WTA Pick 'Em: BOTP - French Open 2013

[super8]

Hello everyone

It's been a while since I posted on either am.com or CC - lots of other things going on, which I won't bore you with. Hope all well with you all?

This is a bit last minute.com but planning on running a wee pick 'em for the French Open. I'm a bit out of touch with goings on, but am assuming that the draw will be made tomorrow, and play starts on Sunday? I shall try to get an entry form together by 10am on Saturday at the latest for main draw. Don't know situation with qualifiers, but will ask nevets over on CC - he is far less up to speed with this than me!

It is English Bank Holiday weekend of course - so can try to put a form together for anyone who wants the earliest possible form tomorrow if time permits. Just let me know.

If you have any other queries then feel free to message me.

[JAMES4578]

Hope things haven't been too hectic Super8, thanks for running the comp again!

[super8]

Thanks James!

Here's an entry form for those who would like to submit predictions today.

Updated form to follow once qualifiers are placed.

[Linda]

I've emailed mine! :)

[RoastLamb]

Will do mine tomorrow.

[super8]

Hello again,

Here is the BOTP form, with the qualifiers now placed. Sooner than I had expected, I have to say!!

[super8]

I've emailed mine! :)

..and confirmed as received. I have sent you a wee e-mail.

[DaveArneRiise]

..and confirmed as received. I have sent you a wee e-mail.

Sent mine :yahoo:

[Sallydaisy]

I'm on competition entries tomorrow evening - bit knackered tonight 'cos I've been swimming.

[JAMES4578]

Have posted mine on CC. After last year vowed I wouldn't go for Serena in French again and despite recent results decided to stick with that though it probably won't go well for me!

[super8]

Because of the tight turnaround with this (if tournament starts on a Sunday, why can't draw be a day earlier too?!), the cut-off for entry won't be exactly the starting time of the tournament. There will be a wee bit of latitude for those who have had more of a Sunday lie-in!

However, having said that, most of you and the CC folk seem to be very organised with predictions, which is both a big help and pretty impressive.. :)

[RoastLamb]

I sent mine late last night via email.

[Linda]

Not doing at all well on this so far, got nearly as many wrong as right.

[RoastLamb]

Yes, there have been a few unpleasant surprises (for me, anyway). Yes, Nadia! I'm talking about YOU!!!

[DaveArneRiise]

Ursula :yahoo:

[super8]

Just wee update on things.

There are 20 folk taking part. I think it's 8 am.com people and 12 cc folk.

I shall just do a quick summary of today's results and a BOTP table. Will add some stats tomorrow..

[super8]

Results: Day 01

[1] S Williams (US) d A Tatishvili (GEO) 60 61 (100-0)
[19] A Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d A Hlavackova (CZE) 46 76(5) 64 (100-0)
[14] A Ivanovic (SER) d P Martic (CRO) 61 36 63 (100-0)
[5] S Errani (ITA) d A Rus (NED) 61 62 (100-0)

[32] S Lisicki (GER) d S Arvidsson (SWE) 63 64 (95-5)
[26] S Cirstea (ROM) d K Bertens (NED) 57 75 62 (90-10)
G Voskoboeva (KAZ) d G Min (US) 46 64 75 (90-10)
V Razzano (FRA) d C Feuerstein (FRA) 76(6) 64 (90-10)

C Garcia (FRA) d Y Beygelzimer (UKR) 63 64 (60-40)
M Burdette (US) d D Vekic (CRO) 63 64 (55-45)
P Cetkovska (CZE) d O Puchkova (RUS) 60 62 (50-50)

U Radwanska (POL) d [30] V Williams (US) 76(5) 67(4) 64 (40-60)
Y Putintseva (KAZ) d A Morita (JPN) 62 63 (40-60)
S Rogers (US) d I Pavlovic (FRA) 63 64 (35-65)
D Pfizenmaier (GER) d M Minella (LUX) 75 61 (30-70)

M Puig (PUR) d [11] N Petrova (RUS) 36 75 64 (0-100)

Table: Day 01

[super8]

Here are both all of the BOTP predictions percentage picks.

The predictions are in alphabetical order.

The stats are nice and neat due to 20 of us taking part. Unsurprisingly, Serena is the overwhelming pick to win.

[RoastLamb]

So far I am sucking at this. Big time. :crying:

[cazza99]

Mine has gone upside down and will be in a spin now Laura has lost.

[Linda]

Me too :sad:

[JAMES4578]

Had both Laura and Venus in the 3rd round so hasn't gone to plan,though nearly went for the Ursula win!

[super8]

Hello,

BOTP results and table after day 02 as below.

[15] R Vinci (ITA) d S Foretz (FRA) 63 60 (100-0)
[17] S Stephens (US) d K Knapp (ITA) 62 75 (100-0)
[2] M Sharapova (RUS) d S W Hsieh (TPE) 62 61 (100-0)
[29] V Lepchenko (US) d M Lucic, Baroni (CRO) 61 62 (100-0)
[4] A Radwanska (POL) d S Peer (ISR) 61 61 (100-0)
[6] N Li (CHN) d A Medina Garrigues (SPA) 63 64 (100-0)
[8] A Kerber (GER) d M Barthel (GER) 76(6) 62 (100-0)
F Schiavone (ITA) d M Czink (HUN) 60 76(1) (100-0)
J Zheng (CHN) d V Dolonc (SER) 64 61 (100-0)
[20] C Suarez-Navarro (SPA) d S Halep (ROM)36 62 62 (95-5)

[21] K Flipkens (BEL) d F Pennetta (ITA) 26 64 60 (80-20)
M Keys (US) d M Doi (JPN) 63 62 (80-20)
M T Torro-Flor (SPA) d J Glushko (ISR) 62 75 (75-25)
B Mattek-Sands (US) d L Dominguez Lino (SPA) 64 61 (65-35)
M Rybarikova (SVK) d P Parmentier (FRA) 60 61 (65-35)
S Kuznetsova (RUS) d [22] E Makarova (RUS) 64 62 (65-35)
V King (US) d A Cadantu (ROM) 76(3) 61 (65-35)
G Muguruza Blanco (SPA) d K Pliskova (CZE) 46 75 63 (60-40)
P Ormaechea (ARG) d T Maria (GER) 63 46 60 (60-40)

B Jovanovski (SER) d B Zahlavova-Strycova (CZE) 63 62 (45-55)
J Larsson (SWE) d M Niculescu (ROM) 62 63 (30-70)
M Johansson (FRA) d C Scheepers (SA) 75 61 (30-70)
M Oudin (US) d [28] T Paszek (AUT) 64 63 (30-70)
[10] C Wozniacki (DEN) d L Robson (GB) 63 62 (25-75)
J Cepelova (SVK) d C McHale (US) 76(3) 26 64 (20-80)

E Svitolina (UKR) d R Oprandi (SWI) 63 46 61 (5-95)
Z Kucova (SVK) d [24] J Goerges (GER) 76(8) 60 (0-100)

Results are in descending order of overall pick rate. Goerges/ Oprandi defeats the main ones that caught everyone out.

[super8]

Quick question: does anyone know where I can get the daily results that are easy to copy and paste for the BOTP summaries?

I am relying on someone else posting them onto another site and the timing of them posting this is really variable.

Thanks!

[Manaus]

Quick question: does anyone know where I can get the daily results that are easy to copy and paste for the BOTP summaries?

I am relying on someone else posting them onto another site and the timing of them posting this is really variable.

Thanks!

The Reuters site gives the best that I can find. Not perfect but probably the easiest to copy: Day 3 women's results (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/tennis-women-open-results-idUKISS61729620130528)

[super8]

The Reuters site gives the best that I can find. Not perfect but probably the easiest to copy: Day 3 women's results (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/tennis-women-open-results-idUKISS61729620130528)

Ah, thanks! I also asked the same question on CC - iconA replied with the exact same site! I shall therefore use that one from now on :)

[super8]

Hello again

Well, the rain proved to be pretty disruptive today - only 10 of the 20 scheduled round 01 matches were completed. These were as follows:

31-Alize Cornet (France) beat Maria Joao Koehler (Portugal) 7-5 6-2 (100-0)
9-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Kimiko Date-Krumm (Japan) 6-0 6-2 (100-0)
13-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Olga Govortsova (Belarus) 7-6(8) 4-6 7-5 (95-5)
16-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-1 6-4 (95-5)
18-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-4 7-6(7) (95-5)
27-Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) beat Coco Vandeweghe (U.S.) 6-0 3-6 6-2 (95-5)
Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Lauren Davis (U.S.) 6-0 7-5 (90-10)
Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) beat Elena Baltacha (Britain) 6-3 6-0 (85-15)
Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spain) beat Irina Begu (Romania) 6-3 6-2 (60-40)
Mariana Duque (Colombia) beat Kristyna Pliskova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-0 (30-70)

Looks like the contest of the day was Bartoli v Govortsova, where Marion saved match points to pull that one out of the fire. Shame that Dani was unable to capitalise on her 5-0 lead in the second set against JJ too. Both of the Pliskova sisters are out already, and both of them had decent BOTP backing..

Otherwise, the rest of the matches more or less went the way of most BOTP folk, and not too much of a change in BOTP table. Details as below.

Hoping for drier days ahead..

[JAMES4578]

Well got a few wrong today and looks like I was the only one who picked Daniella to beat Jelena, though it was a close call. However, I heard that Hantuchova was 5-1 up in the 2nd and Jankovic recovered to force a breaker after a rain delay at 5-2. of course Bartoli had it tough and had to save mps,so that one could have gone the other way. Expected Stosur to win but didn't think Date Krumm would have been so humbled.

[Manaus]

Not doing too badly considering that I guessed randomly for most of the picks!

[super8]

Hello again,

After the rain-affected Tuesday, there was some catchup needed on day 4! In spite of black clouds threatening, this catchup was duly achieved, with all 10 remaining round 01 matches completed and all 16 round 02 matches completed today. Back on track!

Here are the results for the remaining round 01 matches:

12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Nina Bratchikova (Portugal) 6-0 6-1 (100-0)
3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-1 6-4 (100-0)
7-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Aravane Rezai (France) 6-3 4-6 6-2 (100-0)
Peng Shuai (China) beat Camila Giorgi (Italy) 6-4 6-2 (90-10)
Annika Beck (Germany) beat Sandra Zahlavova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-1 (70-30)
Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) beat 23-Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 7-6(3) 6-2 (55-45)
Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) beat Heather Watson (Britain) 6-4 2-6 6-4 (55-45)
Jamie Hampton (U.S.) beat 25-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 7-6(5) 3-6 9-7 (35-65)
Ashleigh Barty (Australia) beat Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) 7-5 2-6 6-1 (15-85)
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia) beat Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) 7-6(5) 2-6 6-2 (0-100)

Some pretty competitive matches, including a rollercoaster match between Hampton and Safarova where both players had chances to win in that final set. Some well-matched contests between Watson-Voegele, Kanepi-Zakapolova reflected in the 50-50 BOTP split. Shock of the day for these matches was Wicky's round 01 exit, which none of us predicted. Well done to icona linda and sally for picking Barty's win over Hradecka.

Round 02 Results

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Caroline Garcia (France) 6-1 6-2 (100-0)
14-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Mathilde Johansson (France) 6-2 6-2 (100-0)
15-Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) 6-4 4-6 6-2 (100-0)
4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Mallory Burdette (U.S.) 6-3 6-2 (100-0)
5-Sara Errani (Italy) beat Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-1 6-1 (100-0)
8-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Jana Cepelova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-2 (100-0)
20-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) beat Shelby Rogers (U.S.) 3-6 6-4 6-4 (95-0)
32-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) beat Maria Teresa Torro (Spain) 6-4 6-0 (90-5)
26-Sorana Cirstea (Romania) beat Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-1 6-4 (80-0)
29-Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) beat Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) 7-6(5) 6-1 (80-0)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) 1-6 6-2 6-2 (65-0)
Virginie Razzano (France) beat Zuzana Kucova (Slovakia) 4-6 6-2 6-0 (10-0)
Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) beat 19-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 7-5 2-6 6-4 (5-95)
Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) beat 10-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 7-6(2) 6-3 (0-25)
Dinah Pfizenmaier (Germany) beat Urszula Radwanska (Poland) 6-3 6-3 (0-40)
Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) beat Madison Keys (U.S.) 6-4 7-6(2) (0-15)

Had the BOTP picks been a song, they would have been 'All or Nothing'. We all either were bang on, or completely lost the plot!! 6 out of the 16 matches were 100%ers, 4 were 80% picks or more.

A nice maverick 2 points to alli and roastlamb for being the only 2 BOTPers to pick Razzano to make round 3. the rest of us had picked Jools 'wrist injury' Goerges.

Those who picked Laura Robson to make round 3 dodged a wee bullet when big-hitting Bojana beat Wozniacki in straight sets, denying the 25% picking the Dane a handy 2 points. No-one picked the young Serb.

A truly maverick pick was sally's pick of Cetkovska to beat Annie Pav. Not even well-known Czech tennis fan nevets made such an outlandish prediction - bravo!

Ula Rad couldn't capitalise on her win over Vee, falling meekly in straights to the well-known Dinah Pfizenmaier. Those who picked Vee to progress dodged a bullet this time, as 40% had picked Ula to set up a 3rd round match against her sister.

Finally, no-one picked Monica Puig to reach the second round, let alone round 3! 15% of BOTPers had gone for Madison Keys. The rest of us of course had gone for Petrova.

In terms of the overall scores, ship BOTP sails steady with a pick rate of 68% in round 1 and 64% in round 2, so far. livluvlaf has regained the lead from nevets by a solitary point. Most of the movements occurring in the bottom half of the table. There already seems to be an early 3-way tussle for the BOTP basement residency by tlim, sally and jane - but really, early doors, as yet.

[super8]

Hello again,

Well, it has been another rain-affected day, with only 11 matches completed out of the 16 scheduled.

Here are the results, plus BOTP stats:

3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Annika Beck (Germany) 6-4 6-3 (100-0)
9-Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Kristina Mladenovic (France) 6-4 6-3 (100-0)
17-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) beat Vania King (U.S.) 6-1 6-3 (95-5)
18-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) 6-3 6-0 (90-5)
7-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Peng Shuai (China) 6-4 6-3 (90-10)
31-Alize Cornet (France) beat Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spain) 6-1 6-3 (85-5)
Zheng Jie (China) beat Melanie Oudin (U.S.) 6-3 6-1 (70-0)

Jamie Hampton (U.S.) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia) 7-5 6-2 (25-0)
Paula Ormaechea (Argentina) beat 27-Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 6-4 7-6(6) (5-95)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (U.S.) beat 6-Li Na (China) 5-7 6-3 6-2 (0-100)
Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) beat 16-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-2 2-6 6-4 (0-95)

Divided up into expected results and shocks! Jamie Hampton won the battle of the upsetters, with both having despatched favoured BOTP picks of Safarova and Wicky in their previous matches. Kudos to the 25% of folk who picked the young American.

Well, everyone picked Yaro Shvedova over Paula Ormaecha - with the sole exception of nevets who wins the newly-thought-up Maverick of the day award. Bravo nevets!

No-one picked Bethany Matt-Sands to beat Li Na - and beat her well, she did, pretty much outhitting and out-rallying supernal. Bethany was diagnosed with mineral deficiencies last year, and the change of diet has helped her a lot to re-establish herself in the game - and simply not get tired as much. This upset could potentially impact BOTP later on, where folk pre cited Na would go deep into the draw.

Marina Erakovic's win over little Dom must count as one of her best singles wins on the tour. It also perhaps shows Elena Baltacha's round 1 defeat in a better light I guess.

As with yesterday, it was mainly all of nothing for most picks. liam however did have a few of his picks come off for him today, and as a result moved up 7 places to 8th. nevets' inspired pick of Ormaecha is probably the difference between him and liveluvlaf today, with them swapping places at the top of the table again. A little bit of a gap has opened up between them and the chasing pack - but it really is still early days yet.

[super8]

Hello

BOTP results/ stats for day 06 - later than planned..

Round 02

2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-2 6-4 (100-0)
12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Ashleigh Barty (Australia) 6-3 6-1 (95-0)
13-Marion Bartoli (France) beat Mariana Duque (Colombia) 7-6(5) 7-5 (85-5)
Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat 21-Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-1 4-6 6-3 (60-35)
Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) beat Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 7-6(6) 3-6 8-6 (5-50)

Thankfully the weather held off, and round 02 got finished off. Very few matches splitting the vote here, with the possibly exception of Schiavone v Flipper. Another one of the smaller players who had form coming into this tournament and not toppling one of the bigger guns. I wonder if the damper weather, heavier balls/ play has adversely affected the lighter hitters?

Maverick pick of the day goes to iconA for picking Voegele (conquerer of Heather Watson) to beat Kaia Kanepi - who 50% of BOTP folk went for. Kaia has done BOTP precious few favours with her sheer unpredictability..

Round 03

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 26-Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-0 6-2 (100-0)
5-Sara Errani (Italy) beat 32-Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-0 6-4 (100-0)
8-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat 29-Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) 6-4 6-7(3) 6-4 (100-0)
4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Dinah Pfizenmaier (Germany) 6-3 6-4 (95-0)
14-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) beat Virginie Razzano (France) 6-3 6-2 (90-0)
15-Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 6-1 2-6 6-2 (65-0)
20-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) beat Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 6-4 7-5 (60-0)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 6-4 7-6(2) (40-0)

Not one of these matches had picks riding on both players - and everyone with points to gain duly gained them. Arguably Carla SN benefiting from Petrova's still-baffling round 1 exit.

Strangely for a BOTP, we're already seeing gaps at the top of the table. nevets has now opened up a 4-point lead over LLL, who in turn has a 6-point advantage over big al. davearneriise is flying the am.com flag in 4th and linda is at the front of the chasing pack in 5th place. At the other end of the table poor tlim has taken early residency in the BOTP basement, with viva and jane not too far away.

I haven't looked at the stats, but I'd think that there is still scope for surprises. There are already big points to be gained from some early exits - and all it would take would be for another minor shock or two to spice things up further..

[super8]

BOTP Report: Day 07

Hello again,

A later-than-planned summary of yesterday's round 3 matches - bottom half of the draw - and how it has impacted BOTP:

2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat Zheng Jie (China) 6-1 7-5 (100-0)
3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat 31-Alize Cornet (France) 4-6 6-3 6-1 (100-0)
12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Stefanie Voegele (Switzerland) 7-6(3) 7-5 (80-0)
17-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) beat Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-4 6-7(5) 6-3 (55-0)
Francesca Schiavone (Italy) beat 13-Marion Bartoli (France) 6-2 6-1 (30-50)
18-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat 9-Samantha Stosur (Australia) 3-6 6-3 6-4 (25-75)
Jamie Hampton (U.S.) beat 7-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 6-1 7-6(7) (5-85)
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (U.S.) beat Paula Ormaechea (Argentina) 4-6 6-1 6-3 (0-0)

Well, the usual 100%ers Sharapova and Aarenka experienced differing degrees of difficulty in their matches. Alize Cornet proved more of a handful for Vika, but she was able to ground down her opponent. Most folk picked Maria-minor to win as well - she seems to have become quite a solid pro on the tour. 55% of folk picked Sloane Stephens to reach round 4 again - which she duly did (the other 45% went for little Dom).

The closest thing to a 50:50 match for the day was Schiavone v Bartoli, with 30% Italy, 50% France. I don't think that Bartoli has done very well at RG at all in previous years - and so it proved here.

Jelena Jankovic pulled off a micro-shock of beating former finalist Sam Stosur. A handy result for 25% of BOTPers. The other 75% had gone for SuperSam.

The maverick pick of the day went to northernlight/super8 (um, me..) for being the only person to pick Jamie Hampton over Petra Kvitova. Oddly, I picked Kvitova to win in our CC daily predictions..

And, rounding up today's results, we had a BOTP double bagel, where Bethany Matt-Sands - picked by no-one - beat Paula Ormaechea - again, picked by no-one! That was a 95% BOTP pick for Na La - who of course Bethany beat in the previous round (and 5% pick for Shvedova).

So, in terms of BOTP table, big Al has moved up to joint second with livluvlaf in pursuit of nevets who has a very handy 7-point lead. nevets has become the Serena Williams of the BOTP - the one everyone has to beat now. A fair bit of jostling around, mid-table - roastlamb has moved up a handy 5 places to 7th spot, and alli has taken a bit of a tumble to 11th. jane has moved slightly closer to tlim in the BOTP basement.

So - on to round 04 - and 4 points per win, with many folk still having most of their quarter-finalists. It will be interesting to see how those pan out.

[super8]

BOTP Report: Day 8

Day 8 saw the Round 4 matches from the top half of the draw:

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 15-Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-1 6-3 (100-0)
5-Sara Errani (Italy) beat 20-Carla Suarez Navarro (Spain) 5-7 6-4 6-3 (90-5)
4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat 14-Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 6-2 6-4 (75-25)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat 8-Angelique Kerber (Germany) 6-4 4-6 6-3 (5-80)

Serena won comfortably - no surprises there - we all picked that one. All boils back to that round 1 loss last year, i think.

Errani's win quite dramatic after having problems breathing during match (diaphragm problems, I think). played so well. 90% of BOTPers picked that one well.

Closest to a 50:50 split this time was Aga Rad v Ana Ivanovic. Age played well, including a rare 'tweener shot where she actually won the point! Ana imploded at times. 75% of folk picked Aga against 25% for Ana.

Now then. Sveta reached the quarter finals of the Aus Open earlier this year, upset the BOTP applecart then - and has done so again at RG. 80% of BOTP folk picked Angie Kerber - and only 1 BOTPer picked Sveta. And that person was… nevets

BOTP Summary

Well, of all the people in the BOTP contest to pick up an extra 4 points, nevets was one who needed them the least - and top-scored for the day, getting all 4 picks right - well done nevets! His lead has now extended to an already-potentially BOTP-winning 11 points - in spite of his misgivings about having picked Na Li to go far in the tournament.

big al had another good day, moving into 2nd place outright, with davearneriise and linda sharing 3rd spot with LLL. Lots of minor jostling, mid -table - and at the other end, tlim has handed the BOTP basement keys to jane - but that wee battle is fair bit closer than at the other end of the table just now! However - there can still be some good ground to be gained on all fronts - joust have to see how the results pan out - starting with the other 4 round 4 matches tomorrow..

[super8]

BOTP Report: day 09

Hello again!

Quick BOTP report as it is late! Today saw completion of the 4 round 4 matches in the bottom half of the draw - with contrasting fortunes for the BOTP crowd:

2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 17-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) 6-4 6-3 (100-0)
3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-3 6-0 (95-0)
12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands (U.S.) 7-5 6-4 (15-0)
18-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) beat Jamie Hampton (U.S.) 6-0 6-2 (15-0)

All of the matches were comfortable wins, for starters, but only 2 of them were widely predicted.

Everyone picked Sharapova's win over Stephens - and everyone bar one person picked Azarenka to win her match too. The exception to this was uber-maverick sally (who opted for Bartoli)

Kirilenko's win over Bethanie Matt-Sands, however was picked by just 3 BOTPers. Well done to davearneriise, james4578 and northernlight/ super8! The rest of the BOTP gang picked Na Li..

Similarly, Lady JaJa's win over Jamie Hampton was picked by only 3 BOTPers too. This time, it was the turn of big al, sally and vivahate to pick up the 4 points. The rest of us picked either Kvitova (20%) or Stosur (65%).

BOTP Summary

big al's pick of JJ resulted in him closing the gap on leader nevets to 7 points, which in the latter stages of BOTP is now not such a big gap. davearneriise's pick of Maria-minor resulted in him claiming 3rd place outright from LLL and linda, with james4578 moving into the top 6 courtesy of his pick of Maria K too. Not too much change in the rest of the BOTP table - for now...

So, that wraps up round 4, with the quarter finals next. There is certainly at least 1 swing match out of those that will certainly cause a few movements in the BOTP rankings..

[super8]

BOTP Report: Quarter Finals: Pt1

Day 10 was the first part of the quarter finals - top half of the draw:

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-1 3-6 6-3 (95-0)
5-Sara Errani (Italy) beat 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 6-4 7-6(6) (75-20)

Both matches were milestone wins. Serena was pushed all the way by Kuznetsova to reach her first RG semi final in 10 years. amazing will to win from the top-ranked player - and a fabulous tournament again from Kuznetsova. Might have been better as the actual final.

Serena was of course heavy favourite with the BOTP crowd. A 95% pick, no less.

Sara Errani's win over Aga was also a milestone. It was her first ever win against a top 5 player. at the same stage last year she had her first win against a top 10 player (Kerber, I think?). She has now reached 3 slam semi finals. Quite an achievement for someone considered a doubles player first! I think that a change of racquet helped her (prior to Aus Open last yr).

Errani was again a majority pick - 75% of BOTPers picked her, with 20% of BOTPers picking Aga.

It is actually very unusual for so many people still to have so many players in the tournament by now - usually it can be decimated by more than its fair share of shocks!

So, it was a good day if you picked Errani to win, basically. 70% of BOTPers got the full 10 points for the day, and 30% picked up 5 points.

Where does that leave the BOTP table? The top 4 remained unchanged. linda had a wee slip to 7th, with DN and RL moving up to equal 5th at her expense. At the other end of the table, Jane was one of the 10-pointers, and duly handed the BOTP basement keys back to tlim.

As for tomorrow's quarter final matches, again one of those could impact the BOTP table a fair bit. Again, it's a question of wait and see…

[super8]

Hello

My apologies - hadn't posted the Wednesday results & table - and running behind with yesterday's semi final matches too..

The remaining quarter final results were as follows:

2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 18-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 0-6 6-4 6-3 (95-0)
3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat 12-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 7-6(3) 6-2 (80-0)

And the table, as below. Vika's win has resulted in just 2 points separating nevets from big al and the top of the table with davearneriise in 3rd place, just 4 points behind big al. At the other end of the table, jane has vaulted away from the BOTP basement with tlim now having sally and liam as potential contenders for residency.

Lots of people correctly picked all 4 semi finalists!! This is possibly due to the draw being less skewed compared to other recent slams, which is in part due to players having their proper rankings - rather than artificially low ones as a result of absence form tour due to injury. Or something like that.

If I get time this morning, then will also post tables after yesterday's results..

[super8]

Hello!

Semi final results, BOTP stats and table as follows:

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 5-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-0 6-1 (95-5)
2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) beat 3-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 6-1 2-6 6-4 (60-30)

[RoastLamb]

Yay! Fourth!!!

[super8]

Hello again

My apologies for the delay in posting the final BOTP table - was away all weekend, and am only now able to get this done. So then..

1-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 2-Maria Sharapova (Russia) 6-4 6-4 (95-5)

Well, Serena was heavily backed to win the Australian Open, and that went pear-shaped for everyone. However, this time, she duly delivered.

I think that this must be the first time that everyone has had a potential winner in a final since BOTP started - 95% pro-Serena and 5% pro-Maria. Go us!!

As all but one BOTPer picked Serena, the changes in the table were not marked. james was the sole BOTPer to pick Maria and took a wee tumble as a result.

As that took place in the lower half of the table, there was no change in the top 10 of the BOTP table. Many congratulations to nevets who led from the front and was able to hang on for victory, in spite of him picking Li Na to beat Vika. Had Vika beaten Maria, then nevets would have been first equal with davearneriise - but would still have won by virtue of having more correct picks overall.

Well done also to Big Al, who managed to make the BOTP leadership more competitive in the final stages and finished an excellent second. Davearneriise, roastlamb and linda also had good tournaments, making up the remainder of the top 5.

A wee mention to sally who won the battle for the BOTP basement - with unexpectedly strong competition from liam and tlim towards the end.

And that pretty much rounds up the French Open BOTP for 2013. Many thanks to all of you for taking part - I hope that you enjoyed it..

[cazza99]

Well done Fiona and Dave and the other guys at the top :)

:thanks: for running the comp Super8.

[JAMES4578]

Well done Dave and Fiona plus all those at the top!

It was a risky pick on my part and very nearly went for Serena as well but having vowed last year not to pick Serena for the French somehow decided to stick with that. However in The Dream Team where I done well I had Serena but not Maria. In order for my plan to work I figured Serena had to lose before the final and the last time she reached the semi was in 2003 but clearly she was much more comfortable on the clay the last few years, even if she had a bit of a disaster 12 months ago. Having said that there was a glimmer that my plan just might work when Kuznetsova had bps for a double break in their deciding set in the quarters. However Serena found her way back and the rest is history.

I thought it a decent final even if straight sets with its share of entertaining points but Maria seemingly no nearer to finding an answer to Serena's dominance over her even if fought gamely,though a few more first serves would've assisted her.

Thanks Super8 for running it again and whilst not my finest hour look forward to Wimbledon!

[RoastLamb]

Yay! My best EVER result! Thank you Serena! And Super8!

[Linda]

Well done Dave & Fiona :clap: :clap: And thanks Super8 for running this :thumbup:

[Manaus]

Many thanks to Super8 for running this. Well done to Fiona and Dave. :clap:
Think I did OK considering I picked randomly for nearly all the matches.