View Full Version : WTA Pick 'Em: BOTP - Australian Open 2013
Hello everyone -a belated happy new year!
Going to put together a wee BOTP for the Aussie WTA side of things. As ever, you are most welcome to take part.
I will post an entry form on this thread once the qualies are placed - the usual stuff.
Interesting draw btw. Projected QFs:
Azarenka-Errani
Serena-Kvitova
Li-Radwanska
Kerber-Sharapova
Laura Robson has Oudin in round 1. Second round would be Schiavone/ Kvitova..
Sallydaisy
11-01-2013, 09:41
Happy New Year to you too Super8!
Thanks for running BOTP again.
:thumbup:
Thanks Sally!
Qualifiers have now been placed - a BOTP entry form is attached to this post.
The first ball of the tournament should be hit at just after midnight tomorrow night (UK time) - so hopefully that gives everyone enough time to make & submit their picks.
As ever, if anyone has any queries about this then please do either post them on this thread or pm me.
Hopefully everyone is looking forward to catching a few matches over the next couple of weeks! It might well be too tempting to watch some of the matches starting at midnight (UK) for those night owls amongst us (that includes me!).
DaveArneRiise
12-01-2013, 12:36
sent
Just emailed mine! :)
sent
Both received :)
JAMES4578
13-01-2013, 21:25
I've just posted mine over at CC, may the battle commence! Doubt many will go against Serena in this one.
Sallydaisy
13-01-2013, 22:17
Help!!! Where do I sent this form back to???
Sallydaisy
13-01-2013, 22:19
Found it. Sowy.
:shamed:
RoastLamb
13-01-2013, 22:37
Sent mine via email just now.
Sent mine via email just now.
Received! :)
Plan to keep this open for a wee bit after start of play, to allow for any lastminute.com folk..
After all, play doesn't start exactly at 11am (Melbourne time). Warm-ups, etc.
So, still at least 45 minutes for those who would like to take part - and haven't yet submitted predictions - to do so!!
JAMES4578
13-01-2013, 23:41
Good luck everyone,hopefully a few battles!
Good luck everyone,hopefully a few battles!
Ditto! Really good to see a nice turnout of both am.com and CC folk again for this :)
Hello again
Well, here are all of the folk taking part in the 2013 Australian Open BOTP:
Big Al
cazza99
DaveArneRiise
DN
fah51
IconA
Jack ng
James4578
JaneinScotland
liam valid
Linda
livluvlaf
lizzim
macborg
mojoworking
nevets
Northernlight/ Super8
RoastLamb
SallyDaisy
tabbles
tlim
vivahate
22 of us, in total - I think that this is higher than any of the BOTPs of last year!
Many thanks to all of you for taking part :)
I shall now post a summary of all your predictions - and then percentage stats of the predictions. There are a few surprises in there, for sure.. ;)
Here are everyone's predictions.
Rather than try to upload screen shots of these, I have attached a file for download of these. I recall having problems with attachment sizes in the past with this - so a file for download seemed the next best option.
Here are the BOTP percentage picks by quarter
Can't seem to resize the screen shots! So, have again attached a document for download..
.. and here are the BOTP scores after day 01:
BOTP Report/ Results/ Stats: day 01
Hello! I am going to rattle through this report, as most of this evening has been spent getting BOTP up and running.
So.. today’s results:
100% Picks
Li CHN 6 bt Karatantcheva KAZ 6-1 6-3
Goerges GER 18 bt Dushevina RUS 7-5 2-6 6-4
Zheng CHN bt Zhang CHN 6-1 3-6 6-4
Ivanovic SER 13 bt Czink HUN 6-2 6-1
Jankovic SER 22 bt Larsson SWE 6-2 6-2
Watson GB bt Cadantu ROM 2-6 6-3 6-2
A Radwanska POL 4 bt Bobuscic AUS 7-5 6-0
Kerber GER 5 bt Svitolina UKR 6-2 6-4
Makarova RUS 19 bt Larcher De Brito POR 6-2 7-5
Bartoli FRA 11 bt Medina Garrigues SPA 6-2 6-4
Cibulkova SVK 15 bt Barty AUS 3-6 6-0 6-1
V Williams US 25 bt Voskoboeva KAZ 6-1 6-0
Sharapova RUS 2 bt Puchkova RUS 6-0 6-0
Very few alarms here. All big guns through, including ‘Vegan’ Williams. Or is that ‘cheagan’?
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/01/14/sports/tennis/ap-ten-australian-open-vegan-venus.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
Good win for Heather Watson too. Her first slam win on a hard court, I think.
Majority Picks
Stosur AUS 9 bt Chang TPE 7-6 6-3 (95-5)
Pliskova CZE bt Jones AUS 6-3 6-2 (91-9)
Cirstea ROM 27 bt Vandeweghe US 6-4 6-2 (91-9)
Flipkens BEL bt Bratchikova RUS 6-4 6-3 (82-18)
Zakopalova CZE 23 bt Scheepers SA 6-1 6-2 (82-18)
Govortsova BLR bt Parmentier FRA 2-6 6-3 6-2 (82-18)
Paszek AUT 30 bt Voegele SWI 4-6 6-4 7-5 (86-14)
Hradecka CZE bt Bertens NED 6-2 7-6 (68-32)
Keys US bt Dellacqua AUS 6-4 7-6 (64-36)
Stosur withstood pressure of public expectation and remembered how to win a match in her homeland.
50-50 Splits
Begu ROM bt Rus NED 6-4 6-2 (45-55)
Cornet FRA bt Erakovic NZ 7-5 6-7 10-8 (45-55)
Foretz FRA bt Giorgi ITA 6-2 6-3 (41-59)
Dolonc SER bt Rogowska AUS 5-7 7-5 8-6 (50-50)
Cornet v Erakovic was as close as the split pickings indicated – really good win by the young Frenchwoman.
Otherwise, not so good for the other youngsters in this list. Rus and Giorgi had made progress at the French Open and Wimbledon in recent years, but not to be at the AO. Rogowska, well, also lost a close one – has ben one to watch in her homeland for a wee while now.
Minority Picks
Savinykh RUS bt Minella LUX 7-6 6-1 (32-68)
Koehler POR bt Knapp ITA 3-6 6-3 6-3 (27-73)
Doi JPN bt Martic CRO 6-3 6-4 (23-77)
Chan TPE bt Hantuchova SVK 6-1 1-6 6-1 (14-86)
Oprandi SWI bt Pironkova BUL 4-6 7-5 6-2 (9-91)
Well, Mandy Minella has also made a name for herself in previous slams, but has been in a slump of late, falling to the not-so-well-known Valeria Sainykh, who has a ranking high of 99 in April last year.
Good win for young Misaki Doi over the more-fancied Petra Martic. Both have tasted wins at slams before. A good pick for a decent 23% of BOTPers.
As for the other 2 minority picks, well they caught nearly everyone out. Only 3 folk pickd Chan’s win over Dani – liam valid, Jack ng and nevets . An astute pic by you all, for sure!
Tsveti Pironkova shocked Venus Williams at the Aussie Open back in 2008 (I think) – but this time, the boot was on the other foot with the Swiss Romina Oprandi providing the shock. It was Tsveti’s first round 1 slam loss in her last 10 slams. With Grigor also losing in round 1, it was not a great day for Bulgarian tennis.
BOTP Bagel!
Pervak KAZ bt Barthel GER 32 7-5 2-6 6-4 (0-100)
Ksenia Pervak is another Russian going down the Kazakh nationalisation route, a la Shvedova. She inflicted the only defeat on a seeded player today. Barthel’s iffy recent form continues.
Pervak plays Heather Watson in round 2. Last time that they met was also in the Australian Open – in the quarter finals of the junior tournament in 2009. Pervak actually beat Watson then, and went on to beat Laura Robson in the final. So, might be quite a tussle in round 2.
BOTP Day 01: Roundup
So, all 32 scheduled round 01 matches played today. An overall pick rate of 72% is a little low after day 01, but the women’s draw seems to have created its fair share of even matchups in early rounds. Early leader is livluvlaf with a very impressive 28 correct picks out of 32 – with cazza and jack in pursuit with 26 points apiece.
Whilst there is 9 points between top and bottom of the table already, I would think that there will be movements aplenty in the table tomorrow after the top half of the draw plays out tomorrow. It already feels as if the tournament is starting to warm up nicely. How about Lisicki v Wozniacki or Kvitova v Schiavone tomorrow?
It has been interesting looking at the predictions. We actually have 5 different winners predicted for this, which I didn't expect. I thought that it would be Serena all the way - even though admittedly she had got the bulk of the vote.
Looking through the other picks, there are some more interesting ones kicing about. There are a few unseeded players picked to make some inroads into the draw. That could make BOTP very interesting if they manage that..
First tick on the drawsheet tonight - Peng just won her match. That was quick!
RoastLamb
15-01-2013, 01:19
What on earth happened to Nadia Petrova!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
Oh dear, that one's a cross on the drawsheet.
RoastLamb
15-01-2013, 01:44
And as for Woz! :grrr: To think I almost picked Lisicki.
Hello again!
Here is the BOTP table after day 02, with all 64 round 01 matches now completed.
Daily report to follow, hopefully before day 03 of the tennis starts!!
JAMES4578
15-01-2013, 22:40
A few upsets I didn't predict with Petrova and Erani going out. Date Krumm at the age of 42 just annihilated Nadia though by all accounts the Russian was out of sorts. Wozniacki was fortunate to survive as Lisicki gave it away at the end, almost picked Sabine but changed my mind.
I wish I was doing as well as this in the BOTB pickem.
DaveArneRiise
15-01-2013, 23:02
Suffered some potent blows already..
BOTP Report: Day 02
Hello once again! Well, day 02 saw completion of the 32 round 01 games in the top half of the draw. 2 days into a 2-week tournament and half of the matches already completed.
As per usual, today’s results have been bracketed into descending order of BOTP pick rate.
’Home Bankers: 100%ers’
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Niculescu ROM 6-1 6-4
Hsieh TPE 26 bt Arruabarrena-Vecino SPA 7-6 6-2
S Williams US 3 bt Gallovits ROM 6-0 6-0
Safarova CZE 17 bt Lucic, Baroni CRO 7-6 6-4
Stephens US 29 bt Halep ROM 6-1 6-1
No surprise whatsoever to Serena and Vika score comfortable wins – although Serena did take a wee tumble during her match that seemed to give cause for concern about her ankle. Storm in a teacup, or is Serena having to do some rapid recovery work on the ankle?
The other 100%ers are probably so because of the draw rather than them being big guns. The fact that so few of the picks in round 01 are 100% one way shows how competitive the draw is in the early stages..
’High Interest Rate: Majority Picks’
Vinci ITA 16 bt Soler Espinosa SPA 6-3 7-5 (95-5)
Kirilenko RUS 14 bt King US 6-4 6-2 (95-5)
Robson GB bt Oudin US 6-2 6-3 (95-5)
Lepchenko US 21 bt Hercog SLO 6-4 6-1 (91-9)
Kuznetsova RUS bt Dominguez Lino SPA 6-2 6-1 (91-9)
Peng CHN bt Marino CAN 6-3 6-0 (91-9)
Wickmayer BEL 20 bt Gajdosova AUS 6-1 7-5 (91-9)
Kvitova CZE 8 bt Schiavone ITA 6-4 2-6 6-2 (91-9)
Vesnina RUS bt Garcia FRA 3-6 6-3 6-1 (86-14)
Jovanovski SER bt Torro-Flor SPA 2-6 6-4 6-3 (86-14)
Peer ISR bt Panova RUS 6-4 1-6 6-3 (73-27)
Wozniacki DEN 10 bt Lisicki GER 2-6 6-3 6-3 (68-32)
Thankfully a good amount of matches were correctly foreseen by the vast majority of us. Go us! Etc.
It was a little surprising to see that Kvitova had 91% of the BOTP vote against Fran Schiavone – but that proved to be astute predicting from you all.
The Caro v Sabine match was a little more even in terms of precitions – but still a healthy majority of 68% for Caro. The 32% who went for Sabine might justifiably feel a little hard done by given that Sabine was 3-0 up in the final set – so had the match on her racquet before promptly forgetting that she should use the darned thing to try and win points.
And yes, another Brit into round 2 with Laura Robson! It has been a good first 2 days for the teenagers in the draw, with 6 out of the 11 of them making the second round. Last year only 2 made round 2.
’Divided Loyalties: 50-50
Daniilidou GRE bt Pliskova CZE 7-5 5-7 6-4 (55-45)
Morita JPN bt Tatishvili GEO 6-3 6-3 (59-41)
Mladenovic FRA bt Babos HUN 6-3 4-6 11-9 (41-59)
Well, these pretty much split the BOTP vote down the middle, and reflected by the fact that 2 of them were very close matches. Perhaps for many of us, these boiled down to the luck of the draw..
'Low Returns: Minority Picks'
Amanmuradova UZB bt Johansson FRA 6-4 6-2 (32-68)
Gavrilova RUS bt Davis US 6-3 6-7 6-4 (32-68)
Cepelova SVK bt Arn HUN 6-2 6-2 (27-73)
Hampton US bt U Radwanska POL 31 6-2 6-4 (23-77)
Vekic CRO bt Hlavackova CZE 6-1 6-2 (9-91)
Kumkhum THA bt Arvidsson SWE 7-6 6-4 (5-95)
Putintseva KAZ bt McHale US 6-1 6-7 6-2 (5-95)
Suarez-Navarro SPA bt Errani ITA 7 6-4 6-4 (5-95)
Muguruza Blanco SPA bt Rybarikova SVK 4-6 6-1 14-12 (5-95)
Well, many of these were relatively minor shocks. Davis and McHale were a couple of the teenagers who didn’t make it to round 2, yet were strongly backed by the BOTP gang. It has actually been a good tournament for the Americans. There are 6 of them in round 2 – the most that they have had since 2005.
Arguably the biggest shock of these was Errani’s exit at the hands of CSN – a result picked only by tlim. Bravo tlim! 81% of us had her making round 3, and 18% of us had her making the quarter finals.
Sole minority picks also for macborg who picked Thai Luksika Kumkhum to beat journeywoman Sofia Arvidsson. iconA picked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva to beat Christina McHale. jack ng was the sole picker of Mug Blanco to beat Maggie Rybari.. Well done, all of you!
’A Basket of BOTP Bagels
Tsurenko UKR bt Pavlyuchenkova RUS 24 7-5 3-6 7-5 (0-100)
Beck GER bt Shvedova KAZ 28 6-2 6-7 6-3 (0-100)
Date Krumm JPN bt Petrova RUS 12 6-2 6-0 (0-100)
I can’t remember the last time the BOTP crowd were served 3 BOTP Bagels in one day of round 1 matches!
These were all certainly big shocks. Maybe the some of the Russian/ Kazakh contingent are not doing so well in the heat? Or possibly they just couldn’t hit the back of a bus today.
Congratulations to Kimiko Date Krumm, who today became the oldest winner of a main draw singles grand slam match – quite an achievement. Petrova’s defeat is a blow for the 36% who had her making the quarter finals – and was actually a semi final pick for 1 BOTPer..
Annie Pav was another player backed to go deep into the draw. 31% of BOTPers had picked her to make the 4th round, and 27% had picked her to make the quarter finals.
Both Annie Pav and Sara Errani were in the lower part of the first quarter of the draw. Their exist opens up that part of the draw nicely for a certain Danish player. Reward for her big win today – and Liscki might well wonder what might have been.
Petrova’s defeat might turn out to be handy for Kvitova – or Sloane Stephens – or perhaps even Laura Robson. Who knows?
BOTP Roundup: Day 02
Well quite a lot of results went against us today. Many round 01 matches are meant to be almost warm-up matches for the top players – yet this is proving categorically not to be the case.
The BOTP table is pretty tightly packed, with jack and jane the new joint leaders, with a single point lead over big al, cazza and livluvlaf. Early conetenders for the BOTP basement are macborg, NL/S8 and lizzim We’re just lulling the rest of the BOTP folk into a false sense of security, right?
Ahem. Anyway. Onwards to round 2..
DaveArneRiise
15-01-2013, 23:43
I had Mchale going far.
I had Mchale going far.
Ah, you did indeed - you had her reaching the quarter finals.
I just noticed that someone has lost a semi finalist with Sabine getting knocked out. 13% of BOTP folk also predicted her to reach the quarter finals too. So the Caro v Sabine match was more of a swing match than I had thought..
Also - Sabine hit about 58 unforced errors, compared with Caro's 8 UE's.
Slow court, Caro therefore able to be a defensive backboard, drawing the errors....
Hello!
Here are the scores on the doors after day 03.
Daily report to follow later this evening..
BOTP Report: Day 03
Hello once again!
Well, day 03 saw completion of the 16 matches in the bottom half of the draw. 2 points per correct pick, so might see things start to shift a little in the BOTP table..
Ok – moving on to today’s results
‘Seeds march on (100%ers)’
Li CHN 6 bt Govortsova BLR 6-2 7-5
Jankovic SER 22 bt Koehler POR 2-6 7-6 6-2
A Radwanska POL 4 bt Begu ROM 6-3 6-3
Kerber GER 5 bt Hradecka CZE 6-3 6-1
Makarova RUS 19 bt Foretz FRA 6-3 6-3
Bartoli FRA 11 bt Dolonc SER 7-5 6-0
V Williams US 25 bt Cornet FRA 6-3 6-3
Sharapova RUS 2 bt Doi JPN 6-0 6-0
Apart from Lady Jaja’s 3-setter, it was pretty much business as usual for many of the seeded players here. One less publicised win was Bartoli’s, which was an example of how a player can banish negative thoughts when playing. Bartoli actually lost to Dolonc at the Aussie Open 2 years ago – retired injured – and it preyed on her mind in the match.
She told herself to snap out of it at 5-5 in the first set – then won the next 8 games. Now, there was someone else playing today who might learn from this in terms of managing her emotions and thoughts.
Also a mention for Sharapova, who snaffled 2 more bagels to add to her round 01 bagels. First player to do this in 27 years. If however she dishes out a similar bakery scoreline to Vegan Williams in the next round, then I will eat my hat - a hat bagel sandwich, in fact.
’Baseline Basherama’
Goerges GER 18 bt Oprandi SWI 6-3 6-2 (91-0)
Ivanovic SER 13 bt Chan TPE 7-5 1-6 6-4 (91-0)
Cirstea ROM 27 bt Pliskova CZE 1-6 6-3 6-2 (82-9)
Well, the winners of these 3 matches are not exactly prone to subtle play, with their big forehands! They were widely backed by BOTP folk.
Ivanovic plays Jankovic in round 3 in the battle of the Serbian divas. Sori has her hands full with uber-basher Na Li in the next round. As for Jools Goerges, her next opponent is somewhat unexpected..
’Good Things Come in Small (surprise) packages’
Zheng CHN bt Stosur AUS 9 6-4 1-6 7-5 (27-73)
Watson GB bt Pervak KAZ 4-6 7-6 6-2 (27-0)
Keys US bt Paszek AUT 30 6-2 6-1 (23-68)
Flipkens BEL bt Zakopalova CZE 23 6-1 6-0 (23-73)
And surprise packages these little players certainly were!
Jie Jheng is Goerges surprise opponent in round 3, as Sam Stosur lost 5 games in a row in the third set after leading it 5-2. Here’s what Sam had to say after the match, which pretty much confirmed what everyone had deduced a long time ago:
"I got tight, and then you start missing some balls. You probably think a little bit too much. You do it over and over and over again, and then you start not wanting to miss rather than wanting to make the winner. Instead, you're thinking, 'I don't want to make the error.'"
Perhaps she should have a wee chat with Marion Bartoli about exorcising those mental demons. Kudos to little Jie, who was typically tenacious in clawing her way back into the match, and then seizing the initiative.
And speaking of clawing their way back into a match. Heather Watson. 3 match points saved, when 3-6 down in second set tie-break. She had never beaten Pervak as a junior. Pervak had recently got her first top 10 win by beating Wozniacki. Well done Heather!
If Heather is to progress further here, she will have to secure her first top 10 win. Aga Radwanska awaits her in the next round – a repeat of their Wimbledon matchup.
Madison Keys is just 17 years old. She thumped 23 winners past Tam Paszek in just 15 games. She will also have to secure her first top 10 win in the next round if she is to progress too. Angie Kerber awaits her in round 03.
And what about Flipper? Kim Clijsters earning her stripes as coach, perhaps. Thumping win over the not exactly out of form Klara Zak.
Only a quarter of BOTP folk picked these wins. Many of you picked up points here – but the only BOTPer who picked all 4 of these was jack. Bravo jack! james and icona picked 3 of these (both all except Keys). Well done to you both, too! Many of us drew a blank here though – eek!
Blank across the Board
Savinykh RUS bt Cibulkova SVK 15 7-6 6-4 (0-100)
This match was candidate for the shriekiest match of the day. Here is one tweet posted about this match that sums it up nicely:
Show Court 2 is a cacophony. Bark...Heeeeehhh....Bark....Heeeeeh....Bark...Heee ehhhh....POME!
Great result for Valeria though – a very gutsy (gruntsy?) performance. Her reward for this is a round 3 matchup with la Flipper..
BOTP Roundup: Day 03
Well, our respective performances for today pretty much hinged on how many of us picked up points with those 4 minority pick matches. Jack was on fire today with a whopping 14 correct picks out of 16 to lead the BOTP table in his own right. Take a bow, jack!! iconA and james also did extremely well, with 13 picks out of 16 – and both moved up 6 places to 6th place.
Nobody got fewer than 10 correct picks, with most folk 11-12 pick mark. As a result, there was plenty of movement in the table, but not significant movement, as it were.
As a result of top-scoring in round 01 as well as in round 02 so far, jack has extended his lead to an already-handy 5 points over al and livluvlaf in second place. With jane and nevets just the one point behind them in 4th place. jack has clearly laid down the marker for us all to follow – can we all gain ground on the young maverick BOTPer? Well, time will tell..
RoastLamb
17-01-2013, 00:29
So disappointed that Sam lost. :crying: She had it in the bag and let it slip away.
. . . and I stupidly had predicted her to go far this year :sad:
JAMES4578
17-01-2013, 07:41
Disappointed Sam lost early too but I did predict that, she seems to struggle in Australia.
Hello once again,
Here is the how the BOTP table stands after day 04 of the tournament.
Report to follow (probably later in evening..)
BOTP Report: Day 04
Greetings! Day 4 of the Aussie Open saw the 16 round 2 matches from the top half of the draw played out. Here’s a wee round up of those – and how they impacted us in BOTP terms..
’There are good players, and then there are champion players’: 100%ers
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Daniilidou GRE 6-1 6-0
S Williams US 3 bt Muguruza Blanco SPA 6-2 6-0
Well, Vika and Serena were the only players with 100% BOTP backing – and of course duly showed their class, thumping their rather hapless opponents. These two will therefore be the only players in the top half of the draw with 100% BOTP backing from now on. It begs the question: is the top half all about when these 2 play each other in the semis – just as often happens in the men’s game with the big 4?
There are Good players, and then there are Journeyfolk
Vinci ITA 16 bt Amanmuradova UZB 6-3 6-2 (95-0)
Stephens US 29 bt Mladenovic FRA 6-4 6-3 (91-9)
Wickmayer BEL 20 bt Cepelova SVK 7-6 7-5 (91-0)
Kirilenko RUS 14 bt Peng CHN 7-5 6-2 (86-14)
These are basically players with proven/ growing slam pedigree against those that are not. More straight sets victories, big BOTP backing.
Players rekindling former glories?
Kuznetsova RUS bt Hsieh TPE 26 6-2 6-1 (68-32)
Wozniacki DEN 10 bt Vekic CRO 6-1 6-4 (68-0)
Possibly 2 dark horses to make inroads in this tournament? Sveta has already said that her recent injury forced her to take time out from the game, and enabled her to regain her hunger.
Wozniacki’s opponent today – Donna Vekic – is the youngest player in the main draw at just 16 years of age. She will now be the youngest player in the top 100, and the first 16-year-old to go top 100 since, erm, Wozniacki.
‘The Really Interesting Section: Upsets Aplenty!
Vesnina RUS bt Lepchenko US 21 6-4 6-2 (36-59)
Robson GB bt Kvitova CZE 8 2-6 6-3 11-9 (18-82)
Hampton US bt Kumkhum THA 6-1 6-2 (18-0)
Jovanovski SER bt Safarova CZE 17 7-5 7-5 (9-91)
Morita JPN bt Beck GER 6-2 6-0 (5-0)
Suarez-Navarro SPA bt Putintseva KAZ 1-6 7-6 6-2 (5-0)
Well done to everyone who picked these results, as they were all certainly against the grain!
A special mention of course to Laura Robson in her epic win against Petra Kvitova. A car crash of a match, but still a super win. 2 British WTA players in round 3? These are indeed heady times.
Those picking Laura were: iconA, janeinscotland, SallyDaisy and tlim Bravo! Next up for Laura is Sloane Stephens. The pair of them are the 2 highest-ranked teenagers.
Jamie Hampton is on a bit of a roll. Her best career results have been at her last 2 tournaments prior to the AO – Auckland semis & Osaka QFs – and she hit 24 winners in the 15 games in her match. Her opponent in the next round? Vika.
Well done to nevets and SallyDaisy for being the only folk to back big-hitting Jovanovski to beat LucieSaf! Lucie hit 25 winners to Bojana’s 14 – but hit 42 UE’s to Bojana’s 26.
Only one BOTPer picked little Ayumi Morita to make it to round 3 – and that was tabbles . Excellent pick – take a bow! The rest of us picked Yaro Shvedova. Ayumi’s next opponent is, um, Serena..
Only one BOTPer picked Suarez-Navarro too - an excellent pick by tlim again!!
Double Bagel Alert!
Tsurenko UKR bt Gavrilova RUS 7-5 6-3 (0-0)
Date Krumm JPN bt Peer ISR 6-2 7-5 (0-0)
Well none of us had an interest in either of these matches! Should have been Annie Pav and Nads Petrova.
Lesia Tsurenko loves watching tennis as well as playing it – and often stays on to watch the men’s matches. When asked if she had her eyes on any of the ATP players, she replied that her boyfriend was ‘tennis’. It takes up all of her time. Not lacking in dedication, then! She will be up against Caro in round 3.
Kimiko’s run is once again impressive. She plays Bojana Jovanovski in the next round. No, none of us picked either of them to when that match either!!
BOTP Roundup: day 04
A pretty ordinary day again for us beleaguered BOTP folk, with those upsets really hitting the BOTP pick rate. jack had another fine day, extending his lead to 6 points, this time over nevets who has worked his way into contention in second place. tlim had a good day, climing 6 places away from the BOTP basement area. BOTPers taking a wee bit of a tumble were livluvlaf, fah51 Sally and Viva, all dropping 5 places each.
By and large, it was a case of more small movements in the table, and many many folk still in contention in this pick ‘em. There seems to have been a fair amount of drama already in an absorbing tournament so far. Hopefully it will continue to be the case.
'Morning!
Here is the BOTP table after day 05's matches.
Can't do the daily roundup just now, so will get that posted when I get back later today.
This is the first day that I have stayed still rather than dropping a few more places . . . although there isn't that much further to drop . . .
BOTP Report: Day 05
Alrightee! (as they say down under..)
Day 05 – bottom half of the draw, round 03, 8 matches. “In theory” this is when the seeded players should have ended up playing each other – but a. it’s the Australian Open and b. it’s the WTA. So… anything is possible.
'100%ers narrowed down in the bottom half too'
Li CHN 6 bt Cirstea ROM 27 6-4 6-1
A Radwanska POL 4 bt Watson GB 6-3 6-1
Sharapova RUS 2 bt V Williams US 25 6-1 6-3
To the surprise of no-one really, the 100% cast-iron bets are Sharpie & Aga Rad – perhaps a little surprising is SuperNa. But then again, her draw has been realtively gentle so far, and she has Henin’s coach knocking her game into shape. Cirstea was no match at all for the Big-hitting, straight-talking, husband-berating Chinese superstar.
Well, Heather Watson’s run came to an end in similar style to Wimby – except HW acquitted herself better this time, and the match was closer than the scoreline suggested. Heather did still get sucked into trying to force the play, and Aga gave her no pace to work with. It’s a great gameplan to have when there are so many power-baseliners around. And Aga Rad’s game is kind of passive-aggressive, I guess.
Venus may have put up resistance towards the end of her match, but Sharpie outclassed her for most of the match. Maria actually made Venus looked slow and cumbersome. Something I didn’t think I’d ever see.
Anyway. We all backed the better players - in all of these matches – seeded 2, 4 and 6, no less.
'More Seeds March on..'
Ivanovic SER 13 bt Jankovic SER 22 7-5 6-3 (91-0)
Kerber GER 5 bt Keys US 6-2 7-5 (91-5)
Nearly all of us backed the 5th and 13th seeds too. Ana won battle of the Serbian divas pretty comfortably, again to the surprise of nearly no-one.
The Kerber v Keys match mirrored the Aga Rad v Watson match in some ways. More experienced player outfoxes youngster. Keys admitted to being really nervous about the match being on such a big court and going for winners too early.
'Less-Predictable Matches'
Goerges GER 18 bt Zheng CHN 6-3 1-6 7-5 (14-18)
Makarova RUS 19 bt Bartoli FRA 11 6-7 6-3 6-4 (23-77)
Flipkens BEL bt Savinykh RUS 6-2 4-6 6-3 (5-0)
Not many people had points at stake in the Goerges v Zheng match – 68% of BOTPers had gone for Sam Stosur to win this one. Might have been a bit of karma for Jheng with this one. She was 5-3 up in the final set, only to lose it 7-5. So, Goerges was a good pick for james, liam and livluvlaf.
Ekat Mak had a fabulous Australian Open last year, beating Serena Williams en route to the quarter finals – and she seems to be on a roll once again. She was actually 5-0 up in the final set and tried her best to snatch defeat from the claws of victory. Bartoli clawed her way back to 5-4, match was back on serve. At 30-30, Marion then double-faulted and shanked a groundstroke to hand victory to Ekat. A good result for 23% of BOTPers.
Caught the end of the Flipper match – and wow, was she pleased to win her match! This is the first time that she has made the 4th round of a slam draw. Did you know that she is prone to blood clots - so every time she boards a flight over 3 hours, she has to have injections in her stomach to thin her blood? An interesting article about her struggles on the tour:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/01/18/tennis-open-flipkens-idUKL4N0AN3RJ20130118
A tweet from Kim Clijsters about her result:
So proud of @FlipperKF !!! Unbelievable!!! Great courage and hard work. First time ever into 4th round of a slam!!!! Yeah.... :-))))
Only 1 BOTPer correctly predicted that the diminuative Belgian would make this breakthrough – and that BOTPer was jack ng. I would say that this has to be the most inspired pick of this BOTP so far. Bravo jack!!!
BOTP Roundup: Day 05
Well, overall, we were relatively solid with our predictions for today. Nearly everyone got 5 or more correct picks out of the 8, which is good going. The star performer for the day was livluvlaf who had an impressive 7 correct picks out of 8 – all but Flipper – and zoomed up 4 places to 3rd. nevets and James also had a good day with 6 out of 8, with nevets closing the gap on journeyman front-runner jack to 3 points. james moved up 1 place to 4th, just a point behind livluvlaf. liam also picked 6 out of 8 – up 3 to 8th – as did macborg and NL/S8 who both moved up a couple of places from the BOTP basement. The bottom end of the table is as tightly packed as the top end with poor viva taking residency for now. But all it takes is for the odd result or two to go someone’s way here and there – and it’s all change again.
Tomorrow will be the turn of the 8 matches in the top half of the draw, including the Laura Robson v Sloane Stephens teenage showdown. Best of luck to Laura!
This is the first day that I have stayed still rather than dropping a few more places . . . although there isn't that much further to drop . . .
You know, I do think that even though it is a small pick 'em, it is quite a difficult one to do well in. Not only because it's the WTA, but I do think that everyone is becoming better at picking up points with this - when it first started, we were definitely scoring lower points-wise. I've only just managed to edge up from bottom place with this comp - so I guess that we all have to up our game!
Hello!
BOTP table after day 6 as below.
Report to follow.
BOTP Report: Day 06
Hello once again!
Day 06 of the Aussie Open, and it’s 8 round 3 matches, from the top half of the draw this time – all battling for a place in the last 16.
’100%erwatch: Serena cruises, Vika struggles’
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Hampton US 6-4 4-6 6-2
S Williams US 3 bt Morita JPN 6-1 6-3
Back to those 100%ers on collision course..
Watched Jamie Hampton v Azarenka match in its entirety. Jamie is one star in the making. Steely determination, a big forehand. She hit 40+ winners today against Vika’s 20, and really could have won had a lower back injury sustained towards the end of the second set not impeded her significantly. Vika really got out of jail here.
Had Vika not won today, I think that she would have ceded her number 1 ranking. As long as she looks vulnerable to the big hitters when their game is ‘on’ (a la Hampton, Kvitova, etc), her top-ranking will probably remain vulnerable too.
Serena, on the other hand, overcame her slightly tricky opponent without too many alarms. Was quite a tussle in the early few games, mind.
’Maria K marches on too’
Kirilenko RUS 14 bt Wickmayer BEL 20 7-6 6-3 (82-14)
Maria Kirilenko seems to do very well at the Australian Open. She knocked out Sharapova in round 1 in 2010, and looked in good nick today. Her successes here have clearly not escaped the attention of BOTP folk, with an 82% backing.
Maria went on to reach the quarter finals in 2010. With Serena as her opponent in round 04, she may well have her work cut out to repeat that.
’The Renaissance Women, part 2’
Wozniacki DEN 10 bt Tsurenko UKR 6-4 6-3 (55-0)
Kuznetsova RUS bt Suarez-Navarro SPA 6-2 4-6 6-3 (45-0)
Yip, former slam champion and world number 1, and both making inroads into this tournament.
Wozniacki beat the last qualifier remaining in the draw, and proved further how much a swing match that round 1 match with Lisicki has been. Of the 68% who predicted her win over Lisicki, 55% also predicted her 3rd round win, making it a very handy 6 points for them.
Caro is still winning ugly though. She hit just 5 winners out of her 65 points won in the match. Tsurenko won 48 points in the match, but also hit 48 unforced errors!
Sveta’s win over CSN meant no further Spanish interest in the draw. It could have been different, as CSN was up a break in the deciding set – but as we have seen several times already over the last 6 days, this is not a guarantee of a win by any stretch! 45% of BOTP folk have seen their gamble in Sveta pay off.
Sveta and Caro play each other in round 4 though!
’Fairy Tale Runs in the Making?’
Stephens US 29 bt Robson GB 7-5 6-3 (32-9)
Vesnina RUS bt Vinci ITA 16 4-6 7-6 6-4 (18-59)
Jovanovski SER bt Date Krumm JPN 6-2 7-6 (0-0)
Well, Sloane Stephens beat Laura Robson in a tight match last week – and did so again today. Laura seemed to experience a problem with her shoulder the night before, and perhaps inhibited her play a little. Sloane has said that her rivalry with Robson is likely to be of the Federer/ Nadal variety. Teenagers, eh?!
Oh – this result means that this particular teenager will be ranked in top 20 when this tourney is over. By contrast, I think that the highest-ranked teenager in the men’s game is 288.
Sloane’s win was a good win for 32% of BOTPers. 9% of BOTPers picked Laura, and the rest picked Kvitova.
Watched most of Vesnina v Vinci. Was quite a long cat and mouse match, given that neither player is prone to hitting their opponents off the court. In the last 4 years, Elena has lost all of her Australian Open round 1 matches, so this has already been a big success for her.
Well done to the 18% of BOTP folk who picked her to win. These were as follows: big al, jack, liam and tlim. A very handy 3 points for you all!!
The Bojana Jovanovski v Kimiko match was a strange one. Kimiko should have taken the match to a deciding set, but too often she made unforced errors that her game shouldn’t lend itself to. Bojana hit a fair few too, but she’s a big, low-percentage hitter.
So, Jovanovski joined Ivanovic in flying the flag for Serbia in the 4th round. I think that this is her first 4th round appearance in any of the slams. Her opponent in the next round? Sloane Stephens.
Oh, and none of us picked either player to win this match. It was 87% Petrova, 13% LucieSaf.
BOTP Roundup: Day 06
Star performer of the day today was liam, with 7 correct picks out of 8 – and duly motored 6 places up the table to second spot. Well done liam – inspired stuff!
It was also a good day for jane, who correctly predicted 6 out of 8 – and also moved up the table – up 3 places to 3rd.
jack also had a good day, also picking 6 out of 8, and extending his lead at the top of the table to 7 points.
There were a few BOTP folk who needed a wee parachute today. livluvlaf and fah51 had the sort of day where the wheels came off with their predictions. Both had just 2 correct picks out of 8, with those of course being the big 2 in the top half of the draw. Both had Vinci and Wicky in their picks, who on another day might have won their matches.
The rest of us? Well, we all got about 4-5 picks out of 8, so still good going. It means that we all still have chances to pick up valuable BOTP points in the latter stages of the tournament that aren’t just Serena, Vika, Sharpie, Aga etc.
Anyway. Tomorrow, we have just the 4 matches, round 4, with 4 points for each correct pick. Interestingly, everyone can pick 3 or 4 of these matches correctly – and of the 8 players involved, Flipkens is the only player without BOTP points against their name! It will be interesting to see how these matches pan out – more movements in the BOTP table are pretty much guaranteed!
Hello!
Bit late with the BOTP table, but just about getting it posted in time before today's play.
Add more to this summarised report, if I can get time - but in the meantime, here are the results/ stats from yesterday's matches:
Li CHN 6 bt Goerges GER 18 7-6 6-1 (73-5)
A Radwanska POL 4 bt Ivanovic SER 13 6-2 6-4 (95-5)
Makarova RUS 19 bt Kerber GER 5 7-5 6-4 (9-73)
Sharapova RUS 2 bt Flipkens BEL 6-1 6-0 (100-0)
Nobody picked all 4 correctly; The only people to pick Ekat Mak were livluvlaf (who had jinxed her already in a previous post ) - and SallyDaisy . An inspired pick from both of you!!
Otherwise, most people picked the other 3 winners - with what seems like not much movement in the BOTP table. In fact, the chasing pack all closed in on jack a little, as jack had only 2 picks out of 4, due to having picked Ivanovic and Bartoli to make the quarter finals.
So, now just the 3 points - or one correct pick - between jack and liam, with jane just the 1 point behind liam - and nevets, james just 1 point behind her. Plenty of people moving into contention as BOTP goes into its second week.
Hello
A relatively brief BOTP report again, due to time constraints – here are today’s results and BOTP statistics:
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Vesnina RUS 6-1 6-1 (100-0)
Kuznetsova RUS bt Wozniacki DEN 10 6-2 2-6 7-5 (9-27)
S Williams US 3 bt Kirilenko RUS 14 6-2 6-0 (100-0)
Stephens US 29 bt Jovanovski SER 6-1 3-6 7-5 (18-0)
Today saw completion of the 4th round matches in the top half of the draw. Everyone once again correctly picked Serena and Vika – with no drama in their matches whatsoever. The comparatively less powerful Russians of Vesnina and Kirilenko were no match for them.
The other 2 matches, however were not predicted by many. This was of course where a few folk picked up valuable BOTP points. Only 2 BOTPers predicted Sveta reaching the quarter finals. Well done to DN and jane!! This seemed the most open of the quarter final berths, with 6 different players predicted in BOTP to reach this stage – Sveta, Caro, Errani, McHale, Lisicki, Annie Pav.
Also, only 4 BOTPers picked Sloane Stephens to reach the quarter finals. This was predicted by jack, jane, liam and tabbles Again – an excellent pick – a very handy 4 points. The rest of us had gone for Kvitova or Petrova.
BOTP Summary: Day 08
It was an excellent day for jane, who was the only BOTPer to correctly predict all 4 winners today – and also has a very impressive 7 out of 8 quarter finalists. As a result jane moved up a couple of places in the BOTP table to share top spot with jack.
DN, liam, jack and tabbles all got 3 out of 4, with liam gaining ground on the front runners, DN moving up 3 places to 6th and tabbles nudging up a spot, mid-table.
It would appear to be a 3-horse race between jack jane and liam – but I haven’t done the maths on this, so really don’t know if anyone can steal a march with this. There are still enough permutations of predictions for the latter stages to give many folk a chance to finish the pick ‘em strongly though.
This also includes the other end of the table too. viva might appear to be locked in the BOTP basement, but usually for someone in that position, he still has all 4 of his semi finalists still in the draw. Will he catch Sally or DaveArneRiise above him?
Tomorrow sees the 2 quarter finals matches from the bottom of the draw:
Na Li v Aga Radwanska
Ekat Makarova v Sharapova
There is certainly a split BOTP vote on the Na v Aga match. It might even go some way to deciding BOTP, come to think of it..
Here's the BOTP table after day 9 - just the 2 matches played today.
JAMES4578
22-01-2013, 07:39
Well I've slipped up picking Aga as a finalist as she fails to reach the semis but Li Na always capable of a good run even if at times she flatters to deceive. Main reason I picked her over Sharapova was due to the injury concern but no sign of that here and whilst tougher challenges await Maria has won all of her matches quickly.
Some folk on CC have been saying exactly the same thing about Sharapova - they simply didn't expect her to get that far..
Here are the results for the day's play, plus stats:
Li CHN 6 bt A Radwanska POL 4 7-5 6-3 (27-55)
Sharapova RUS 2 bt Makarova RUS 19 6-2 6-2 (86-5)
Clearly the Na Li match was the pivotal match for BOTP. It's all 'if's' 'buts' and 'maybes', but had Aga won today, it would have meant jack was out of the running with the pick 'em. liam would have been in pole position, with jane still in with a shout.
Those picking SuperNa all ended up with a maximum 10 points for the day, which now included 4 of the top 5 - showing just how correct picks later in the draw can significantly impact the table. These were jack and jane, who have resumed their joint leadship of the table. icona and cazza also picked up 10 points to move up to 4th and 5th behind liam - and tlim moved up 4 places to a respectable 10th place.
It indeed impacted the table at both ends, with viva's 10 points for the day, resulting in him climbing off the bottom of the table for the first time in, ooh, ages - and consigning poor Sally to the BOTP basement.
This is Na's first slam semi final since she won the French Open - so a welcome return for her. Did everyone she her shanked serve and explanation for it in today's match?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InxBl6Bvgbs
Anyway - other 2 quarter finals tomorrow: Vika v Sveta - and Serena v Sloane. Hopefully good matches.
RoastLamb
23-01-2013, 04:59
Well that scuppers me! My winner oot!!!
Me too. Just when I've run out of bananas. :sad:
BOTP Report: Day 10
Well, day 10 saw completion of the 2 quarter final matches in the top half of the draw:
”Sloane gets Serena’s back up & Vika betters Sveta”
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Kuznetsova RUS 7-5 6-1 (82-0)
Stephens US 29 bt S Williams US 3 3-6 7-5 6-4 (0-95)
Well, quite a shock win for Sloane Stephens – able to take full advantage of Serena’s injuries – back spasm, ankle. Shows how nothing can be taken for granted, and all it takes is one slip at any point in the tournament. Even with those impediments, Serena did lead by a set and a break of serve. All credit to Stephens for just going for it and ultimately prevailing.
The result was Serena’s first loss to any American younger than her. It was the first time that she had ever lost an Australian Open match where she had won the first set (she was 48-0 in that respect.
Clearly the result was a breakthrough win for the younger American. A disaster in BOTP terms meant 95% of us lost out and 83% of us lost our predicted winner!! It also means that only 1 person currently has a predicted finalist in the top half of the draw, i.e. Azarenka.
BOTP fared a lot better in the other match as a result of Azarenka’s expected win over Kuznetsova. However, Sveta was 4-1 up early in the first set, and really made the Shrieky Belarussian look second-rate at times. The problem was that Sveta was not consistent with this. But boy, if she can sustain this kind of play then she will be flying back up the rankings.
BOTP Summary: Day10
Well, given that nearly everyone had the same picks, the table stays more or less the same, with the only droppers being those who did not pick Shrieky Vicky to make the semis. Poor livluvlaf became the first BOTPer in this tournament to lose all of her predictions. I quite like her predicted lineup of Lisicki, Serena, Aga Rad and Makarova. Linda and Macborg took a bit of a tumble towards the BOTP basement too; both of them, plus Sally all picked Caro Wozniacki to make the semis instead of Vika.
So then – semi finals. All players apart from Stephens have BOTP points riding on them. The Na Li v Sharapova match will certainly create a few movements in the table, with 14% picking Na and 55% picking Sharpie – and a Vika win will be of benefit to 5% who picked her..
Either which way, we have 2 big hitters pitching against each other, and 2 players with extraordinary mobility/ defence. Could make for interesting matches.
:sad:
Thankfully I restocked with bananas yesterday.
RoastLamb
24-01-2013, 20:59
Well at least one of my finalists made it but I have her losing to Serena. Bummer. Really hoping Li Na plays lights out like she did last night.
Well at least one of my finalists made it but I have her losing to Serena. Bummer. Really hoping Li Na plays lights out like she did last night.
RL, I have you picking Aga Rad v Serena in the final. Have I got that correctly? I have just double-checked the e=mail that you sent, and that seems to be the case..
Hello - apologies for this being late. Here is BOTP table, results, report after day 11:
Quick BOTP Report: Day 11
Hello again – time tight, so must be quick with BOTP update on the semi finals.
Vika v Na Li final
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Stephens US 29 6-1 6-4 (5-0)
Li CHN 6 bt Sharapova RUS 2 6-2 6-2 (14-55)
Although 6 points were up for grabs for each win, only 3 BOTPers won any points today. jane and jack continued to be joined at the hip as they both picked up 6 points from Na Li’s win. The star BOTPer of the day however was undoubtedly cazza, who was the only person to correctly pick both finalists. Well done cazza!!
The rest of us, well, from the top half of the draw, 91% of us had Serena in the final, and 5% Wozniacki. Bottom half was Sharapova (55%), Na Li (13%) Stosur (9%), Radwanska (23%).
I suspect that popular support will be with Na Li, seeing as she is a former finalist, due a win, plus those post-match on-court interviews. Vika might well be the pantomime villain, especially following her 10-minute MTO against Stephens. Either way, it is likely to be full-on hitting.
In terms of BOTP table, very little movement. cazza moved up 2 places to 3rd, courtesy of her 12 points, and jack and jane still joint leaders. Very few people can pick up points in the final, unfortunately. I will be away for the next few days, and will provide a final BOTP table, probably on Tuesday. Hope you enjoy the finals this weekend.
RoastLamb
25-01-2013, 16:06
RL, I have you picking Aga Rad v Serena in the final. Have I got that correctly? I have just double-checked the e=mail that you sent, and that seems to be the case..
Oh bummer! I thought I'd picked Azarenka. :crying: Never mind. I'll be happy if Li Na can take it.
BOTP: Belated Final table/ roundup
Firstly – my apologies for taking so long to post the final BOTP table. I have been away and then been so busy upon return that I haven’t been home at all.
Vika Defends Her Title
Azarenka BLR 1 bt Li CHN 6 4-6 6-4 6-3 (5-5)
Well, I didn’t see the match, but it sounds as if Madame Li’s ankle injuries had a bearing on this match. Seems that Vika copped a bit of flak for her MTO in her semi final, but gritted her teeth and toughed out a win.
Each of the finalists had 1 BOTPer predicting them to win. jack had backed Na Li, but it was cazza who claimed the 7 points by backing the Belarussian to prevail. Well done cazza!!
In spite of cazza picking up those 7 points, unusually this had no impact on positions in the BOTP table. cazza remained 3rd, but finished just one single, solitary point behind jack and jane, who finished BOTP pretty much as they started it – joined at the hip at the top of the table!
The usual way of picking a winner when the scores are tied is by number of correct picks. jack had 90 correct picks to jane’s 88, and so wins the 2013 Ao BOTP. Congratulations to both jack and jane for having such a good tournament. There was precious little between them at the end.
By and large, we all didn’t do too badly, considering Serena shot our collective predictions to pieces, really – and Sharpie/ Aga couldn’t contain a rampant Li Na. At the other end of the table, uber-mavericks Sally and Macborg perhaps found that the tournament’s general predictability didn’t fit well with their upset predictions. It’s always tricky to predict WTA upsets, it seems, even though one is never too far away!!
Anyway, this pretty much wraps up the WTA Australian Open. Perhaps not as exciting as recent slams, in some respects – but from a British Perspective, a good one with Watson and Robson doing so well. Many thanks to all of you for taking part. I would hope that we do another one for the French Open – so hope to see you then.
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