Miami Masters 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em 2009

steven · Tennis legend

RE: Miami Masters 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em 2009

steven · Tennis legend

OUTLOOK

Going into the semis, about 21% of the entrants have both of their finalists still standing (mainly Fed & Muzza, though a few have Muzza & Nole), 64% have one and 15% are unable to score any more points.

MTF will win the team competition unless the Fed beats Potty in the Final, in which case the Feddies will rocket up the table into 1st place from their current position of 10th, while TAT are assured of a 2nd place finish whatever happens, which will make them the highest finishers of the current top 8 teams in the overall rankings. BT.net, Team CC, Tennisopolis and JM.org could still finish in the top three as well, depending on the remaining results.

No less than six entrants still have a chance of the individual title, more possible winners going into the semis than I can remember there ever having been before! 10th placed Lizzim (AM) will win if Muzza does and 17th placed Derevko (MT), a first-time entrant, will win if Nole does. If Potty wins, nelslus (TA) will hold onto 1st place if Fed is the losing finalist, but 2nd placed Lana105 (IN) will edge him out if Nole is the runner-up. If Fed beats Potty in the Final, 4th placed Shreenidhi (RF) will make it an RF double (that being the scenario in which they would take the team title too), while if Fed beats Muzza, 8th placed Jason (TN) will be the victor.

Apart from Derevko (see above), entrants currently outside the top 10 who could finish in the top three are one time leader P@t 0van (SK) (currently 13th but 3rd if Potty beats Nole) and fellow debutant jaydon (GR) (currently 16th, but 2nd if Muzza wins the title), plus andys_ipod (AM) (currently 19th, but 3rd if Muzza beats Fed in the Final) and timmadigan (CC) (currently 28th, but 3rd if Fed beats Muzza in the Final), with most of the top 10 still in contention for a possible top three place as well.

As you may have gathered from the fact that there are quite so many permutations for the top three, lots of of entrants could still finish in the top 10 and masses could still finish in the top 50/100/top half, all of which could have a big effect on your overall ranking depending on how highly ranked you are at the moment.

SF PICK %S / OoP

Friday 13.00 EDT / 17.00 GMT / 18.00 BST: (2) Fed 70% v (3) Nole 5% (out: Duckboy 13%, Tsonga 9%, Simple 2%, etc)
Friday 19.00 EDT / 23.00 GMT / 00.00 BST: (4) Muzza 31% v (6) Potty 0% (out: Rafa 57%, Numpty 5%, 'dasco 4%, etc)

YET MORE QUOTES

On BT.net, they appear to have finally lost their rag over this tournament:

eblunt (BT) "I'm sorry, but I declare the whole Pickem null and void. The one time I'm on a run with everything falling into place, I thought I can leave things unattended for a few hours whilst Rafa cleans up against Potty. Now everthing has turned pear shaped. I am not going to look at any further results in this farce of a competition. This is my last post of any description corncerning this disgusting, fetid competition, apart from any further rants I might treat myself to. This is unacceptable, I come back from the pub to bask in a comfortable 3 QF winners out of 4 with just Muzza to complete the cleanup. This Masters should be deleted from the records."
Peter too "Here here! [sic!] Ban it! Abolish it! It's just one great big racket!" [hands Peter his coat]

Even if Nole isn't feeling the love, Oneminutetomidknight (AM) (venturing onto BT.net, happy about some damage limitation) has fallen for someone tall, dark and potty: "Delpo i love you! ... but why did I choose the wrong 6'6 beanpole? Cilic what a mistake..."

Dinky Jo (MP) is way too curious: "Can I just ask, is Steven noctural????"
Pebs (IN) "certainly proving he keeps up all night..."
I hibernate in the off-season. So there!

In fact, poor Dinky Jo (MP) can't even get away from BotB by going to sleep: "I think I may have had some dream about BOTB last night. I vaguely remember dropping from wherever I am now, to be being second from last (I have no idea why second from last - even in my dream I can't bear to think about losing) and that everyone was laughing at me. I think the moral of the story is, never go to bed having watched your tournament winner lose a set to a man who looks like an elongated monkey with a tiny head." while world no. 1 Ashley Harkleroad's ***** (IN) shows her about as much sympathy as you'd expect from someone with a name like that: "Nadal's out, you're going down!!!"

Finally, TennisAnyone (TA) turns to song to ease the pain, summing up BOTB pretty well in the process: "From 2nd to 10th to 24th! Grrr! I think Alicia Keyes put it best when it comes to my emotions with BOTB: 'I keep on falling iiinnnnnn and outta love - with you! Sometimes I love ya - sometimes you make me blue ...' Still, it's not as bad as falling from 10th to 251st, is it Sally?

mjd · Challenger qualifying

steven wrote:

OUTLOOK

Going into the semis, about 21% of the entrants have both of their finalists still standing (mainly Fed & Muzza, though a few have Muzza & Nole), 64% have one and 15% are unable to score any more points......................................

I bet it has changed now - Djoko has beaten Fed 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Peter too · Tennis legend

This tournament is Potty.

Sorry I will read that again:-

This tournament is Potty's.

Perhaps I was right the first time!

steven · Tennis legend

SFs 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

It's no. 3 v no. 4 in the Final as Muzza makes it four appearances in the Final in the last five Masters Series events and TMC winner Nole shows he has no intention of being completely written off as one of the big three quite yet!

For detailed results, etc, please see http://www.britishtennis.net/Competitions.html

TEAMS

Congratulations to MTF, who have now secured the teams title for Miami, and to runners-up TAT, the best of the teams that started out high in the overall team rankings.

Tennisopolis had a good round and moved up 3 to 3rd. They will stay there if Nole wins the title, but semi-final winners JM.org, up 2 to 6th (and currently just behind AM.com, who moved up 2 to 5th), could yet finish 3rd instead.

Despite Muzza winning his semi, two more GB-dominated teams were the biggest fallers - BT.net, down 4 to 7th and Rusedski.co.uk, down 3 to 8th. They partly lost out because they were only just ahead of the Murray teams going into the semis and partly because none of the entrants on either team went for Nole to beat Fed.

INDIVIDUALS

Lana105 (IN), who went for Nole to reach the Final, has moved up from 2nd to 1st, with pick 'em debutant Derevko (MT), one of just three entrants to correctly predict that the two Cincy 2008 finalists would meet again here, moving up 15 to 2nd - he will win the individual title here if Nole wins the Final.

Also moving up into the top 5 were Jason (TN), Gaël (RG) & Lizzim (AM) (who will win the title if Muzza wins the Final), all up 5 to 3rd, 4th & 5th respectively. Long-time leader nelslus (TA), down 5 to 6th, needs Nole to win to hold onto a place in the top 10, while one-time leader P@t 0van (SK), up 6 to 7th, fellow debutant jaydon (GR), up 8 to 8th (2nd if Muzza wins), andys_ipod (AM), up 10 to 9th, and NyGeL (MT), up 14 to 10th, all moved into the top 10.

ON THE RISE

Apart from Derevko (MT), up 15 to 2nd as mentioned above, just two players managed to get both finalists correct - they were Marion Bernard (AR), up 72 to 55th, and the day's biggest climber, Enia (AM), up 86 to 111th. She could yet finish well inside the top 100, her perfect record in the QFs and SFs producing an incredible recovery from being in the bottom 20 after three rounds and only one place above the bottom 20 after four - she must wish we were using Bracket Challenge-style scoring here!

Meanwhile. world no. 1 Ashley Harkleroad's ***** (IN), up 24 to 47th, has been creeping up the table unnoticed and will be the highest placed in Miami of the current top 10 in the overall rankings (overhauling world no. 5 Dentist Appointment (IN)) if Muzza wins.

DODGY DROPPERS

Nearly 2/3 of us drew a blank in the semis, but only fah51 (CC), down 26 to 49th, was unfortunate enough to drop more than 25 places as a result. Habitual dodgy dropper SallyDaisy (JM), up 8 to 243rd, seems to have given up her mercy mission (perhaps the gorillas had already starved to death - they are nearly 42 points behind the lanterne rouge GiulioAxe (RG) now) and has moved up the last couple of days.

PREVIOUS MIAMI TOP 3s

Like last year's tournament winner Davydenko, 2008 Miami pick 'em winner Greg (TN) is not defending his title. Last year's runner-up Zebra Melanija (RF) is in the bottom 10 this year and last year's 3rd placed entrant Rusedski149 (GR) is only just inside the top half.

2007 winner Cazza99 (AM) is doing rather better, in 35th at the moment and likely to finish inside or just outside the top 50 depending on what happens in the Final.

THE FINAL

Sunday: (4) Muzza 23% v (3) Nole 1%

... aka Lizzim (AM) v Derevko (MT)

Although less than 1/4 of the entrants picked one of the possible winners, most people's positions will change depending on the result of the Final, which means that a lot of ranking points are riding on the Final whether you have picked one of the winners or not. For those who did not pick either of these players to win, Nole is obviously the damage limitation option.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

Plenty of the GB entrants who didn't pick Muzza to win won't mind dropping a few places if he does, e.g. Yorkie (AM) was delighted to cheer: "I'm going down, going down, going down".

The team title winners are speechless with excitement - posts on MTF's BOTB thread in the last week: 0. (they should be dq'd, shouldn't they LOL)

Flintstone (IN) admits that I'm probably right about not being able to use some of the quotes on team MP's forum: "It's fairly safe to say we are not a family board." To give them their due, it can be very funny though, and far worse may well be heard in the average school playground every day!

Having dropped out of the Miami top 200 after the semis, world no. 7 WimbledonAce (CC) starts looking forward to the clay court season: "I only got 1 semi finalist, I'm v ashamed. Wonder when the next one is, it's so addictive, has really taken up my time this week!" Lex (CC), no doubt correctly, called her out on this: "shameless when trying for a quote of the day on Steven's summary", but on a day that was (mercifully, from my point of view!) devoid of good quotes, she gets away with it.

Btw the next BotB will be for the Rome Masters - entries will open on Saturday 25 April and close early morning (GMT) on Monday 27 April.

The Knight · Challenger qualifying

I think i actually have a shot at being nominated for the "Worst decision in the history of Pick'em" award - picking Dancevic to beat Novak in round 2, a choice im sure even has the gorillas asking themselves "HOW ON EARTH?!?!?"

jamatthews · Strong Club Player

Well that was a weird pick'em (ok they all are). I started very well on the 1st day, and then I found myself right near the bottom for most of the 2 weeks. Then I manage to somehow (well thanks to Murray) find my way into the TOp 100.

steven · Tennis legend

FINAL MIAMI MASTERS BOTB 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

So Muzza won the title, as he pretty much said he would during IW. He has now won three of the last five Masters Series events, reached the Final in another and only gone out before the Final when he ran out of steam a bit having won tournaments in each of the previous two weeks!

Thank you for taking part in one of the most enjoyable competitions so far, particularly to all those who contributed to the various pick 'em threads. The Miami BOTB pick 'em has grown from 51 entrants/2 teams in 2007 to 178 entrants/8 teams in 2008 and 257 entrants/13 teams this year. The Miami 2009 BOTB thread on AM.com smashed the posts record for a single pick 'em with over 1500 and was second only in page views to the unforgettable BOTB for RG last year.

Full results and an updated Hall of Fame, etc, can be found at http://www.britishtennis.net/Competitions.html

TEAMS

MTF came out on top in an exciting teams competition in which the first six rounds were all won by different teams, their consistency making up for them only winning the QFs, while TAT finished 2nd, their consistency making up for them not winning any rounds at all!

By winning both the SFs and the Final, JM.org, up 3 to 3rd after the Final, managed to bag the last place in the top three right at the end, edging out AM.com by the equivalent of about two individual picks from their point of view or less than a pick from AM.com's point of view. No longer is a Muzza win enough to give one of these teams the title, but they can be consoled by the fact that this is because so many entrants in the other teams now expect Andy to win tournaments too!

Rusedski.co.uk, up 3 to 5th, also moved up on the last day, overtaking Tennisopolis.com & Team CC, both down 3 to 6th & 7th respectively, who were the biggest fallers. At the other end of the table, the Dammitaires were already sure to finish last - poor them, their man pulled out of the tournament before he even stepped on court! The Feddies, down 2 to 12th, were the only other team who didn't have anyone picking Muzza to win the title and they dropped behind the Ducklings as a result.

INDIVIDUALS

Lizzim (AM), up 4 to 1st, may have been only 131st after R1, but a couple of good rounds after that moved her up over 100 places to 25th by the end of R4 and her inexorable rise after that, which took her to 10th after the QFs and 5th after the SFs, eventually led to her winning the individual Miami title. Big congratulations to her!

Just two points behind were jaydon (GR), up 6 to 2nd on his debut, Lana105 (IN), down 2 to 3rd but still the first Bosnian entrant to finish in the top three of a pick 'em, and andys_ipod (AM), up 5 to 4th.

The entrant who would have won if Nole had, debutant Derevko (MT), down 3 to 5th, led the winning team's charge with NyGeL (MT), up 4 to 6th. Ace! (AM), up 5 to 7th, followed them, while Charlie02123 (TA), up 6 to 8th, was the top entrant from the 2nd placed team and the 3rd placed team's bid was headed by Claire Morris (JM), up 6 to 9th, and minnie me (JM), up 11 to 10th, who complete the Miami top 10.

ON THE RISE

All 59 entrants who picked Muzza to win the title moved up on Sunday, with mintsauce (AM), up 50 to 93rd, richard meaghan (TN), up 50 to 112nd, and fastest riser kickserve (TY), up 54, to 119th, all rising 50 places or more.

DODGY DROPPERS

polo el pato (RF), down 20 to 40, was the biggest faller on the final day, having started it just above lots of people who picked Muzza to win.

KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY

With a top 50 and a top 80 finish respectively, Matthew (GR) and hfwardhouse (AM) would probably have been pretty happy under normal circumstances, but they were both beaten by offspring who finished in the top 10 - jaydon (GR) in 2nd and minnie me (JM) in 10th. Both are under 14, so very well done to them, and they made Miami a tournament for the young guns in more ways than one!

Quotes of the weekend will follow once I've been around the boards pasting in this report.

steven · Tennis legend

NEW OVERALL RANKINGS

The overall ranking list and pick 'em 'Hall of Fame' after Miami 2009 can now be found at http://www.britishtennis.net/Competitions.html and a report on the new overall ranking list which picks out the main movers, etc, can be found at
http://www.andymurray.com/forum/showthread.php?p=225423

QUOTES OF THE FINAL WEEKEND

jaydu (AM) may be relatively new to BOTB, but he has already worked out what it's all about: "Most people give up crisps and chocolate for lent. At the pick 'ems, you first give up points, followed by sanity and finally hope."

Actually, I always thought BOTB made you give up "faith, hope then sanity" but since he says it's *blatant attempt #34*, I'll let him off!

Meanwhile, former world no. 1 ASE (AM), outside the top 100 and behind at least one of his own daughters, has been forced to turn to his trusty old pick 'em friend, Mr Denial: "Oh, is there still a pick'em running? I thought it finished a couple of days ago."

One-time Miami leader Wolfie (BT) sees the light about 2 weeks too late: "I knew I should have picked that dammed Andy Murray to win the tournament." In reply, rondun (AM) invents another pick 'em term that may well stand the test of time: "I thought I had - curse that muppetfinger!" This gives Miami Champion Lizzim (AM) an unmissable chance to rub their noses in it: "I did!"

SallyDaisy (JM), having abandoned her 'from 10th to last' mercy mission when it was almost complete thanks to Muzza, shows her darker side: "The gorillas can go eat themselves - I'm not saving them THIS time ..."

Oneminutetomidknight (AM) cleverly decides to admit his big mistake on a board he isn't playing for: "I think i actually have a shot at being nominated for the "Worst decision in the history of Pick'em" award - picking Dancevic to beat Novak in round 2, a choice im sure even has the gorillas asking themselves "HOW ON EARTH?!?!?" Quite! He then asks his own team: "No congratulations for me for coming 217th?" LOL

Superbrat (CC) wonders why she bothered: "I can't believe that after all that palaver I am STILL in the same world ranking of 31 as when I started." Think yourself lucky ... LOL

Getting serious for a moment after TAT finally made it into the top three in the overall rankings, Charlie02123 (TA) succinctly assesses the prospects for the top teams as we head into the clay court season: "Centre Court won Monte Carlo last year. AndyMurray.com didn't have a good clay season. We won the French last year." All I can say is, that makes sense even if you remove the .com, but never forget world no. 4s!

Finally, Ashley Harkleroad's B***h (IN) on MP shows that you don't really have to be a b***h to be the no. 1 in the world. No, it seems it's better to be a complete b*****d: "Final table updated... fraid boys kicked girls' asses this time, with me and Gav finishing 25th and 27th respectively and Pebs and Jo a lowly 81st and 82nd. Better luck next time suckers!" With friends like this ... !

Thanks again for lots of fun these last two weeks - see you again for Rome in about 3 weeks' time!

freerider · Futures level

tthanks for organising another pick ems stevenn (and anyone else who helped out).

whens the next one going to be?

Count Zero · Tennis legend

in rome in about 3 weeks

steven · Tennis legend

Is anyone here doing the ATP Bracket Challenge? The reason for asking is that you can set up a group so that you can see each other's results all in one place, so I'm wondering if it's worth setting up a BT.net group or if it would be easier just to join the AM.com one.

The Hoose · Satellite level

Judging by the response, it might be easier to join the AM.com one!

steven · Tennis legend

LOL that's what I was thinking!