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THE RULES
1. Pick quarterfinalists, semifinalists, finalists, and champions for both ATP and WTA draws. You will receive 7.5 points for each correct quarterfinalist, 5 points for each correct semifinalist and finalist, and 20 points for each correct champion.
2. SUBSTITUTE PICK: Pick a player from each draw to replace one of your quarterfinalists. If this player makes the quarters, they will take the place of whomever you picked in that section of the draw
3. BIGGEST LOSER: pick the highest seed that will lose in the earliest round from each draw. The player must be a top-16 seed. You get 5 points if your seed is the highest to lose and 2 points if your seed falls in the same round as the highest seed to lose.
EXTRAS
***Unseeded quarterfinalists are worth an extra half point for every seed they take out en route.
***WTF bonus: if you have a pick that makes it to the quarterfinals that no one else made (not even as a substitute pick), you'll gain an extra 5 points for it. WTFs only valid if we have more than 2 entries.
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It's that time again!
Men
QF
Djokovic v. Nishikori
Wawrinka v. Dimitrov
Pospisil (Nadal) v. Murray
Berdych v. Federer
SF
Djokovic v. Wawrinka
Murray v. Federer
F
Wawrinka v. Federer
Champ
Federer
BL: Nadal
Women
QF
Serena (Venus) v. Azarenka
Sharapova v. Safarova
Kerber v. Lisicki
Keys v. Kvitova
SF
Serena v. Sharapova
Lisicki v. Kvitova
F
Serena v. Kvitova
Champ
Kvitova
BL: Bouchard
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I have no idea what will happen with the women even thought the overwhelming consensus is a Serena-Kvitova final. Both are vulnerable to nerves and the occassional lousy match at Wimbledon.
I actually think Murray will beat Djokovic if they play in the final, but I'm less confident of him getting there than Djoker.
ATP
Quarterfinals
Djokovic over Cilic
Raonic over Wawrinka
Murray over Troicki
Federer over Mahut (Berdych)
Semifinals
Djokovic over Raonic
Murray over Federer
Final
Djokovic over Murray 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5, 11-9
Biggest loser: Nishikori
WTA
Quarterfinals
Bencic over Serena
Stephens (Safarova) over Gavrilova
Lisicki over Kerber
Kvitova over Keys
Semifinals
Bencic over Stephens
Kvitova over Lisicki
Final
Kvitova over Bencic 6-2, 7-6
Biggest loser: Sharapova
Last edited by funches (6/28/2015 2:06 pm)
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Ferrer withdrew with a wrist injury, so you should change your pick.
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Halep is our biggest loser on the women's side, but I'm going to get a couple of points for my (easy) pick of Bouchard.
Any thoughts about Jack Sock losing to Sam Groth? I know that this is probably the surface where Sam Groth could win, but I can't help but think this is maybe an indication that Sock isn't the future of American tennis like he's been portrayed.
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I'd say grass is Sock's worst surface. He has the most extreme western forehand grip on tour, which is not conducive to grass. He needs time to set up to hit his massive forehand.
He's also immature, and grass brings out the worst in immature players. He started grumbling to his box today about how Groth had no game and could not hit two groundstrokes in a row, almost as if he was embarrassed to be struggling agaiinst the guy. But Groth excels on grass as a rare serve and volleyer (sometimes) with a monster serve.
I don't much stock into that loss. Let's see how he does on the hard courts this summer. The sure footing on cement and tbe pure, higher bounce makes his forehand much better.
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I actually thought Bouchard would win today. Her win at the previous tournament was against a much better player than she faced today. But that's why I've never picked a biggest loser right in 11 years.
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Well, Nishikori withdrew, so you are likely to win the men's biggest loser unless something crazy happens.
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I didn't even realize no top 16 seed had lost in the first rd for the men.
I was pretty sure he would lose to Bolelli because I knew about his injury and last year, when Nishikori was my pick in the TAT survivor pool, he was incredibly lucky to beat Bolelli in 5 sets during the third round. Bolelli was the better player that day but tensed up at tight monents, forcing the end of the 5th set to be delayed from Saturday to Monday.
This time, Nishikori played very well and Bolelli did not play as well. He was fortunate to get it to a fifth set, and when Nishikori came up lame early in the fifth set, Bolelli still managed to dump serve and never force a break point. I guess that's why he has one of the worst records in the history of tennis against top 10 players.
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You may be getting the full points for the Biggest Loser, but Nadal fell to Brown, which is what I was thinking was going to happen. I did hedge my bets by keeping him as a substitute, though.
For my Pospisil pick to pay off, he needs to make his way through Ward (should happen) and the winner of Brown/Troicki which is very doable (I'm going to guess Troicki makes it through; I don't think Brown will follow this up).
As for why I thought Brown could beat Nadal, it's because he beat him at Halle a couple of years ago, and that's when Rafa was playing a lot better than he was this year. Plus, it's early in the tournament and the grass is still grass.