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hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:30
Page 1 posts from the temporary forum


I guess Super8 hasn't found us, but I've just had a look on Centre Court forum and the form is up. Super8 is away the whole weekend so won't get my message, but you can download the entry form from there without logging on. It's at http://www.cctennisworld.com/tennis-forum/21-fun-a-games/16782-re-wta-pick-em-botp-us-open-2011-deadline-4pm-mon-29-aug.html#16838


ok, thanks Linda! Hopefully Super8 will join us in due course!


Hello!!

I have now joined the brand new Andy Murray forum. Kudos to everyone who managed to get this up and running in time for the US Open!!

I have now set up a predictions form including the qualifiers. I have replaced the one that was originally on the CC thread.

It looks as if I cannot upload the predictions form onto this thread - however, it can still be found on the link that Linda has posted.

If anyone wants to take part and is struggling to make the 4pm deadline, then please do still send it in - even if it is (say) 15-30 minutes late..


Great to see you here Super8. I've got family stuff going on, but I'll try and get mine in if I can.


Super8
My PM's seem to be stuck in my outbox.
Here are my picks. Numbers are per round.

Wozniacki 2
Benesova 2
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (21) 2
Elena Baltacha GBR 2
Andrea Petkovic GER (10) 2
Casey Dellacqua AUS (WC) 2
Date Krumm 2
Na Li CHN (6) 2

Victoria Azarenka BLR (4) 2
Serena Williams USA (28) 2
Shahar Peer ISR (23) 2
Ana Ivanovic SRB (16) 2
Jelena Jankovic SRB (11) 2
Petra Martic CRO 2
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP (32) 2
Francesca Schiavone ITA (7) 2

Petra Kvitova CZE (5) 2
Lucie Safarova CZE (27) 2
Yanina Wickmayer BEL (20) 2
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (12) 2
Razzano 2
Julia Goerges GER (19) 2
Rezai 2
Maria Sharapova RUS (3) 2


Christina McHale USA 2
Maria Kirilenko RUS (25) 2
Nadia Petrova RUS (24) 2
Samantha Stosur AUS (9) 2
Klara Zakopalova CZE 2
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 2
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP (30) 2
Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) 2
------------------------------------
Wozniacki 3
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (21) 3
Andrea Petkovic GER (10) 3
Na Li CHN (6) 3

Serena Williams USA (28) 3
Ana Ivanovic SRB (16) 3
Jelena Jankovic SRB (11) 3
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP (32) 3

Petra Kvitova CZE (5) 3
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (12) 3
Julia Goerges GER (19) 3
Maria Sharapova RUS (3) 3

Maria Kirilenko RUS (25) 3
Samantha Stosur AUS (9) 3
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 3
Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) 3
--------------------------
Wozniacki 4
Andrea Petkovic GER (10) 4
Serena Williams USA (28) 4
Jelena Jankovic SRB (11) 4
Petra Kvitova CZE (5) 4
Maria Sharapova RUS (3) 4
Samantha Stosur AUS (9) 4
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 4
--------------------------
Wozniacki 5
Serena Williams USA (28) 5
Petra Kvitova CZE (5) 5
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 5
--------------------------
Serena Williams USA (28) 6
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 6
--------------------------
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 7


FAO of Super8.
Sorry to have done the picks like this!

Wozniacki 1
Rus 1
Arn 1
Benesova 1
Daniela Hantuchova SVK (21) 1
Paszek 1
Elena Baltacha GBR 1
Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS (15) 1
Andrea Petkovic GER (10) 1
Jie Zheng CHN 1
Casey Dellacqua AUS (WC) 1
Begu 1
Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 1
Date Krumm 1
Carla Suarez Navarro ESP 1
Na Li CHN (6) 1

Victoria Azarenka BLR (4) 1
Rebecca Marino CAN 1
Qualifier 1
Serena Williams USA (28) 1
Shahar Peer ISR (23) 1
Sloane Stephens USA (WC) 1
Petra Cetkovska CZE 1
Ana Ivanovic SRB (16) 1
Jelena Jankovic SRB (11) 1
Dokic 1
Petra Martic CRO 1
Tatishvili 1
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP (32) 1
Keothavong 1
Qualifier 1
Francesca Schiavone ITA (7) 1

Petra Kvitova CZE (5) 1
Monica Niculescu ROU 1
Jill Craybas USA (WC) 1
Lucie Safarova CZE (27) 1
Yanina Wickmayer BEL (20) 1
Anastasia Rodionova AUS 1
Lauren Davis 1
Agnieszka Radwanska POL (12) 1
Shuai Peng CHN (13) 1
Razzano 1
Doi 1
Julia Goerges GER (19) 1
Rezai 1
Qualifier 1
Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 1
Maria Sharapova RUS (3) 1

Marion Bartoli FRA (Cool 1
Christina McHale USA 1
Vera Dushevina RUS 1
Maria Kirilenko RUS (25) 1
Nadia Petrova RUS (24) 1
Bethanie Mattek-Sands USA 1
Vendeweghe 1
Samantha Stosur AUS (9) 1
Dominika Cibulkova SVK (14) 1
Klara Zakopalova CZE 1
Venus Williams USA 1
Sabine Lisicki GER (22) 1
Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP (30) 1
Qualifier 1
Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 1
Vera Zvonareva RUS (2) 1


I emailed mine to you Super8 - hope you got it OK. :)


Oh darn! TOTALLY FORGOT. So very sorry. :(


Admin - no problem re: entry - how you have posted it is pretty much how many folk do it at CC!

Cazza - received your entry - all good!

RL - I have just e-mailed you :)


Disaster! I've lost Kvitova! :shock: :(


Originally going to pick Sharapova as finalist and then went for Kvitova, bit of a disaster! Unless of course Maria goes out too!


I had Kvitova losing to Zvonareva in the semis.



Disaster! I've lost Kvitova! :shock: :(

Even though Kvitova has been in poor form in the US HC summer so far, this was still a total shock!

The first Wimbledon Champ to then lose in the first round of the US Open in the Open Era, no less.

I'd heard that she has been suffering from Asthma in the other HC tourneys - don't know if this is true...


Hello!

Just to give you a quick update on the WTA pick 'em..

There are 18 folk taking part - who are as follows:

Big Al (CC)
Cazza99 (AM)
Dark Necrofear (CC)
fah51 (CC)
Icona (CC)
James4578 (AM)
JaneinScotland (JM)
Linda (AM)
LivLuvLaf (CC)
lizzim (JM)
MacBorg (CC)
Mojoworkoing (CC)
nevets (CC)
northernlight/ super8 (CC/AM)
tabbles (CC)
tlim (CC)
SallyDaisy (AM)
Vivahate (CC)

And that makes it 12 from CC, and 6 from AM/JM.

If I have missed anyone out then please let me know!

I realise that this pick 'em has been organised at a time when am.com was in total turmoil - so am really happy that the AM/ JM folk have still been able to take part - kudos to you all!! Also - I have been ridiculously busy over the last month, so have not had time to cajole folk to take part - so kudos also to the CC folk who have also pulled out the stops to take part. Yay!!

Thankfully, my life will be more in the bus lane than the fast lane over the next few evenings - so will hope to get up to speed with posting some details of predictions, tables re: the results so far. I will certainly provide more tomorrow night..






Thanks Super8 :)


Thanks Super8 :D

I do not think that ever before have I lost two semifinalists at this early stage of the tournament :(


Hello again

Well, in terms of uploading things onto threads, I struggled a little with the upgrade of the previous am.com forum..

The struggle has increased tenfold here - ccan anyone please show me how to upload screenshots onto this thread?

I can do it at CC - but it would of course help immensely if I can do the same here.


In the meantime - all predictions have been processed. A quick rundown of the predicted winners of this tournament:

Na Li (6%)
Serena (76%)
Kvitova (6%)
Sharapova (6%)
Lisicki (6%)

It would be fair to say that SW is heavily favoured by the CC folk!!

And in the light of the results in the 2 days so far, it is also a first that we have already lost 2 predicted winners. From those who watched it over at CC (I missed it) - it sounds like car crash tennis from both the French Open champ and the Wimbledon champ.

Mind you - if you want a real leveller for this competition, all we need is for Serena to slip up and that will be the case in one fell swoop!!

I can post the daily reports on the thread - but until I am able to post screen shots, those of you with CC membership can view them over there..




Have you tried the "Host an image" button? There is no attachment feature.



Have you tried the "Host an image" button? There is no attachment feature.

I tried that - but it didn't seem to grab anything..


And if this tournament could not get too much more dramatic already, apparently Venus Williams has withdrawn from the tournament..

Update: She has apparently been diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome - which admittedly, I had to look up:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/physical_health/conditions/sjogrensyndrome1.shtml


Poor Venus. :(
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:34
Page 2 posts from temporary forum


Day 1's table is over at CC:

http://www.cctennisworld.com/tennis-forum/21-fun-a-games/16782-wta-pick-em-botp-us-open-2011-deadline-4pm-mon-29-aug.html?limit=15&start=30#17032

I think that all am/jm folk taking part (apart from Sally) are members over there..

Sally - you're equal 9th, with 20 correct picks out of 27. Top score 23, bottom score 18..

Report to follow.. and that will be on this thread!


BOTP Report: Day 01

Welcome to the BOTP report for the first day of the US Open 2011! Without any further ado, here are how today’s opening skirmishes turned out.


Routine Wins – Mostly!!!

(2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (Q) Stéphanie ForetzGacon (FRA) 63 60
(3) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Heather Watson (GBR) 36 75 63
(8 ) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (Q) Alexandra Panova (RUS) 75 63
(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 62 63
(12) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. (Q) Urszula Radwanska (POL) 62 63
(13) Peng Shuai (CHN) d. Varvara Lepchenko (USA) 63 64
(14) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) d. Zhang Shuai (CHN) 63 64
(19) Julia Goerges (GER) d. Kristina Barrois (GER) 63 62
(24) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. (Q) Chan Yung-Jan (TPE) 63 16 64
(25) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 46 61 76(3)
Venus Williams (USA) d. VesnaDolonts (RUS) 64 63

Well, these were the wins that everyone predicted. Well, done us.

It wasn’t plain-sailing for all of them though. At 3-6, 5-5, Sharpie was flirting with a the idea of a shock defeat at the hands of Heather Watson – but it was a case of close, but no cigar for the youngster from Guernsey.

I believe that Sharpie was on prime form with her screeching!! Princess Kirilenko also won a tight one against big-hitting leftie Ekat Makarova..


The Americans Are Coming! (Sort of)

Irina Falconi (USA) d. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 36 64 62 (0/100)
Christina McHale (USA) d. (Q) Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 63 67(5) 64 (72/28)
(WC) Madison Keys (USA) d. (WC) Jill Craybas (USA) 62 64 (11/89)

Well, these could indeed be signs that the USA could well be starting to see who exactly will fly the flag when the Williams pair retire.

Madison Keys is the youngest player in the draw at just 16 years old. She is also the lowest-ranked at 455. At the tender age of 14, she was also the youngest player to win a WTA match since Martina Hingis in 1994. One to watch, then. LivLuvLaf and IconA were astute enough to predict this win. Bravo!!

No-one foresaw Falconi’s win over Klara Zak. It was the 21-year-old New Yorker’s first win in a slam in 4 attempts, having lost in round 1 in all of the other slams this year.


“Majority Picks”

(30) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. (Q) Karin Knapp (ITA) 67(4) 64 63 (94/6)
(27) Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) 26 63 62 (94/6)
Monica Niculescu (ROU) d. Patricia Mayr-Achleitner (AUT) 63 63 (83/17)
Vera Dushevina (RUS) d. AnastasijaSevastova (LAT) 63 64 (89/11)
AnastasiyaYakimova (BLR) d. (Q) NoppawanLertcheewakarn (THA) 60 46 63 (89/11)
KaterynaBondarenko (UKR) d. Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 63 60 (83/17)
TsvetanaPironkova (BUL) d. VirginieRazzano (FRA) 62 63 (78/22)
(Q) Laura Robson (GBR) d. Ayumi Morita (JPN) 76(5) 10 ret. (right shoulder injury) (67/33)
Laura Pous-Tio (ESP) d. MisakiDoi (JPN) 62 67(12) 52 ret. (cramping) (61/39)

Most of us picked these ones correctly, with a few mavericks looking for minor upsets!

It was notable that both retirals were Japanese players – and along with Nishogori’s retiral on the ATP side made for a strange day for the Japanese contingent.

Well done to Laura Robson who won the battle of the players I pink dresses to get another round 1 win under her belt.

“Minority Picks”

AllaKudryavtseva (RUS) d. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 76(1) 75 (39/61)
(Q) RominaOprandi (ITA) d. Melanie Oudin (USA) 60 76(7) (33/67)
PolonaHercog (SLO) d. BethanieMattek-Sands (USA) 61 63 (11/89)

Poor Melanie Oudin. 2 years ago, she had that fairy tale run when she beat the likes of Sharapova and Dementieva en route to the semi finals. Since then she has been drifting over to slumpsville.

And Lady Ga Ga fan Bethanie Matt-Sands faced the ignomy of a round 1 defeat – just as she did at Wimbledon. Polona Hercog successfully transferring some of her recent claycourt form to hard court, then.

Just 2 BOTP folk successfully predicted Polona's win: Linda and fah51. Well done, both of you!

I can’t say I’m sorry to see Rodionova out by the way..!


“The “What On Earth Happened?” Match”

Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) d. (5) Petra Kvitova (CZE) 76(3) 63 (11/89)

Now then. Petra Kvitova. What have you done to us?!!

Umpteen unforced errors. You played car crash tennis. Disaster! You had BOTP folk backing you to not only reach the semis or finals – but also to win the tournament!

Here is Petra’s response to where it all went wrong:

"It was the head."

Apparently the pressure of being Wimbledon Champ has really got to her. I really hope that she is able to deal with this. After having such a fabulous Aus Open, French Open and of course SW19, maybe this is a little blip.

Of course, this result caught us all out, with the exception of Dark Necrofear and MacBorg. More on that later.

BOTP Summary: day 01

Well, it was a decent opening day, all told, with BOTP folk averaging 20-21 picks out of 27 – a 74% pick rate.

LivLuvLaf is the early front-runner, with her inspired pick of Madison Keys helping to set her apart from the chasing pack.

The remaining 37 round matches will be played on day 02 – expect plenty of movement in the BOTP table!!
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:35
Page 2 posts


Hello again..

The BOTP tables for day 02 are now available at CC.

Quite a lot of movement on a day when 37 matches were played!

Daily report to follow.


BOTP Report – Day 02

Hello again – and welcome to the BOTP report for day 02! With 37 matches played on this day, this will be by far the most that I shall have to summarise – the number drops to just 16 tomorrow – so without any further ado, time to get on with things..

“The Americans are Coming (Part 2)!”

Coco Vandeweghe (USA) d. Alberta Brianti (ITA) 75 63 (39/61)
Vania King (USA) d. Greta Arn (HUN) 61 64 (56/44)
(WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) d. (Q) Reka-Luca Jani (HUN) 62 36 76(3) (72/28)

It was another good day for the American Women, with excellent wins by Coco and Vania over their higher-ranked opponents – and a fine win also for Sloane Stephens in a tough contest. BOTP folk also found these difficult to predict, with the crowd pretty much split for the first 2 wins – but found a win for the world 106 against the world 222 (I hadn’t heard of Jani either) easier to predict.

“More Post-Wimbledon Come-downs”

(Q) SĂ*lvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) d. Kimiko Date-Krumm (JPN) 76(5) 76(2) (6/94)
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) d. Tamira Paszek (AUT) 64 62 (11/89)
(26) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (WC) Aravane Rezai (FRA) 61 64 (78/22)

No Heroics from KDK Paszek or Rezai, this time!

Only James4578 and nevets picked Akgul to beat Tammy P. Bravo!

KDK’s defeat caught nearly all of us out. Ony [n]nevets[/b] (again!) picked this one. Well done nevets!!


”Tough Matches to Call”

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 62 46 75 (67/33)
Petra Martic (CRO) d. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 57 63 64 (61/39)
Alizé Cornet (FRA) d. (WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 75 60 (61/39)
Mirjana Lucic (CRO) d. (Q) Marina Erakovic (NZL) 64 26 64 (61/39)
(Q) Michaella Krajicek (NED) d. Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) 36 76(4) 61 (56/44)
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. Rebecca Marino (CAN) 63 63 (44/56)
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) d. Anne Keothavong (GBR) 75 63 (44/56)

These seemed to be matches that could swing either way, depending on which player hit better form on the day – and was reflected in the fact that the predictions were much more evenly split – and was also reflected in the fact that many of these matche went to 3 sets.

It was also a mixture of older players who had former career highpoints – and a few up-and-coming youngsters. Disappointing that Brit Anne Keo lost – by her account, she did not have a good match.

“Business as Usual”

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) 63 61
(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Johanna Larsson (SWE) 61 63
(7) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (Q) Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 63 16 64
(10) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (Q) Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS) 62 62
(11) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (WC) Alison Riske (USA) 62 60
(15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Sara Errani (ITA) 75 61
(16) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Ksenia Pervak (RUS) 64 62
(20) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) d. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) 61 75
(22) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) 63 63
(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 61 61
Zheng Jie (CHN) d. (Q) Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) 46 75 62

Top players rolled over the lower-ranked players – and we all picked these. A notable exception was Fran’s win over Voskoboeva, where Galina really took the match to Fran – and Fran was a little fortunate to squeak through.

”A few Mavericks in the Midst!”

(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Anna Tatishvili (GEO) 62 62 (94/6)
(18) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Irina-Camelia Begu (ROU) 63 64 (94/6)
Elena Baltacha (GBR) d. (WC) Jamie Hampton (USA) 26 62 51 ret. (heat illness) (94/6)
(23) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Sania Mirza (IND) 67(5) 63 61 (83/17)
(29) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 76(5) 75 (83/17)
(31) Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 64 63 (83/17)
Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (WC) Lauren Davis (USA) 76(3) 63 (83/17)
Petra Cetkovska (CZE) d. Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 16 61 62 (78/22)
Jelena Dokic (AUS) d. Olga Govortsova (BLR) 63 61 (78/22)

However these Mavericks left empty-handed in these cases, where the majority verdict ruled in the end. A good win for Bally in a rare blank for one of the American youngsters. Bally has won in the opening round of all of the slams this year before falling to Henin, Vania King and Peng Shuai respectively. Can she buck the trend against Sveta in the next round?

”Crash and Burn!”

Simona Halep (ROU) d. (6) Li Na (CHN) 62 75 (0/100)
Pauline Parmentier (FRA) d. (21) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 62 63 (0/100)
Mona Barthel (GER) d. (32) MarĂ*a JosĂ© MartĂ*nez Sánchez (ESP) 63 64 (0/100)

After Wimby champ Kvitova’s loss yesterday, it was the French Open champ’s turn to bite the dust. And again it was a horror story match. It was ErrorNa at her worst, with about 60 unforced errors.

Thoughts of the RG champ:

"It's a terrible feeling. Two years in a row, first round here, first round Indian Wells, Miami. Normally I like hard courts a lot. But I think these two years I'm just doing...."

Insert apt word at the end of this!! She seems to be questioning her coach too:

"He tell me everything is perfect, everything is fantastic. I say, 'Yes, everything is fantastic but I always lose first round.' I mean, this is not fantastic."

As for Dani and Pepa, who knows what went wrong there? Good wins for Barthel, Permentier and Halep – but the tournament feels lesser for these seeded players’ exits..


”Some Maverick Points”

Arantxa Rus (NED) d. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 62 64 (6/94)


Nice win for Arantxa Rus over Elena, who seems to be fading as a singles player – more a doubles player these days. Rus of course had a famous win over Clijsters at RG this year.

Only 1 BOTPer foresaw this win – ubermaverick SallyDaisy. Take a bow, Sally!!


BOTP roundup – day 02

BOTP pick rate took a bit of a dip for the day, dropping to 71% overall – partly due to a few seeds going out, but also partly to there being many matches between evenly-matched players, that proved difficult to predict.

An excellent day for James, who rocketed 8 places up to 10th, and a good day for Viva too, who moved up 5 to 4th. A handy day for Linda and lizzim who also moved up 3 places each accompanying James on 10th. Also a good day for tables who moved up 1 to pole position. Well done, all of you!!

There were also a few droppers. Not a great day at the office for IconA and Sally who both came out on the wrong side of a few of the marginal picks – and both dropped 8 places into the BOTP basement.

Hoqwever, the table is pretty tightly packed. Just 9 points between top and bottom place, and 2 points between the top 4! Whilst round 1 of the US Open was now completed, it is still very much early days, and as the sporting clichĂ© goes, ‘anyone’s game’ – for BOTP, at least..!
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:36
Page 2 posts


Hello!

Quick update - tables for days 03 and 04 are posted over at CC...

The table after day 04 is a particularly interesting one!!! I don't think that I can recall seeing a table as tightly packed as that before..

I would hope to be able to write up days 03 and 04 at some stage, later tomorrow.. Will hope to be up to speed then..


How have I moved up to 2nd place when most of my picks are out of the tournament already? :?:


Thanks for all the updates Super8! I had a reasonable day but wonder if it will continue! Another big name bites the dust as Sharapova went down today. As she battled back from 4-1 down to 4 all thought she would likely maintain her 100% record in 3 settersa this year but Pennetta was up for this and Maria serve and unforced errors really let her down! Think a few had her as a finalist but though I considered that option only put her in the quarters myself.



How have I moved up to 2nd place when most of my picks are out of the tournament already? :?:

Ah! Well.. just looking at your predictions.. (does some Maths).. ah yes.. Kvitova - if people didn't pick her, then they picked Sharpie ;) So her loss is quite handy for you!

and just about everyone else picked Na Li too - so that is a bit of a leveller as well :)

Oh - and only 3 people have both of their finalists still in the tournament. You are one of them!!!!

I'll try to don a stats anorak and write more about permutations for predictions and all that jazz when I do my BOTP catchup later this evening..


...my catchup this evening - which hasn't materialised for one reason or another..

Tomorrow will be my first full day at home since early July(!) - I plan to do a lot of writing! I shall just have to get things up to speed then. My apologies for this.

In the meantime - I have put up the table after day 05 onto the CC thread:

http://www.cctennisworld.com/tennis-forum/21-fun-a-games/16782-wta-pick-em-botp-us-open-2011-deadline-4pm-mon-29-aug.html?limit=15&start=30#17300

3 am.com/ jm/org folk in the top 6 - including the current leader!!


‘Belated BOTP Report: Day 03’

Plenty to catch up with BOTP reports today!! So withou any further ado..

‘100%ers’

(2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 75 36 63
(3) Maria Sharapova (RUS) d. Anastasiya Yakimova (BLR) 61 61
(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 63 64
(19) Julia Goerges (GER) d. Laura Pous-Tio (ESP) 63 61

Really not much to say about these! Vera had her hands full against one of the Blingarenko sisters – but otherwise straightforward stuff – and maximum points for all of us.


‘Majority Verdicts: The Older Players prevail over the Younger Upstarts’

(25) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) d. Vera Dushevina (RUS) 61 62 (94/6)
(27) Lucie Safarova (CZE) d. (WC) Madison Keys (USA) 36 75 64 (94/0)
(24) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. Polona Hercog (SLO) 62 64 (89/0)
(13) Peng Shuai (CHN) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 62 64 (83/11)
(30) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) d. (Q) Laura Robson (GBR) 62 63 (83/6)
(26) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (Q) Romina Oprandi (ITA) 60 63 (78/0)

Well, these were more seeded players living up to their rankings – and more or less picked by everyone.

There was a patriotic pick of Laura Robson by James4578 – but AMG proved to be typically dogged and successfully drew errors from the 17 year-old. Robson hit 20 winners compared with AMG’s 9 – but hit 32 UE’s to AMG’s 6.

tabbles and vivahate had picked Tsveti Pironkova to produce some of her Wimbledon magic, but Peng Shuai was just too strong off the ground for the young counterpuncher.

A shout out to 16 year old Madison Keys, who competed so well with Safarova, winning 100 points to Saf’s 106, outhitting her with winners – but again unforced errors proved her downfall. One to watch, for sure.


‘BOTP Split’

(22) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Venus Williams (USA) w/o (Sjogren's syndrome) (50/50)

What a shame that such a big ‘swing’ match in BOTP did not happen.

For 25% of BOTP folk, this had been a potential ’14-pointer’ – in both cases the predictors of the winner had also predicted a semi final appearance for their pick. For those who picked Venus, the sooner that Sabine exits the tournament, the better!

Venus has since released a statement outlining her intention of a full recovery. Wishing her all the best with that..


‘Another Shock – and a Lone Maverick Pick!’

[i]Christina McHale (USA) d. (8 ) Marion Bartoli (FRA) 76(2) 62 (6/94)

When Bartoli went 5-3 up in the first set, it would seem that the 8th seed might be on her way into the 3rd round. However, the youngest player currently in the top 100 fought back to record her second top 10 win of the US HC swing – having beaten Wozniacki in Cincy.

Amazingly, this was Bartoli’s 10th consecutive appearance in the US Open main draw. It is difficult to consider her as a veteran of the tournament! In her first appearance, she beat Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario on her way to reaching round 03.

She has now been knocked out in the second round in the last 3 years though – so not such a happy hunting ground for her, of late.

Anyway, most of us opted for Bartoli – with the sole, successful maverick pick courtesy of SallyDaisy. Well done Sally!!


‘BOTP Bagels’

Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (12) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 63 46 63 (0/100)
Irina Falconi (USA) d. (14) Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 26 63 75 (0/94)
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) d. (20) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 61 30 ret. (low back injury) (0/89)
Monica Niculescu (ROU) d. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) 63 60 (0/11)

Now then. Aga Rad. Reliable, consistent Aga Rad. What happened here?

Well, perhaps Kerber had momentum, having reached the semis in Dallas last week. But then again Aga won San Diego last month. Or perhaps Kerber’s game matches well against Aga’s. the German leftie also beat Aga in the China open last year, so there is a precedent.

Angelique Kerber is probably more Polish than German – most of her family are Polish, and she is from Poznan. When you add the fact that Wozniacki also has a strong Polish background – and Petkovic has a Serbian background – then the East European dominance in the women’s game looms even larger.

No-one foresaw Irina Falconi’s win over little Dom – which had been shifted to Arthur Ashe at last minute in place of the Venus v Sabine match.

The New Jersey youngster seems more in the grinder mode, which made for an interesting matchup with the more attacking Cibulkova. Dom hit many more winners, but also many more UEs.

Falconi a US citizen, but was born in Equador. She was US College player of the year in 2010, which surprisingly does not often translate to success as a pro – on the WTA side, at least. Other notable College players of the year have been Lisa Raymond (1992!), Jill Craybas (1996), Laura Granville (2000). Not stellar, then.

Yanina Wickmayer was sadly unable to replicate some of her dream run in 2009 – and make Pam Shriver eat more of her ill-advised words. There do seem to be such a high number of withdrawals. Surely someone somewhere should try to determine why this is the case, and do something about it?

Anyway – a bad result for us BOTP folk – and a good one for Kudryavtseva, who had never got past the first round in her previous 4 appearances in the MD, let alone the second round.

Can’t say much about the battle of the Romanians, except that it would have been a good result for the Dark Necrofear/ Macborg team had Dulgeru won. Should have been Kvitova, of course..


BOTP Day 03: Summary: ‘All or Nothing’

Well, it was pretty much either Feast or Famine for us BOTP folk today! Top score was 11 out of 16 picks for Jane, Linda, lizzim, Mojo and S8/NL, with James and [/b]IconA[/b] with just 7 and 8 correct picks respectively.

DN/ Macborg and Tabbles remained at the top of the table. However, Linda and lizzim both moved up 6 to 4th, [Jane[/b] up 6 to 7th.

A measly 3 points separating the top 10 though. The BOTP crowd seem to be moving as a group with this one, so far!!
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:37
Page 2 posts



BOTP Report: Day 04
Day 04 saw the completion of the remaning matchs of round 02, with the top half of the draw taking centre stage today. The previous 3 days had included plenty of upsets. Would day 04 continue this trend?

The Big Guns Roll On

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Arantxa Rus (NED) 62 60
(4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 64 63
(7) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Mirjana Lucic (CRO) 61 61
(11) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. Jelena Dokic (AUS) 63 64
(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. (Q) Michaella Krajicek (NED) 60 61

Well, certainly this bunch made sure that they weren’t in the headlines for the wrong reasons! All straight sets – and all 100% BOTP picks.

The Caro v Rus match was an odd one. Rus won just 9 points out of 37 on her serve, didn’t win a single service game. Caro states her intention to play more attacking tennis – but until she gets to grips with that then I doubt that she will change the formula for slams. Here she won 27 more points than Rus, but hit just 1 more winner. Plus ca change.

The other 4 matches were losses for experienced players who have seen better days. Hadn’t noticed 2 Dutch players in round 02 up until now. Top Dutch WTA players seem few and far between. The last top Dutch WTA player, anyone? Betty Stove, maybe?


More Seeds Progress (Spurred on by the popular BOTP vote, no doubt!)

(10) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Zheng Jie (CHN) 36 63 63 (94/6)
(15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Elena Baltacha (GBR) 64 63 (89/11)
(16) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. Petra Cetkovska (CZE) w/o (left thigh injury) (89/11)
(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. Petra Martic (CRO) 64 26 64 (83/11)
(18) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 63 (78/6)

Well, the vast majority of us got these ones right too. Go us!

It was a shame about Cetkovska withdrawing – denying us another intriguing match. Petra beat Ana in the 3rd round of Wimby this year, of course. It might well have been an opportunity lost for nevets and tabbles to pick up more Maverick BOTP points.

And Bally started so well against Kuznetsova too – 3-0 up in the first set – before Sveta restored order and ran out a comfortable winner in the end.

You can say what you like about Petko – and many have done about her post-match dancing. However, her fighting spirit is unquestionably outstanding. She pretty much got out of jail against little Jie. She was a set and 0-3 down in this one. One of her post-match comments:

"When I was 3-0 down, I was crying inside. But I said to myself: 'Do I retire or start fighting?' I decided to fight,"


“The Americans are coming (Part3) – and seeds are a-falling!”

Vania King (USA) d. (29) Jarmila Gajdosova (AUS) 62 60 (17/72)
(WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) d. (23) Shahar Peer (ISR) 61 76(4) (6/78)

Excellent wins for both Vania King and Sloan Stephens against their higher-ranked opponents, who had been backed by most of the BOTP crowd.

These were however good results for a select few BOTP Mavericks. Stephens’ win was correctly picked by nevets alone. Take a bow, nevets!!

Vania’s win was picked by nevets again – and also James4578 and tabbles/[b] Well done, all of you!!


[b]“BOTP Bakery Time: Bagels Aplenty!”

(Q) SĂ*lvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) d. (31) Kaia Kanepi (EST) 64 62 (0/67)
Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Simona Halep (ROU) 36 62 62 (0/0)
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) d. Mona Barthel (GER) 64 75 (0/0)
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) d. Pauline Parmentier (FRA) 63 75 (0/0)


When Kaia Kanepi reached the quarter finals at Wimby last year, it seemed as if she had checked out of slumpsville. It seems that she had simply booked a return ticket. She made only 2 UEs in the match, yet hit only 3 winners.

As for the other matches – well this was unfortunately a by-product of round 1.

Winner/ "Should have been"

Akgul/ Dani Hantuchova
Scheepers/ MJMS
CSN/ Na Li

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda"!!

I suspect that all of the 4 winners will be cannon fodder for their next round opponents - nd hopefully not dishing out any more BOTP Bagels!


BOTP Summary: Day 04

I think that there have now been 14 BOTPS – and I cannot honestly remember a table like this after 4 days of play!

We have 5 (technically 4) people sharing first place, 3 people 1 point behind. In fact, there are just 3 points separating the top 15!! Or make that all but 3 folk taking part! With the next round’s picks being 3 points per win, this really keeps so many folk in the mix with this pick ‘em.

Most people had 10 correct picks out of 16, which is very good considering the BOTP Bagels dished out. Top scorer for the day was James4578 whose pick of Vania King helped him to 11 picks.

Unfortunately. Sally and tabbles picked only 7 out of the 16. tabbles took a bit of a tumble in the BOTP table as a result, dropping 12 places to 15th, within shouting distance of IconA, James and Sally in the BOTP basement.

Even then, tabbles and James are both only 6-7 points off the lead. If a few of their Maverick BOTP predictions do come off in future rounds, then they could feasibly rocket back up the table! It really is close, with much still to play for.
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:43
Page 2 posts


Thanks for the update Super8.


Thanks for all the info Super8, at least some of my picks have paid off but could easily go pearshaped again!


BOTP Report: Day 05

Well, this is turning into a mini-thesis of write-ups!!

Moving on to Day 05 – 8 round 03 matches – 3 points per win – bring it on!


“8 Matches – and only 1 100%er!!”

(2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (30) Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 64 75

Not a good sign!! Well, the counterpuncher outlasted the out and out pusher here. Bepa is a pick for the final for a few BOTP folk, so it is good for them that she is progressing! She was the finalist last year, of course..


“Super Sam outlasts Petrova and sets a new US Open Record”

(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (24) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 76(5) 67(5) 75 (83/17)

Well, this was an epic struggle, as the scoreline suggests!

In fact, it is the longest women’s single match in US Open history – well since the introduction of the final set Tie Break, that is!

I had to look up actually when that was introduced. It was 1970. It is interesting that the US Open is still the only slam to have this rule for the final set. John Isner is against it being introduced to other slams, apparently..!

Anyway. Well done to both players for such a fiercely fought contest. Petrova actually saved 2 match points in the second set to force the deciding set – and also led-4-2 in the deciding set until Sam fought back.

It was a good result for 83% of BOTP folk. The pro-Petrova camp were Jane, tlim and Vivahate. I recall Viva’s picking of Nadia serving him so well when he won the French Open BOTP last year..


“The Lisicki-Venus match turns into a 5-pointer”

(22) Sabine Lisicki (GER) d. Irina Falconi (USA) 60 61 (50/0)

Sabine Lisicki has been in some form of late. She has won something like 24 of her last 29 matches – and has now lost just 19 games in the last 7 matches that she has played, serving a fair few bagels. Maybe a handy Dream Team pick?

In this match, Sabine just had too much firepower – hit 27 winners to Irina’s 9, won 56 points to 28 – and converted 6 break points out of 6!

It was always likely to be a step too far for Falconi – but she will be nudging the top 70 now, compared with the 300s at the US Open last year.

Of course, this was a very handy result for those who picked Sabine to beat Venus.

As for Sabine, well a rematch beckons with Zvonareva, after their eventful match at the French Open earlier this year. Sabine may well have revenge on her mind.

Either which way, someone will lose their BOTP finalist in this rematch.


“Minority Pickers Victorious as Peng Ousts Goerges”

(13) Peng Shuai (CHN) d. (19) Julia Goerges (GER) 64 76(1) (28/72)

Julia has now been knocked out in the 3rd round of all 4 slams this year. I guess that, performance-wise she is consistent then! Her defeats have all been to seeded players – but she just does not seem to have a plan b when it comes to a quality opponent. Hits more winners, but sprays unforced errors. She hit 44 today.

Peng has been in decent form and deserved this win though. It was a handy win for 28% of BOTPers – Big Al, Linda, LivLuvLaf and NL/ Super8


“Shock of the Day: Flavi ousts Masha!”

(26) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (3) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 63 36 64 (0/100)

Whilst the Kvitova and Na Li matches were big shocks, in terms of BOTP, this was certainly the biggest shock to date.

Firstly, everyone lost not only the winner of this match – but also their quarter finalist. 72% of BOTPers lost their semi finalist and 68% lost their finalist!! One beleaguered BOTPer also lost their BOTP winner.

Huge!

In fact, everyone has now lost their semi finalist from this quarter of the draw – it had been split between Sharpie (72%) and Kvitova (28%).

So.. this result was handy for those who had picked Kvitova to reach the semi finals – or even the final, to some extent, as they would have lost out a lot had Masha made it that far.

It could also be a handy result for either those who backed Lisicki or Zvonareva to make the final – if either of them does make the final, of course..
So – those who thought that they had lost out because they picked Kvitova to go far have probably dodged a bullet thanks to this result!


More BOTP Bagels – plus an all-new “Quarter Bagel”!

Monica Niculescu (ROU) d. (27) Lucie Safarova (CZE) 60 61 (0/28)
Angelique Kerber (GER) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 63 61 (0/0)

LucieSaf’s loss was car crash tennis. She played a shocker – and uber-pusher Niculescu just drew errors left, right (and probably never) centre.

Luciesaf’s loss means that we have a ‘Quarter Bagel’. In quarter 3 of the draw, the BOTP picks were to be Kvitova/ Radwanska/ Safarova versus Masha.

All gone!! Lucie’s loss therefore also handy for those who picked Aga Rad or Petra to make the quarters – which was everyone apart from Cazza99 and DN/ MacBorg .

As for Angie Kerber – well, her dream US Open run continues – foresaw by none of us, who all picked Aga or Wicky. Bleck.


BOTP Day 05: Summary

A pretty catastrophic day all around, really, with a woeful 34% pick rate for the day. Top scorers for the day were Big Al, Linda, NL/ S8 and Sally, who all managed to pick 4 out of the 8 – thanks to Peng’s win.

Poor tlim had a bit of a shocker, with just 1 pick out of 8 – although, his one remaining player in that half is also his predicted finalist. He may well outscore the rest of us in the bottom half, even though many of us have 3-4 players left..

The additional 3 points on the day meant that Linda became the outright leader – not sharing this one anymore!! However, 4 BOTPers are just 3 points behind – lizzim, livluvlaf, big al/[b] and [b]NL/ S8 – the latter two both rocketed 9 places up the table – again, that Peng win making the difference.



Thanks for the update Super8.

You are welcome Cazza!

I do need to figure out how to post tables here though..


Thanks for all the info Super8, at least some of my picks have paid off but could easily go pearshaped again!

Yip - you have picked some good ones, for sure! Shows your willingness to take risks with these things, I would say!!

There is still time for a few shocks to impact BOTP, for sure. And one or two swing matches that might impact the outcome as well...


Hello once again..

Just to let you know that the tables after day 06 (yesterday - ie up to date!) are now available at CC..

Report to follow at some stage!
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:44
Page 2 posts



As previous post stated, report to follow.. but I did not know that it would be this late..!

I will try to get up to speed by tomorrow night - best of intentions and all that..

It looked as if tonight's play is washed out for the men's matches - just seen Mr Murray's tweet - but the women's matches may well happen though.

I find that odd. the men's matches have started - why not try to finish them?


Even more belated BOTP Report: Day 06

Blimey – I can’t remember being this far behind in the reports! I will have to write more truncated ones to get back up to speed. Better editorial control required, methinks.


“The World Number One”, and “The Best Player in the World” Roll On

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Vania King (USA) 62 64
(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. (4) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 61 76(5)

Everyone predicted these wins, and it was straightforward enough for Caro. Serena looked as if she was going to blow poor Vika out of the water – but Vika probably thought of her glories in Miami, and really made a contest of the second set – one of the better sets in the tournament to date – and Serena facing a bit of a challenge with some tense moments.

She still won in straight sets, though!


“All Bar One” Girls

(7) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 57 76(5) 63 (94/0)
(10) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. (18) Roberta Vinci (ITA) 64 60 (94/0)

All bar one of the BOTP predicted these wins. Tabbles had picked Alize Cornet to progress instead of Petko; fellow Maverick SallyDaisy had picked MJMS to progess instead of Fran.

Otherwise – a good amount of points into the BOTP coffers. All good.

“Handy 3-pointers for a select BOTP bunch”

(15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) d. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) 64 62 (39/0)
(16) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) d. (WC) Sloane Stephens (USA) 63 64 (56/0)

Those of us who had predicted that Dani Hantuchova would reach round 4 needed Akgul to spring a shock on former USO Champ “Don’t call me Kuzzy” – but Sveta took care of her handily – and repaid the faith of the 39% of BOTP folk who did choose to back her.

In the other match, we had a whole variety of players picked to make round 4. 33% had gone for Shahar Peer. Lone Maverick picks of Sania Mirza and Petra Cetkovska had been made by IconA and nevets respectively.

Ana did wobble a bit at times in this match – but still had too much ammunition for the last Wild Card in the draw. Handy for 56% of BOTPers.


“Lone Maverick Pick comes good”

(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (11) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 64 64 (6/94)

Nastya Pav once again took care of Lady JaJa pretty handily. She has now beaten the Serb in all 3 matches that they have played! JJ has won only 1 set out of 7.

The only BOTPer who picked this result correctly was the Maverick tabbles. Bravo – please take a bow!!


A BOTP Double Bagel – Spanish Omelette on our collective faces!

Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (Q) SĂ*lvia Soler-Espinosa (ESP) 60 64 (0/0)

No-one predicted that either of these extravangtl-monikored Spaniards would even reach this far in the tournament. 94% of us wanted Na Li to make it this far and win this match. The lone dissenter was Mojoworking who had picked the slightly flakey Kaia Kanepi.

It is probably already CSN’s best performance in a big tournament for aeons – and Espinosa was the last qualifier in the draw.

I would be surprised if any BOTP folk were really that interested in this match.. or maybe you all were..??


BOTP Summary: Day 06

A mixed day for BOTP folk, for sure. Most people got between 3 and 5 predictions correct. Big Al, fah51, lizzim and NL/ Super8 were the only ones to get 18 points out of the 24 on offer.

As a result, fah moved up 5 places to 6th, and the lead, just 4 points away from Big Al, lizzim and NL/ Super8 who all shared the top spot. Sandwiched in between are Linda, LivLuvLaf – 2 points behind in 4th place – and Cazza sharing 6th place with fah

Once again, really not a whole lot in it in the table – and with round 3 completed, the next matches will be 4 points per win – several BOTPers could easily steal a march on the table leaders with just the odd prediction in their favour!

Reports for 4th round matches to come tomorrow
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:45
Page 2 posts


Quick update re: BOTP - I realise I'm really behind..

BUT

I have tomorrow off! Hurrah!!!

And - I will write up 3 days' worth of pick ems by the time that the day is done.

So.. please tune in as the day progresses - I plan to keep this thread ticking over as the day progresses


Also - BOTP seems to have had a bit of a tweeting dialogue with BOTB recently... A few comments about how the WTA top players don't quite make the semis with as much frequency as Andy and co... :scratch:


BOTP Report: Day 07

I know, I know – Sunday’s matches seems a while ago! Here is how BOTP fared on day 07 – when the bottom half of the draw battled for quarter final berths.


“Bepa wins the Swing Match of the Lower Draw R4”

(2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (22) Sabine Lisicki (GER) 62 63 (39/33)

With the 39% to 33% split on this match, there were a fair few points riding on its outcome!

This was compounded by the fact that 27% of BOTPers had Vera making the semis, and then 11% to make the final. As for Sabine, well 28% had her making the semis, and 6% both to make the final and to win the tournament!

The remaining BOTP folk without a stake in this match had picked Venus to make the quarters in this section. Either which way, they were going to have to take a hit with a good third of other folk guaranteed a 4-point advantage, at least. Such is the way with these winner-takes-all pick ems..

Anyway – back to the match. After their Battle Royale at the French Open - where Sabine had led 5-2, had match point – lost it 7-5 – and was stretchered off in tears – there may have been thoughts that she could avenge that defeat – especially with her scintillating form of late.

However, it was not to be. Vera won the first set pretty comfortably, and fought off a few break points in a more competitive set. She even hit more winners than Sabine – and really didn’t allow the young German to settle.


“SuperSam In Record-Breaking Form Again!”

(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (25) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 62 67(15) 63 (50/0)

Well, her match in the previous round against Petrova broke the US Open record for longest WTA match. This time her latest record – this time shared with a another Russian – the longest Tie Break in any Women’s Singles Grand Slam match!

Oddly, there were numerous reports about it being the longest – but no report actually said how long it was – and what was the previous record.

It lasted for about 27 minutes. Roughly the length of an entire Serena match, then.

Some other unusual stats from the tie break. Maria fought off 5 match points in the tie break. The 5th match point – at 13-14 – was successfully challenged by Maria twice. In fact, Maria correctly challenged 3 points in the tie break. The drama of a big-scoring tie break compounded by the drama of Hawkeye challenges.

Great fightback by Maria after looking overwhelmed in the first set, and a good comeback in the 3rd from Sam.

For those who had picked either Bartoli (39%) or Petrova (11%) to make the quarters in this section, it would have been good damage limitation had Kirilenko won this match. However, it turned out to be a very handy win for the 50% of BOTPers who had picked SuperSam.


“The BOTP Bagel Quarter – A Points-free zone”

(26) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) d. (13) Peng Shuai (CHN) 64 76(6) (0/0)
Angelique Kerber (GER) d. Monica Niculescu (ROU) 64 63 (0/0)

Yip – nothing for any of us here!

Straight sets win for Angie Kerber, to reach her first slam quarter final. Andrea Petkovic recently said that Kerber was top 30 material. She may be onto something here then.

Hugely impressive win for Pennetta, especially given that she ‘did a Sampras’ and appeared to have a wee tummy upset at 5-4 in the second set. Amazing fighting qualities. The US Open really seems to bring out the warrior in her. At 6-2 in the second set, Peng really should have forced a deciding set though.

The crowd really backed Flavi to win after it was clear that a. She wasn’t well, and b. for once, a player wasn’t going to retire! Shame that none of us had backed her to win too.


BOTP Day 07: Summary

Well, given that we all scored very round numbers for the 3rd quarter, the most that anyone could get was 8 points out of the 16 on offer by picking Zvonareva and Stosur.

Just 3 BOTPers managed this – fah51, James and nevets – well done all of you!

As a result, fah rocketed up 5 places to share first place with Big Al, lizzim and NL, who all retained top spot – just. [/b]nevets[/b] and James also moved up 5 places each – to 7th and 10th respectively.

Not such a good day for livluvlaf.DN/ Macborg. Jane and Viva who lost all of their picks for the bottom half of the draw – and will have to hope that the top half turns out better for them. A few of them still have 3 of their 4 quarter finalists left in the top half of the draw, so they could still make up some ground.

With 4 BOTPers in pole position, I am starting to wonder if the number of picks rule will need to be brought into the equation with this – up until now all 13 previous BOTPs have been won outright! We shall just have to see.

(Please see CC thread for table once again..)
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:47
Page 3 posts


BOTP Report: Day 08

Hello again! Moving on to the matches play on the second Monday of the tourney. More round 04 matches – this time, the top half of the draw in action.


“The Swing Match of the top half of the R4 Draw: Woz outlasts Kuz”

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (15) Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 67(6) 75 61 (67/22)

Right. Here’s the scenario. You have managed not to gift the first set after serving for it, securing a tight tie break. You are 4-1 up in the second set.

You should win then, right?

Erm, this is Kuznetsova we’re talking about here!! Sveta managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was very similar to the match that these two played at the US Open in 2009.

Surprisingly, it was Sveta who tired, whereas Caro just kept on running and running. And made the USO quarter finals for the 3rd year. Erm, running.

It was an excellent result for 67% of BOTP folk who haad picked the Dane to prevail in spite of her very dodgy form recently – and a frustrating case of what might have been for the 22% who took a risk on Kuzzy (and it usually is a risk!).

It was a lose-lose situation for the 11% who had picked Dani Hantuchova to reach the quarter finals – livluvlaf and nevets. If only, if only!!!


‘Rena Rolls Ana’

(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. (16) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 63 64 (100/0)

Ana huffed and puffed, with occasional flashed of inspired hitting – but always looked second best in this match. Serena was pretty average, but always had too much in the locker in this one.

It didn’t help that Ana still hasn’t figured out how to toss a ball when serving. She had clawed her way back into contention in the first set, only to then serve 3 double faults in one service game.

We all picked this result. Well done us.


Revenge for Nastya Pav – and serves us a BOTP bagel”

(17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) d. (7) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 57 63 64 (0/39)

The US Open seems to have offered a few rematches from the French Open – and this was no exception. Nastya had every chance of reaching the semis at RG when she led Fran 6-1, 4-1, only to lose that match. This time she turned the tables!

How did she do it? Apparently she changed tactics, saying: “I tried to be Excessive Aggressive”.

The match was not a good advert for the women’s game though. 16 breaks of serve out of 31 games, and 21 double faults. Ouch.

No-one predicted Nastya’s win, unfortunately, and it was points lost for the 39% who had backed Fran. It was therefore a handy result for the remaining 61% of BOTPers, who had picked Lady JaJa to reach the quarters in this section.


“Petko puts Navarro in her place”

(10) Andrea Petkovic (GER) d. Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) 61 64 (44/0)

Petko made her slam breakthrough by reaching the 4th round at the US Open last year – birthplace of the Petko dance – which invokes a Marmite-style response..

She has stated her run last year as giving her confidence at slams – and it shows – she has now reached the quarter finals in all but one of the slams this year – with Wimby being the exception (reached r3).

A good 4-pointer for 44% of BOTP folk then. The other 56% of BOTPers had picked Na Li.


One final observation. The mix of slam winners in the 4th round draw were this:

Top half: 4
Bottom half: None!!

With defeats for Fran, Ana and Kuzzy, only one slam winner remains. You-know-who!


BOTP Summary: Day 08

Well, it was a good day for those who picked Caro, Petko and Serena to progress! And there were a few of you that did just that. Well done to Cazza99, James4578, lizzim, Mojoworking, SallyDaisy and tlim!!

In fact, had Fran won her match then Cazza and tlim would have had a full house of picks for the top half of the draw. Ifs, buts and maybes, and all that.

As a result, all of these 12-pointers moved up the BOTP table. lizzim retained pole position outright, opening up a handy little 4-point lead. US Open champion Cazza99 ominously moved up 4 places into joint second.

James top scored in the 4th round with 5 picks out of 8, and has moved into the top 7 - and Sally moved up 5 places to 11th. Mojo is sitting pretty in 5th, just 1 point behind the cluster of fah, big al and cazza in second place.

I haven’t checked the permutations of who may or may not win BOTP when the remaining 7 matches have played. Could it be a last-gasp victory, as it was last year? Or will lizzi kick on and show us a clean set of heels?


I surely cannot win as I vaguely remember picking shrieky as my winner :(


I've only got Serena left :cry:


HI - just to let you know that the BOTP table after day 11 - the quarter finals - is now available for viewing on the CC thread.

This brings things up to date in terms of BOTP scores on the doors. I will write a shorter(!) daily report prior to the semi finals being played..



I surely cannot win as I vaguely remember picking shrieky as my winner :(

Well - there are still a few outcomes of the pick em possible. This one could go right to the wire with the final - or - could be over by the semi finals!





I've only got Serena left :cry:

Only 4 people have more than 1 player left - eek!

There are still different permutations of how this will finish up. Everyone has done really well, considering one quarter was a total write-off by round 4.. :roll:
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:48
Page 3 posts


BOTP Report: Day 11

With Days 9 and 10 washed out due to rain, the USO had to go down the Wimbledon scheduling route.

So.. we had a ladies’ quarter finals day. A much fairer way of doing things.

Do the organisers at the US Open realise how much stick that they get for their scheduling? And justifiable stick at that??

Anyway. 4 quarter final matches to summarise.


“Will Anyone Stop Serena?”

(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. (17) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 75 61 (100/0)

Yet again, Serena wins in straight sets.

Yet again, everyone predicted that she would win!

Bizarrely though, Nastya’s ‘Excessive Aggressive’ tennis meant that she won the first 3 of
Serena’s service games of the match – and yet still lost the first set.

So – a 20th slam semi final for Serena. Her win-loss ratio for slam semis is currently 16-3.


“BOTP Swing Match 1: Caro Ousts Petko”

(1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (10) Andrea Petkovic (GER) 61 76(5) (22/33)

After a slow start, when by her own description she was “sleeping”, Petko did try another of her Houdini acts, fighting back from 3-5 down in the second set to force a tie break. However, Caro was not to be denied. Odd that the match was on court 13 by the way.

With 22% of BOTP folk backing Caro, and 33% backing Petko, this was certainly a swing match! The remaining 45% had picked Na Li (39%) or Dani H (6% - Livluvlaf).

It was a good result for the following Caro-pickers: Big Al, IconA, James4578, and SallyDaisy. Well done to all of you for keeping the faith in the World Number 1! It was a surprise to see an even split between CC and am folk on this one, given CC’s general Caro aversion ;)


“BOTP Swing Match 2: SuperSam Owns Bepa”

(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (2) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 63 63 (11/28)

After Sam’s record breaking feats against Petrova and Kirilenko, her 3rd consecutive Russian opponent really proved no match for her – and no records were broken.

These 2 have now played each other 10 times. Vera won the first 2 matches that they played, back in 2004. Since then though, Sam has won every match that they have played.

In winning this, Sam becomes the first Australian to reach the USO women’s singles semis since Wendy Turnbull, way back in 1984!!

Only 11% of BOTPers picked Stosur to reach her first slam semi final outside of Roland Garros. lizzim and fah51, please take a bow!!!

28% of BOTP folk backed Vera, including Linda and tlim, who were the only remaining BOTPers with a Finalist still in the bottom half of the draw.

Who did the rest of us pick? 11% had gone for the skittish Bartoli. 22% had picked Venus. 28% had picked Lisicki. With 5 different picks for the semis, it was probably the most open quarter of the draw.

Until quarter 3 went belly up, that is!!

Speaking of which….


“AngieKerber stuns Flavia – and, well, everyone else, really!”

Angelique Kerber (GER) d. (26) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 64 46 63 (0/0)

Just a couple of days ago, I was starting to clear out a few matches that were still on my hard drive from Wimbledon this year.

One of these happened to be Laura Robson’s round 1 win.

Who did she beat? A certain Angelique Kerber. How fortunes can change.

Coming into the tournament, the German leftie was ranked 92nd. She had never gone beyond the 3rd round of any slam. She was meant to win her first round match and then lose to Aga Rad!!

Even if Aga Rad hadn’t taken care of her, then Wickmayer would surely have done for her in round 3. And then if not Wicky, then in round 4, surely Kvitova would have put her in her place? And then in the quarter finals, then Sharapova would have certainly beaten her handily, right?

Instead of Wicky, Kvitty and Sharpie, she faced Kudryavtseva, Niculescu, Pennetta.
Talk about the luck of the draw!!!

It’s a fascinating time for German women’s tennis. They waited 12 years for a slam semi finalist when Lisicki made the semis at Wimby – and then they get another one at the very next slam!

This outcome even made some waves in the BOTB, where steven tweeted the question of whether anyone in BOTP had predicted that Kerber would be a semi finalist.

I think that he knew the answer!!! ;)

Our picks were a repeat of the WImby final – Sharapova (72%) v Kvitova (28%). With all due respect to Sam and Angie, it is a pity we didn’t get that match.


So, for the semi finals, we have:

Wozniacki v Serena
Kerber v Stosur

Is that the first time in a while that there have been no Eastern Europeans in the semi finals? Wozniacki and Kerber both have Polish backgrounds, I guess..



BOTP Roundup: Day 11 (quarter finals)

As you have already seen from the BOTP table, no-one picked more than 2 of the 4 semi finalists.

33% of BOTPers managed to pick 10 points. In doing so, IconA leapfrogged Viva to leave the Wimbledon BOTP champ in the BOTP basement – being the ‘Kvitova’ of the pick em I guess.

SallyDaisy continued her resurgence in also picking up 10 points, moving up one into the BOTP top 10. Bravo Sally! Sally’s strong second week performance is reminiscent of MacBorg’s. come to think of it.

The other 10-pointers all now occupy the top 4 spots in the table. James continued his rise too, moving up 3 places to 4th. fah51 and Big Al retained 2nd places, and lizzim also retained her 4-point lead.

Well, no-one left empty-handed today – largely because everyone picked Serena to make the semis!! No-one managed to pick both Stosur and Wozniacki – which would have undoubtedly impacted the BOTP standings.

Oh – I have also included the number of correct picks per person into the table by the way! The result of this BOTP pick ‘em could be decided by the end of the semis – or could go to the wire with the final. We shall just have to see.


BOTP Report: Day 13 (Semi Finals)


Once again, the latest BOTP table is available for viewing at CC - we will have to get this aspect fixed to post things on the new am.com site..!

“Serena too hot for Caro to Handle”

(28) Serena Williams (USA) d. (1) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 62 64 (94/0)

Make no bones about this – to describe Caro as second best in this match is almost doing Serena a disservice!

Just about every point in the first 11 games in the match were determined by Serena – whether it was another thunderous winner, or an unforced error. There were hardly any 'forced' errors from her.

Caroline was overpowered and outplayed. When she hit an overhead smash when 1-2 in the second set, it was her first winner in the match. By then, Serena had already hit 24 winners! Caro's service games were also nearly always a struggle.

Astonishingly, this was only the 3rd time that they have played each other, and their first meeting in a slam – and Caroline retired after 1 set in one of those previous matches. Their only completed match went to 3 sets. There was no way that this was going to happen here.

Bluntly, Serena played well, and Caroline could do nothing about it.

94% of BOTP folk correctly predicted that Serena would make the final. That is easily the highest successful BOTP prediction for a finalist! The only dissenting view was uber-maverick tabbles, who had picked Na Li to make the final.


“SuperSam in her second slam final”

(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Angelique Kerber (GER) 63 26 62 (0/0)

The only semi final not played on Ashe – whether men or women. The men’s doubles final even took priority over this one, prompting a bit of anger from Sam and a few folk on her behalf. There were a few angry tweets from the likes of Rennae Stubbs and co about this..

It was a shame that it wasn't on Ashe, as it was a good match! Sam looked as if she would run away with it in the first set – Angie fought back well to force a decider, cut down on her errors.

Sam was up 5-0 in the final set, served for the match but then Angie broke back – and at 2-5 had 4 break points on Sam’s serve and saved a few match points too!

However, Sam held her nerve to serve it out, and become the 5th Australian to make the Aus Open ladies singles final in the Open era.

Of course, this was a BOTP double bagel, with none of us picking either of these 2 to make the final. The picks for the finalist had been as follows:

Kvitova 16%
Sharapova 67%
Lisicki 6%
Zvonareva 11%


So – onto the final. Stosur v Serena. Serena undeniably hot favourite for this. Head to head is 4-2 to Serena.


BOTP Roundup: Day 13

Well, with everone but tabbles picking Serena to make the final, and no-one picking Sam, it makes reporting on the BOTP table pretty straightforward.

After IconA had passed on the keys to the BOTP basement to Viva, it would appear that Viva has already moved on with his place taken by Tabbles, who has really shot from the hip in this pick ‘em, been fearless in going against the grain. Picking the unpredictable is however a tough task!

Apart from that bit of rearranging, as the lower end of the table, everyone from 12th upwards is as before.

Could things change depending on the result of the final? They can indeed – in Fed cup terms, it is by no means a dead rubber!
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:50
Page 3 posts


Thanks for all the reports Super8! Yes a real pity that Stosur and Kerber were put on Granstand. Didn't see too much of the match other than the brief highlights Sky showed after Murray/Nadal but looks it was a bit of battle even though Sam strong in the end. It certainly was a very good tournament for Kerber, you would have to have been very brave to predict her run! Sam has obviously been in form and involved in some of the dramatic and exciting matches with her wins over Petrova and Kirkilenko, whilst she was so solid in a more straightforward win over Zvonereva.

I am great fan of Sam but think it will be very tough for her in the final and she really will need to have a great serving day. Serena's dominant display over Caroline was predictable but still doesn't look too flattering that Caroline couldn't hit a winner in the first set and whilst she'll still be ranked no1 will really need to add to her game to have a shot at a major. Looks like most of us will have picked the winner but pity no one has really stretched Serena here.


Yes I certainly watched the final and also posted on the WTA thread and there were a few comments made on Twitter too! Serena definitely lost the plot there and though things can happen in the heat of the moment, that was no excuse for treating the umpire like that! The one thing n her favour though was that she was pleasant enough to Sam after the match. I waas hoping that Sam would just be able to test Serena but she was just awesome and it was such a dominant display, though William's serve wasn't functioning as effectively. After the incident Serena was fired up and a chance the match could turn when I think Sam was 1-2 and 15-40 down but sjhe held her nerve and came back strong again.




Thanks for all the reports Super8! Yes a real pity that Stosur and Kerber were put on Granstand. Didn't see too much of the match other than the brief highlights Sky showed after Murray/Nadal but looks it was a bit of battle even though Sam strong in the end. It certainly was a very good tournament for Kerber, you would have to have been very brave to predict her run! Sam has obviously been in form and involved in some of the dramatic and exciting matches with her wins over Petrova and Kirkilenko, whilst she was so solid in a more straightforward win over Zvonereva.

I am great fan of Sam but think it will be very tough for her in the final and she really will need to have a great serving day. Serena's dominant display over Caroline was predictable but still doesn't look too flattering that Caroline couldn't hit a winner in the first set and whilst she'll still be ranked no1 will really need to add to her game to have a shot at a major. Looks like most of us will have picked the winner but pity no one has really stretched Serena here.

No problem James!

It was a ceratinly an unbelievable tournament for Kerber - and interesting that Petkovic recently predicted that she could be top 30 material, when she was ranked in the 100s. She will be ranked about 30-40 next week, I think. Up until mid-August she had only reached the semi finals of a WTA tournament twice. She has now done that twice in the last 3 weeks!

Add to that the fact that she actually turned pro in 2003, then it clearly shows that it is a remarkable leap for her.

Serena certainly gave Caroline a total beating. I watched the match last night because I happened to be up at that hour rather than staying up especially for it. You had to feel a little sorry for Caroline - but on the other hand, she will certainly not be wondering what might have been in the match.

The fact that Caro has stated her intention to play more attacking tennis is a good thing. It remains to be seen whether she actually can. An attacking mindset can be difficult to adopt naturally, particularly in a matchplay situation.

As for the final - well, as you said, Sam will have her work cut out, and yes, Serena has not been tested. However, she is playing as well as I can remember - and would probably have beaten even the likes if Clijsters in this form. Maybe the fact that Sam is more battle-hardened could help her. She probably prefers to be the underdog too. And maybe Serena is due a bit of a dip in form too? The smart bet is still on a straight sets win for Serena, of course..




As for the final - well, as you said, Sam will have her work cut out, and yes, Serena has not been tested. However, she is playing as well as I can remember - and would probably have beaten even the likes if Clijsters in this form. Maybe the fact that Sam is more battle-hardened could help her. She probably prefers to be the underdog too. And maybe Serena is due a bit of a dip in form too? The smart bet is still on a straight sets win for Serena, of course..

As Boris Becker said after the match - we all know nothing about tennis!!! ;)

Did any of you see the match? What did you all make of it?

It certainly got a few peoples' dander up over at CC..

Will post a final BOTP roundup tomorrow..


I noticed that RoastLamb tweeted her thoughts about Serena's outburst..

Needless to say, it wasn't exactly in favour of SW.
hfwardhouse
03-10-2011, 20:51
Page 3 posts


Hello again,
BOTP Report: Day 14 – The Final

This time, it will indeed be the shortest BOTP daily report of the lot!!

“SuperSam Stuns Stroppy Serena”


(9) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. (28) Serena Williams (USA) 62 63[/li]

Quite a tabloidy headline there!

I won’t go into detail about the match. It is safe to say that it was a shock! Sam had a gameplan, executed it brilliantly – and Serena was unable to respond.

What an amazing win for Stosur. And to be in some true Slam-winning form when it mattered most – well, she could not have dreamed for a better 1 hour and 13 minutes.

Apart from that incident of course.

Serena did not play well. She may have suffered from having things too easy in previous rounds, whereas Sam was much more match-tough. Sam’s focus was exceptional.

Unfortunately, Sam’s slam-winning form was foreseen by none of us! 78% had predicted a Serena victory, and also left empty-handed.

It was however a good result for all of those who didn’t pick Serena to win. So – the 6% of BOTPers who picked Sharpie to win, the 6% who picked Kvitova to win, the 6% who picked Li Na to win, and the 6% who also predicted Lisicki to win - all ended up doing 7 points better than they might have expected to have done, going into the final day. I am thinking that before the final, everyone thought that Serena would waltz away with this one!

Sam’s win was the third consecutive WTA singles slam with someone winning a slam for the very first time. This has certainly impacted the WTA pick ‘ems. The percentage of BOTP folk picking each winner looks like this:

French Open Li Na 0%
Wimbledon Kvitova 4%
US Open Stosur 0%

Linda was the sole picker of Kvitova, and therefore the only person to correctly pick the winner of any of the last 3 slams!

I wonder what sort of odds you would have had on picking all of those as slam winners?!!


BOTP: Final Roundup

Whilst Lizzim had been sitting pretty at the top of the BOTP table, she was also acutely mindful of the fact that she had picked Sharapova to win the title.

Lizzi seemed resigned to the fact that she would be pipped at the post at the very last game – just as Linda was by cazza99 in the US Open last year.

Had Serena won the final, then lizzi would indeed have been pipped at the post! She would have been pushed into 3rd place by Big Al and fah51, who would have shared first place on 149 points. However, the winner would have been fah51 by virtue of having just the 1 more correct pick than Big Al

However – Serena did not win. And no-one picked Sam to win.

So.. the final BOTP table for the US Open 2011 is exactly the same as it was for day 13. This time, lizzim is confirmed as the BOTP US Open Champion 2011. Well done lizzim – your first BOTP title!!! Do take a bow!

And to think that when you submitted your picks, you declared them ‘just guesses’!! Well – many inspired guesses, by the looks of it!

In equal second place, we have fah51 and Big Al, who both had excellent BOTP campaigns. Bravo – great stuff!

I think that it is fair to say that we had 3 Maverick pickers in our midst for this tournament – all with contrasting fortunes. James4578 seemed to find himself at the wrong end of the BOTP table, only to top score in every round from the quarter finals onwards to finish an excellent 4th. Well done James!

Now in stevens’ BOTB terms, Sally has been mentioned as one of the residential Gorilla-botherers – and for a while, it looked as if she was going to take residency in the BOTP basement. But no, a similarly strong performance from Sally in the second week resulted in her first top 10 finish – well done Sally

After day 02 (I think) Tabbles was leader of the pack. But then entered into freefall mode – which finally culminated into propping up the BOTP table – in the BOTP basement. It was her pick of Na Li instead of Serena that gave her the keys to the subterranean residency. Tabbles did have very good company in the form of viva amd icona though..

In between all of these folk, there was the rest of us – who all did pretty well, given the number of shocks – and the fack that the third quarter was a train wreck from day 1 onwards.. I recall the US Open being a bit like that in 2009 – when a certain Petra Kvitova knocked out the heavily tipped world number 1 Dinara Safina. How things change.

Well, that’s just about it for the final slam of 2011. Many thanks to everyone for taking part! I hope that you enjoyed the tournament in general – and this little comp too. Bye for now!



Well done Lizzim :):)


Well done Lizzim, great stuff! Thanks Super8!


Well done Lizzim and thanks Super8! http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/iorme/clapping.gifhttp://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h308/iorme/clapping.gif


Woo hoo! :cheers: :cheers: Thanks Super8