Offline
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. (Rafa's rule is in effect; picking Nadal as champ will only get you 10 points if he wins).
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.
BONUS PICKS
1. GO, REESHARD: Which round will Richard Gasquet make before she loses? Pick the correct choice and you will get 2 bonus points.
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. If there are only two contestants, then the WTF bonus is not in effect.
Offline
Men
Quarterfinals
Nadal v. Dimitrov (sub Ferrer)
Wawrinka v. Murray
Robredo v. Federer
Nishikori v. Djokovic
Semifinals
Nadal v. Wawrinka
Federer v. Djokovic
Final
Nadal v. Djokovic
Champion
Djokovic
Biggest Loser: Berdych
Reeshard: 3rd round
Women
Quarterfinals
Serena v. Sharapova
Radwanska v. Bouchard (sub: Kerber)
Ivanovic v. Halep
Janokvic v. Li
Semifinals
Serena v. Bouchard
Ivanovic v. Li
Final
Serena v. Li
Champion
Li
Biggest Loser: Errani
Offline
ATP
Quarterfinals
Nadal over Ferrer
Wawrinka over Murray
Federer (Gulbis) over Robredo
Djokovic over Nishikori
Semifinals
Nadal over Wawrinka
Djokovic over Federer
Final
Djokovic over Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
Biggest loser: Tsonga
Reeshard: 4th round
WTA
Quarterfinals
Serena over Sharapova
Suarez Navarro (Radwanska) over Bouchard
Halep over Ivanovic
Li over Jankovic
Semifinals
Serena over Suarez Navarro
Halep over Li
Final
Serena over Halep 6-4, 6-4
Biggest loser: Cibulkova
Offline
Winning the Australian Open did not help Wawrinka or Li at Roland Garros, that's for sure.
As inconsistent as Li is, I'm still shocked she lost 6-1 in the third to Mladenovic. But at least I didn't have her winning the tournament.
Wawrinka's loss is much less surprising even though I had him reaching the semifinals. He follows in a long line of first-time grand slam winners who have no idea how to handle their newfound prestige and pressure of living up to that title. Even the good ones usually take a walkabout in slams for a while before figuring out what to do. The bad ones never figure it out.
Last edited by funches (5/27/2014 3:19 pm)
Offline
Thanks to Serena flaming out 6-2, 6-2 in the second round, neither of us has a winner for the women. A Serena loss on clay in the early rounds isn't too surprising (if Serena is going to lose in a slam, it's about that time), but that scoreline is. Damn it, I knew I should have picked Sharapova.
I thought Wawrinka managed reasonably well with winning Monte Carlo, but I guess it was too much for him to follow up on it.
Offline
Dang, I thought I picked Halep.
I have Halep winning in the Tennis Channel's pick-every-match bracket, but I guess I didn't want to lose here and didn't really believe she could beat Serena. I didn't check your picks until after I'd made mine.
In my mind, there are four women left with a chance of winning the tournament--Sharapova, Stosur, Halep and Ivanovic.
Sharapova has the best shot, but I still think it's less than 50 percent. She tends to tense up when the coast is clear, and I still think a power player on a hot day is too good for her.
Stosur could lose at any time to anyone, but the level she showed in reaching the final a few years back was better than anyone not named Serena has showed since then.
Ivanovic has been very consistent this year and can hit anyone, including Sharapova, off the court when she's hot.
Halep doesn't have the pedigree, but in watching her play during the clay season, I was struck for the first time by how talented she is. To me, she's the best combination of power, speed and toughness on clay other than Serena. Look at her scores this year and notice how often she lost the first set, then blitzed her opponent in the next two. And she handed Ivanovic a 6-2, 6-2 beatdown recently.
Sharapova will definitely beat everyone whose name is not on this list. The other three are more mercurial, ranging from least (Ivanovic, the current version) to most (Stosur). Should be interesting.
Offline
Kuznetsova's into the quarterfinals. I forgot that it's been 5 years since she last won a slam, so that means she'll win one this year. If she gets past Halep, then I think she could take the title; she's got the classical claycourt game that can give Sharapova problems.
Offline
Although Kuznetsova beat Halep in two tight sets on clay earlier this season, I can't imagine her beating Halep here. Halep moves better and has more game. She'll have to choke to lose it.
Offline
Murgurza lost to Sharapova. I guess I'm not all that surprised by that, but the 6-1 final set does surprise me.
Bouchard made it to back to back slam semis, so I suppose we can put her in the "real deal" category, as opposed to players that have an odd one-off slam result (Wickmayer, I am looking at you).
Halep can certainly beat Kuznetsova (anyone in the top 1000 can beat her on an off day), but I guess I still have a soft spot in my heart for Kuzy.
I've decided I'm going to hit the DC tournament this year, at least the semis and final. If Stephens makes it that far, I'll see how she's progressed as per her doubles performance back in 2011.
Offline
It's also somewhat interesting (in its own weird way and probably only to me) that Peter Bodo calls Sharapova out for time violations when Steve Tignor at one point timed Sharapova and her routine was always just barely in the alloted time.