.

In our example, you would need to wager $3.00 on the Yankees for every one dollar you wanted back—should they win. Unlike football and basketball, the Yankees don’t need to win by a certain amount. They simply need to win the game. Bettors of the Royals in our example would receive $2.70 for every $1.00 they wagered. You see, the closer the two teams are to each other, skill wise, generally the closer the game is on the money line. Let’s look at another example.

This time we will look at a game against two first place teams—Team X and Team Y. All things being equal, the line might be something like Team Y -110 Team X +105. You see, the closer the teams are, the closer the line is to $1.00. It’s important to remember that the job of the spread is not to predict outcomes, but to split public opinion. I bring this up, because there are “gifts” out there. For example, this season there was a game involving the Royals—they were the worst team in baseball at the time.