RG BOTB DAY 5/6 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

A couple of ridiculously busy days (and nights) working plus the odd connection glitch mean that I haven't even had a chance to do a small report for a couple of days. The frequent intra-day updates stopped abruptly yesterday too but will restart today. This is also a big report covering both Thursday and Friday, but it separates the changes so that those who did particularly well or badly on either day don't miss out on their coveted 15 hundredths of a second of fame!

Detailed results can be found at http://www.britishtennis.net/Competitions.html

N.B. in what follows, references to changes on day 5/Thursday include the last two matches in R2 which finished early on Friday and references to changes on day 6/Friday cover the first 8 R3 matches.

TEAMS

Rusedski.co.uk won R2 and stayed in 1st place on Thursday, with R1 winners BT.net moving back up a place to 2nd as world no. 1s TAT dropped 1 to 3rd. The only teams to gain more than one place were the Hewitts, up 3 to 5th, and the Dammitaires, up 2 to 11th - they were also the only teams to upset the seedings in the KO L16 and will meet each other in the KO QFs.

MTF had looked likely to cause the biggest upset of the team KO L16 round, but a bad end to R2 saw their challenge fade away against TAT and they dropped 2 to 13th in the league as well. The other teams that dropped more than one place over the second half of R2 were AM.com, down 3 to 7th (but they still beat the Feddies in the KO), and JM.org, down 2 to 9th.

The first half of R3 on Friday saw the top two teams remain unchanged, but AM.com, who seem to be doing much better in the top half of the draw, surged 4 places to 3rd and BBC 606, who are winning R3 by a country mile, shoot up 6 to 4th. Those losing ground on Friday included Team CC, down 2 to 6th, with bottom half specialists (and they're going to need to be in order to come from behind yet again in the KO) TAT down 4 to 7th and T4Y down 3 to 9th.

The team KO QF line-up, with scores at the halfway point, is as follows

(1) BritishTennis.net 14.69 lead (8) Centre Court Forum 13.92
(4) AndyMurray.com 14.89 lead (5) Rusedski.co.uk 14.84 - just 0.05 in it!
(14) RichardGasquet.net 15.67 lead (11) LleytonHewitt.biz 15.00
(7) Assorted Individuals 14.68 lead (2) TalkAboutTennis 13.71

Updates during today and details of the 9th-16th place matches can be found on the detailed results pages.

TOP 10

World no. 23 kaseldop (GR), up 1 to 1st on Thursday, was the outright winner of R2 with 28/32 correct and moved into a 2 point lead. Nevets (CC) moved up 3 to 2nd, with --cj-- (TA), up 5 to 3rd, a further 2 points behind but ahead of Claire Thompson (JM) & DR4Life (AM), both up 27 to 4=, on tiebreak.

Also moving up into the top 10 over the second half of R2 were Dusty Dick (BT), up 8 to 6th, Roy (GR), up 10 to 7=, and the two highest scorers of the day, David Thompson (AM), up 88 to 7=, and nelslus (TA), up 99 to 10th. The only faller to hold onto a top 10 place was Ollie361 (IN), down 3 to 7=.

Btw, the Thompsons are husband and wife, and since the picks of married couples usually show huge disagreement for some reason, that may be the first time we've had both halves of a married couple in the top 10 of a pick 'em as big as this - well done them!

Moving onto Friday, kaseldop (GR) is also one of just 8 entrants who have managed to get 7/8 in R3 so far, and as a result he has increased his lead to 7 points, which is astonishing at this early stage given how many entrants there are!

Claire Thompson (JM) & DR4Life (AM), both up 2 to 2=, and Ollie361 (IN) & Roy (GR), both up 3 to 4=, complete the top 5, while rawr (RF), up 5 to 6th, chrisSpotmen (RG), up 35 to 7th and another entrant with 7/8 in R3 so far, and mataeo1983 (TA) & zephblabs (TA), both up 7 to 8=, moved up into the top 10 on Friday, while --cj-- (TA) has fallen 7 but holds onto a place in the top 10, if only just!

ON THE RISE

Three entrants rose over 150 places on Thursday - The Mayor of Tennisopolis (TN), up 156 to 89th, patrick (TA), up 170 to 109, and riser of the day Grady (TN), up 180 to 135, were among the dozen players scoring 28 points - the two who scored 30 were mentioned in the top 10 section.

On Friday, quite a lot of entrants moved up 90 places or more but only the four entrants outside the top 10 who got 7/8 of the top half R3 matches correct managed triple-figure rises - IgorD (IN), up 114 to 31st, Darius (IN), up 129 to 65th, Dgordon84 (TN), up 164 to 120th, and riser of the day Aymen (LH), up 169 to 147.

DODGY DROPPERS

Three entrants fell more than 200 places on Thursday - Imoen (BT), down 202 to 268=, who mentioned that she thought she might be in for a bad day the evening before, making that her best prediction of the day, Fiercehart (TA), down 209 to 304th, and gff0 (MT), down 243 to 338.

The only entrants to get less than 2/8 correct in the first half of R3 on Friday were andrewjshields (RF), down 36 to 389th after getting 1/8, and last placed gaitan36 (TN), who failed to score at all, but who had already ensured by the end of R2 that he would end the tournament with more than the legendary kentanner11 (TN)'s all-time record low slam score of 39 from last year's RG BOTB. What is it about entrants with 'tan' in their name?!

However, the biggest faller on Friday was the only entrant with 2/8 correct who was not already down near the gorillas, Joe/Lonestar2289 (IN), down 169 to 345th. 7 of the entrants who scored 3/8 also dropped over 100 places - Sher (CC), down 137 to 196th, Chris Cassee (TN), down 140 to 229th, MissSospanFach (CC), down 141 to 250th, Ghandi (GR), down 137 to 254th, BeauJarkko (TA), down 143 to 272nd, Jules (IN), down 139 to 284th and morct (TA), down 126 to 320th.

OUTLOOK

Nearly 20 entrants saw all of their R3 winner picks survive R2, ranging from three entrants who finished R2 in the top 10 all the way down to AllyB (AM), who managed it despite finishing R2 in the bottom 20!

Looking further ahead, the number of entrants will all 8 quarter-finalists still standing at the end of Friday was well into triple figures.

L'AFFAIRE TSONGA

The biggest talking point on the boards on Thursday (and it is still rumbling on even now) is whether anyone who had looked at past results on clay could possibly have foreseen Tsonga beating Monaco or whether Monaco's embarrassing defeat was a gift for those who picked the seed without thinking, thus more than making up for the well-deserved losses suffered by those who, in similar fashion, picked Schuettler to win R1 - the most shocking majority pick I can remember in more than 2 years of BOTB.

For me, the main dilemma over JWT was not whether he would lose to Monaco but whether he would even break his duck in R1, having lost in straight sets to Duckboy the only other time he failed to avoid playing at RG.

In his 6 previous clay court tournaments, Tsonga had three R1 exits and two straight sets exits in R2, only getting past R2 in Casablanca, when he had the luck to meet world no. 330 Lamine Ouahab in that round, going on to beat world no. 94 Santiago Ventura in the QFs, while Monaco had beaten Muzza, Ferrer and Cilic on clay in just the last two AMS events.

Maybe some of those who picked Tsonga to beat Monaco based their decision on the psychological effect of the thrashing he gave Monaco at the AO this year or the fact that JWT is the one top French player who thrives in front of home support (as at Paris AMS last year) instead of wilting under the strain, and congrats to them for taking a punt that came off, but I wonder how many just ignored clay court form and got lucky. Ah, the frustrations of BOTB, eh! LOL

AND FINALLY ...

On Friday, Gillou was in deep trouble with DJ (MP) for losing: "Simon, you are a disgrace to yourself, your family, your future children and grandchildren, your President and your country. Don't ever have the audacity to call yourself a top 10 tennis player ever again. Just ridiculous ..." Quite!

Meanwhile, her teammate Ashley Harkleroad's ***** (MP) was even more annoyed at the Sod for playing much better than he'd ever suggested he could play on clay: "Soderling is such a ****. This is a match that he would normally be simply be incapable of winning ... I still remember his abysmal choke here against Bennetteau last year. Against a better player, and a huge fighter like Ferrer, he simply shouldn't have had a chance especially when he went a set down ... but no, he's suddenly a mental ****ing giant as well as a clay court supremo."

My theory is that the courts at RG must be playing a lot faster than usual, for whatever reason, because I can't see what else would explain why players like Tsonga, Cilic and the Sod have suddenly turned into clay court gods.

However, my favourite quote of the last two days came from AllyB (AM), reacting to the suggestion that maybe the reason why Stani was the majority pick against the Undertaker was simply because people tend to like him more than the Russian: "I think as a person most of us probably prefer Stan to Davydenko. I prefer my wife to Serena Williams but I wouldn't pick her <to beat Serena> in a tennis match!"

RG BOTB DAY 8 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

The biggest shock today was Nole going out to Kohli, the first player to get further than any of us predicted him to in this tournament. Who'd have known that this would be the year a Gasquet would reach the second week, even if it is the 'German Gasquet'!

Two irritating GEMs (a previous clay court numpty and Monsieur 'so injured I can't really play') continued to give a kicking to those of us who did not pick them to survive the first week, while Duckboy and Haas continued to pile on the evidence that somehow the courts at RG are playing faster than even Wimbledon does these days!

Detailed results can be found at http://www.britishtennis.net/Competitions.html

TEAMS

R2 winners Rusedski.co.uk are still out in front, but a late surge by the Ducklings, up 6 to 2nd and the winners of R3, cut their lead a bit to half a point. The latter look to have been helped by the news about le Monf's injury not having made it across the Atlantic and they also went 100% for Potty, Fed, Duckboy & Robredo today.

R1 winners BT.net have dropped 1 to 3rd but have qualified for the KO SFs where they will play the league leaders, but there is then a gap of over a point back to AM.com, down 1 to 4th, and close behind them Team CC, who are up 1 to 5th but whose defence of the RG team KO title came to an end today.

The biggest fallers of the day were world no. 1s TAT, down 5 to 12th. Their bottom half of the draw form deserted them today and they lost suffered a heavy loss in the team KO QFs as well. However, they are still almost 5 points clear of the teams fighting it out to avoid the team lanterne rouge, MTF and Tennisopolis.

The team KO QF results were as follows:

(1) BritishTennis.net 29.59 beat (8) Centre Court Forum 29.04
(5) Rusedski.co.uk 30.16 beat (4) AndyMurray.com 29.89 - closest match of the round

(14) RichardGasquet.net 30.67 beat (11) LleytonHewitt.biz 29.40
(7) Assorted Individuals 29.53 beat (2) TalkAboutTennis 27.43

9th-16th QF results and updates during the main and 5th-16th SFs can be found on the detailed results pages.

TOP 10

One of 16 entrants who somehow got 7/8 correct today and one of just four who got 13/16 in R3 as a whole, DR4Life (AM), up 1 to 1st, overhauled the big 7 point lead held by kaseldop (GR) at the start of the day and now leads him by 2 points.

David Thompson (AM), up 16 to 3=, also got 7/8 on Saturday to overhaul (among others) his wife, Claire Thompson (JM), down 6 to 8th. Her drop after getting 5/8 today enabled both Ollie361 (IN) & Roy (GR) to move up 1 to 3= after they got 6/8.

rawr (RF) stayed in 6th and zephblabs (TA) moved up 1 to 7th, while Jude (GR), up 4 to 9th, and Dusty Dick (BT), up 6 to 10th, both joined the top 10.

ON THE RISE

Six of the 16 entrants who got 7/8 correct on Saturday rose more than 100 places as a result -Robxon (BT), up 105 to 72nd, mariela (AR), up 106 to 84=, Dark_Necrofear (CC), up 121 to 99=, Lugburz (TY), up 124 to 135=, IntnstyAngle (TA), up 130 to 155th, and AllyB (AM), up 118 to 215th.

The latter was by far the lowest placed entrant with all 16 R3 winners still standing at the end of R2 and also equal top scored (with 13/16) for R3 as a whole, together with Darius (IN), up 15 to 50=, and Jon (AR), up 71 to 50=, and the new leader.

DODGY DROPPERS

38 entrants failed to get 50% on Saturday. Most of these 38 got 3/8, and they included three who dropped 130 places - Pingponger (TA), now in 229=, Dallas (TY) in 254th and Slothrop (BB) in 258=.

Five entrants got one less correct than this, i.e. 2/8 - they were sallydaisy (JM), down 71 to 366th, Portsey (TB), down 60 to 372nd, gff0 (MT), down 11 to 386th, greatunclebulgaria (AM), down 11 to 388th, and gaitan36 (TN), now 7 points adrift of the gorillas and 25 behind any other entrant.

OUTLOOK

Only Reeltime (AM) saw all 8 of his R4 winner picks survive R3, and that was despite falling 73 to 161st today! His QF picks are Rafa, 'dasco, Cilic, Gonzo, Potty, Robredo, le Monf & Fed. Given his team, he'll probably be hoping to lose at least one of them!

At the other end of the scale, the lanterne rouge only has champion pick Duckboy left but most of us have 5-7 quarter-finalists left as we go into R4.

SUNDAY SCHEDULE

PC 1: (12) Gonzo 63% v (30) Hanescu 0% (28% went for Simon)
SL 2: (3) Muzza 82% v (13) Cilic 6%
PC 3: (1) Rafa 99% v (23) Sod 0%
SL 4: (8) Verdasco 79% v (10) Kolya 8% (11% went for Stani)

AND FINALLY ...

He may not have gone for either player mentioned, but Ashley Harkleroad's ***** (MP) correctly predicted that Chokieu would not emulate the cabbage writer today: "Difference is, PHM is a choker, Kohly isn't. In fact PHM has already choked, whereas Kohly is serving for the match."

In fact, our world no. 1 (for how much longer?) is currently in France, which gives poor old Fed two nemeses to deal with, and it sounds like other players had better watch out tomorrow too: "Just to let everyone know that I'm going to RG tomorrow, if anyone has any requests for players who they'd like me to shout abuse/throw a missile at please let me know. I've already bagged Soderling and Ljubicic." Get your requests in before it's too late! (N.B. As a former US Sec. of Defense might say, obviously we do not condone anything illegal or the use of gratuitous violence ... well, not too much anyway. *cough*)

Nevets (CC) has also had enough: "I'm just really angry that the Frenchies will mess this up for me. Tsonga, who has won about two matches on clay this season loses to an in-form Monaco, who choked the fourth set tie-break away and the seemingly injured Gael Monfils shows no sign of his injury which was on the verge of making him withdraw!" Yes, l'affaire Tsonga looks like challenging UK MPs' expenses as the topic that just won't lie down and die ...

DJ (MP) thinks that my theory about the RG courts playing faster this year may not be the right one: "Roddick's looking a bit worryingly good on clay was there some form of alien abduction I wasn't told about?" Hmm, Brooklyn Decker, take-me-to-your-leader!

Finally, tlimvvo2max (CC) echoed my own sentiments when he said: "My only hopes of a big lift up the table now lie with Melzer... which is a sentence you really don't want to find yourself typing!"

NEXT REPORT

Since we are moving into the second week with no more than four matches per day, reports like this will be produced at the end of each round rather than the end of each day, and the change/Today column will be reset only at the end of each round too. Have a good Sunday!