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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. Djokovic is only worth 10 points, the women are complete toss-ups so they're all 20 point champions.
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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Why, Fuck Uncle Kiki, I have some crazy picks for the women!
ATP
Quarterfinals
Djokovic over Raonic
Federer over Muller
Wawrinka over F. Mayer (Thiem)
Murray over Gasquet
Semifinals
Djokovic over Federer
Murray over Wawrinka
Final
Djokovic over Murray 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 7-5
BIGGEST LOSER: Thiem
WTA
Quarterfinals
Vandeweghe over Serena
Strycova over Radwanska
Keys over Ka. Pliskova (Kerber)
Muguruza over Venus
Semifinals
Vandeweghe over Strycova
Keys over Muguruza
Final
Vandeweghe over Keys 6-4, 6-4
BIGGEST LOSER: Vinci
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Men
QF
Djokovic v. Raonic
Federer v. Nishikori
Berdych v. Tomic
Pospisil v. Murray (Kyrigos)
SF
Raonic v. Federer
Berdych v. Murray
F
Federer d. Murray
BL Wawrinka
Women
QF
Serena v. Vandeweghe (Bacsinszky)
Radwanska v. Kvitova
Keys v. Kerber
Venus v. Muguruza
SF
Serena v. Kvitova
Kerber v. Muguruza
F
Kvitova d. Muguruza
BL Halep
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Fuck Uncle Kiki, we both have Coco in the quarterfinals.
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Muguruza and Wawrinka were the biggest losers since no top 16 seed lost in the first round of either draw.
You had Wawrinka while I kept my record intact (I think) of never picking a biggest loser right in 12 years.
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I am not shocked that Djokovic lost. Surprised, obviously, but grass is his least comfortable surface, he never plays on grass before Wimbledon, making him vulnerable in the first week, and Querrey, who has done next to nothing for a long time, is capable of serving huge and hitting huge forehands for an extended stretch. He's one of the great underachievers on the tour, a should-be top-20 player who rarely has climbed that high.
After almost choking away yet another match (his specialty) in the first round against Rosol, he came back to win in five and it allowed him to loosen up and swing freely. Combined with Djokovic tanking a set and making bad errors at crucial times, you get this result. Djokovic easily could have lost to Anderson at Wimbledon last year, and although Anderson is much more consistent than Querrey, he's not more talented. They are very similar players.
Last edited by funches (7/02/2016 9:58 pm)
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I miss ccm and the rest of the board members too. It was a fun group.
I suppose that I'm a little surprised that Djokovic continues to skip grass warmups. They added another week, so it makes less sense than it used to. I wonder if Djokovic's need to be liked is an issue; Halle is Federer's turf and Queen's is going to be behind Murray.
In the final tiebreak, Djokovic was too passive and playing it too safe. He was generally winning the 20+ stroke points, but he wasn't taking the offense enough. He managed to lose at least one point every time he served in the tiebreak, which is a bad, bad sign.
I am going to say that I'm feeling pretty good about my heart-over-head pick of Federer to win. Maybe it'll make up for the fact that both of my women's finalists have bombed out.
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Welcome to bracket-breaking Monday!
Nishikori is out, injured. Coco lost to Ana Pav. Cibulkova takes down Radwanska. Keys loses to Halep.
Goffin is a set and a break up on Raonic; I assume that John McEnroe is upset. Lucas Pouille (do you know anything about him? Seems like this is his breakout tournament so far) is up a set on Tomic.
It's maybe a little surprising/gratifying that Querry backed up his win by beating Mahut. Shvedova is through to the QFs; she's got a lot of talent (she won a golden set), but has been a bit lacking in consistency. Maybe those doubles slams she won with Vania King are finally paying off with some confidence? Is she the new Sam Stosur?
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I still have not decided whether I think Murray or Federer will win here, but you definitely have an excellent chance. Since the start of Wimbledon last year, the only player Federer has lost to in slams is Djokovic. He's 21-0 against everyone else.
I was not surprised Querrey beat Mahut. Mahut had never even made the fourth round of Wimbledon before this year. In fact I picked Querrey to beat Mahut in the TalkaboutTennis survivor pool and am still alive with a chance to beat the draw for only the second time ever in any slam. Picked Berdych over Pouille for the QF, then likely will go with Murray in the semis because he's a lock to win that match and hope Federer can take him down in the final, which is what I want anyway.
Pouille was 0-8 for his career on grass before Wimbledon. Wertheim picked him as a possible semifinalist before the tournament started, then had a reader question his expertise in a mailbag, allowing Wertheim to go off on people who take his picks too seriously. I knew nothing about Pouille before Wimbledon, but I've watched a few of his matches and he's a typical French all-courter who plays with flair, can finish at the net and has variety. None of that should be enough against the hitting machine that is Berdych.