"She was the favorite before the tournament," Hlavackova said.
Phelps listened to his songs — "Go Getta" is favorite — before his Olympic races.
The men's team from China has been in the position as favorite before at the Olympics.
The San Francisco 49ers were a 15-point favorite before routing the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, in XXIX.
The Green Bay Packers were a 14-point favorite before beating the Patriots by 14 points in Super Bowl XXXI.
Librarians and bloggers who write about books for young people had widely tipped the book, by Rebecca Stead, as a favorite before Monday's announcement.
Morton, meanwhile, had been a Jets favorite before signing a disputed offer sheet with the Washington Redskins, then joining the Patriots.
The sleek gray boat was a clear favorite before the race and led a fleet of 55 yachts out of Sydney Harbor on Thursday.
Ms. Dunaway, a homemaker, used to splurge on the ingredients for homemade lasagna, her husband's favorite, before food prices began to surge this year.
Manuel Villar, 60, a senator who had been considered the favorite before Mr. Aquino's unexpected candidacy, wound down his campaign in Tondo, a poor Manila neighborhood where he grew up.
Duke, the defending national champion, seemed to go down to the wire to earn a top seed but would have been the heavy national title favorite before its star freshman point guard, Kyrie Irving, was injured early in the season.
