Quality Tennis Discussion / 2017 U.S. Open Contest

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 8/23/2017 3:04 pm

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. The women's tournament is a crap shoot, no favorites there. For the men's tournament, Federer would be the favorite if we knew the status of his back. As such, he is going to be worth only 15 points as 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. If there are only two contestants, then the WTF bonus is not in effect.

**Posted by funches** 8/27/2017 12:11 am

ATP

Quarterfinals

Dimitrov over Berdych
Federer over Bautista Agut
A. Zverev (Anderson) over Simon
Ferrer over Shapovalov

Semifinals

Federer over Dimitrov
Zverev over Ferrer

Final

Federer over Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2

Biggest Loser: Cilic

WTA

Quarterfinals

Pliskova over Kuznetsova
Keys (Svitolina) over Ostapenko
Muguruza over Wozniacki
Halep over Konta

Semifinals

Keys over Pliskova
Muguruza over Halep

Final

Keys over Muguruza 6-2, 6-2

Biggest Loser: Radwanska

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 8/27/2017 4:10 pm

Men

Quarterfinals

Nadal (Berdych) v. Dimitrov
Federer v. Thiem
Querry v. Zverev
Shapovalov v. Pouille

Semifinals

Nadal v. Federer
Zverev v. Pouille

Final

Federer d. Zverev

BL: Cilic

Women

Quarterfinals

Pliskova v. Vandeweghe
Keys v. Kerber
Venus v. Muguruza
Stephens v. Sharapova (Halep)

Semifinals

Pliskova v. Kerber
Muguruza v. Sharapova

Final

Sharapova d. Kerber

BL: Halep

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 8/27/2017 4:13 pm

I did not look at your picks before I made mine, but I see we both thought the Shapovalov quarter was a wasteland. I don't think he should make it to the quarterfinals, but it's pretty open.

Also, I am hedging my bets with the Sharapova/Halep match.

**Posted by funches** 8/27/2017 10:30 pm

Halep-Sharapova is a toss-up, so you made a good choice for substitute and biggest loser. I've watched at least four of their six meetings, and although they were close, Sharapova dominated the important points at the end of the match every time, hitting Halep off the court. Plus, Sharapova is 4-0 in first-rounders since her comeback. She gets weaker with each match, but her best chance to beat Halep is right off the bat.

I didn't go there for biggest loser because I can't stomach the thought of Halep losing to her, and I didn't go there for substitute because I think Svitolina can win the tournament if Keys gets injured again, giving me two chances.

Querrey is a good pick, too. I was going to pick him, but I've been wrong so many times picking Americans to reach quarterfinals in weak sections of the draw that I automatically eliminated Sam and Isner, forcing me to take a flier on Simon, who has played like crap for most of the year but is capable of beating those guys when at the top of his game.

Shapavolov was incredible in Canada. I'm skeptical he will back it up in Queens, but he has a better chance than any of the other schleps in that part of that draw.

Last edited by funches (8/31/2017 12:06 pm)

**Posted by funches** 9/02/2017 10:34 am

Watching Dolgopolov run through Troicki like he's not even on the court, I really like his chances to beat Nadal in the fourth round if they play.

I've had stock in Dolgo for years with nothing to show for it, but when he is healthy and focused, he's as good a ball striker as there is on tour. It appears that match-fixing allegations made against him in a challenger last week have motivated him to play hard.

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 9/03/2017 10:46 am

Jack Sock and Halep are our biggest losers.

As of the 4th round, we have the following number of players live for the quarterfinals:

funches: 6 (3 women, 6 men)
Forehand_lob: 13 (7 women, 6 men)

We'll see how many make it through the next round.

I did catch some of Shapavolov against Tsonga. It was pretty amazing to watch.

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 9/05/2017 4:50 am

What a difference a round makes. It decimated a bunch of our picks. The latest standings:

funches: 4 (2 women, 2 men)
Forehand_lob: 8 (5 women, 3 men)

All is not lost, as I am getting a max of 5 points for the rest of the women's draw while your winner is still live. You've also got Anderson potentially as a finalist due to the substitute pick.

**Posted by Forehand_lob** 9/10/2017 7:54 am

Our results don't depend on the men's final, so I am putting this out a little early.

I had better QF picks, but you had superior SF and Final picks. Your substitute choice of Anderson was inspired, hats off to you for that. I am going to refrain from picking Zverev again until he makes the quarterfinals of a major.

When the points are totaled, the results are:

Forehand_lob: 71
funches: 50

Had Keys won, I would have won by 1 point, thanks to my pick of Sloane Stephens (she beat two seeds on her way to the quarterfinals, I am going to revise that rule to include all seeds during their time at the tournament because it seems a bit arbitrary to have it through the first 4 rounds only). In fact, it was only through the bonus points that I would have managed to win (5 for the biggest loser of Halep and that extra point for Sloane).

Thanks for playing, funches!

**Posted by funches** 9/13/2017 12:04 pm

Congrats for your excellent QF picks and picking Halep as biggest loser as well.

I almost picked Anderson as my main finalist and Zverev as my wildcard, but I decided that looked bogus (hedging my bet) so I went the conventional route. I watched a lot of tennis this summer, more than in several years, and Anderson looked terrific before getting outplayed by Zverev twice. I figured Zverev had overplayed and might crash out, and when I looked at the rest of the draw on the bottom half, I saw no one of consequence.

On the same note, I was convinced Keys would win the tournament from the start as long as she got by Svitolina. I was out of town for the final and did not see a point, but I'm shocked at the result and the scoreline. I thought Keys might win 6-3, 6-0, not Stephens. I have it on tape, and when I get the time, I'll watch it to make my own judgment about what happened.