2010 Toronto Masters 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em contest

goldfish · Futures qualifying

RE: 2010 Toronto Masters 'Battle of the Boards' pick 'em contest

LadyTigress · County player

Did ANYONE from bt.net actually pick Chela to beat Falla other than myself?

SMC1809 · All-time great

I can't remember for sure, but the more I think about it, the more I think I opted for Chela. We'll see soon enough though when the picks are up for everyone to laugh at.

Bruce · Lower Club Player

So far, I'm equal with the Gorillas. I've got 3 right (Anderson, Hanescu and Robredo) and 3 wrong (Falla, Gasquet and Istomin).

I picked the wrong GEM. I picked Gasquet when I should have picked Benneteau (who beat Istomin).

eblunt · Club Coach

Bruce wrote:

So far, I'm equal with the Gorillas. I've got 3 right (Anderson, Hanescu and Robredo) and 3 wrong (Falla, Gasquet and Istomin).

I picked the wrong GEM. I picked Gasquet when I should have picked Benneteau (who beat Istomin).

That's exactly why they're GEMs. Maybe you should do all your picks exactly how you think the matches should go, then, at the last minute, just reverse the results of all matches involving GEMs.

Smidster · Challenger level

Now Melzer has lost to the Canadian WC Polansky!

LadyTigress · County player

So far I seem to have got 7/11. Dad's actually doing even better, 8/11 for the day. Not too bad, considering that one of those wrong picks was Melzer losing to Polansky and only one entrant predicted that outcome.

SMC1809 · All-time great

SMC1809 wrote:

I can't remember for sure, but the more I think about it, the more I think I opted for Chela. We'll see soon enough though when the picks are up for everyone to laugh at.

It turns out I picked Falla! And I picked Bellucci over Gulbis since I read somewhere that Gulbis had withdrawn! furious

Oh well, at least I'm in a good position for 'Biggest riser of the day'.

steven · Tennis legend

2010 TORONTO MASTERS BOTB - DAY 1 'SYNDICATED' REPORT

Many thanks to all those who entered this competition - 267 is very similar to the number of entrants we got for Montréal last year and well up on the last Masters BOTB in Rome. There were remarkably few entry problems this time and the results would have been up much quicker had it not been for a work issue that needed to be dealt with and then a lost connection, at which point I gave up and got a few hours much-needed sleep.

The day session was rain-affected but 11 matches (almost half of R1) ended up finishing. The muppet of the day session was Richard 'Dammit' Gasquet, who lost to 8% pick Stakhovsky, while the muppet of the night session was Melzer (unusual for him), who went down to Canadian WC Polansky, a result that only scooter (JM) predicted.

Dishonourable mentions go to F-Loppy for losing to 30% pick de Bakker and Falla for losing to 37% pick Chela. Meanwhile, the biggest swing match of the day was won by 54% pick (Q) Kevin Anderson against Leo Mayer.

Detailed results can be found at http://www.freewebs.com/britishtennis/competitions.html and from now on they will be updated regularly each day, with 'headlines' and the odd 'quote of the day' appearing on http://twitter.com/botb1 as well.

TEAMS

AM.com finished the day on top, though only after the adjustment that allows for the fact that smaller teams tend to get more extreme scores was taken into account. The smallest team, the Ducklings, did indeed get the highest average, and they are 2nd after the adjustment with the Dammitaires completing the top three, despite them all picking their hero to get through at least one round.

World no. 1s TAT are currently propping up the table in last place, though again this is after the team size adjustment (which works 'against' the bigger teams at the bottom end of the table, 'for' them at the top) - GBTG in 11th have the lowest unadjusted average.

INDIVIDUALS

The spread of scores after the first 11 matches is lower than it usually is, with the leaders on 9/11 and the multiple lanternes rouges on 3/11.

The five joint leaders are world no. 33 Akhenaten (BT), world no. 61 Hawkeye (AM), world no. 94 drewzip (AM), super8 (CC) & bendixp (IN) and 21 more entrants are just 1 point behind them on 8. Over half of us are on 5, in 176=, or 6, in 84=.

The 10 entrants sharing last place include new world no. 1 Scotsguy (ML), whose transfer of allegiance from Team CC to MTL seems to have produced an embarrassing loss of form!

WINNER PICKS

48% Rafa
20% Fed
12% Muzza
9% Nole
5% Söd
3% Duckboy
2% Berdbrain
1 pick each for Pics & Numpty

Finalist picks not listed above: Kolya, Verdy, Querrey, Cilic & Simon, the latter making Mark M (IN) the first entrant to lose a finalist pick. I thought I'd be nice and call that unfortunate, but seriously, Gilles Simon, what was he thinking?! LOL

BOTB player nicknames help: http://www.murraytennisforums.com/showthread.php?t=253

REMAINING R1 MATCHES

The big swing matches of the day are Tipsy 52% v Kohli 48% (particularly if you were one of the 17% who had the winner beating Cilic or Troicki too) and Numpty Nalby 59% v Pics Ferrer 41%, a likely 3(or more)-pointer for the 97% of us who picked the winner of that match to beat Robredo in R2 as well.

steven · Tennis legend

GULBIS - you wouldn't have won like that if I'd picked you, you annoying little muppet! grrrr furious

The tweeter who said he was rumoured to be in hospital with a mystery illness (muppetitis?) is in big trouble too.

As for F-Loppy, all that work deciding whether it would be him, le Monf or Gonzo who got to R3 ... only for Feloopyano to go and lose to de Bakker. Dohhhhhhhhhhhh!!

I'm quite surprised I ended the day in mid-table after all that, but that F-Loppy loss is going to cost me later. cry

indiana · Tennis legend

Hmm, who would allow themselves to be influenced by internet rumour ?

Yep, me too !! Gulbis

Yet, I had also read of Dammit's back problems after his retirement last week and that he was getting tests done, and I still somehow decided to pick him

-- Edited by indiana on Tuesday 10th of August 2010 09:36:54 AM

eblunt · Club Coach

I see that 8 of the world top 14 are poised menacingly just behind the leaders in 84th place.

LadyTigress · County player

See, I heard nothing of this internet rumour, which is why I picked Gulbis to win.

Unfortunately I also picked Gasquet. My father went for Stakh, jammy.

Only 37% picked Chela?!?! Geeeeeeez... What were the other 63% on? I can only suppose that they all thought that Falla's one-off wonder at Wimbledon was the start of something big. Actually Fed's playing appallingly in that match rather helped the scoreline along in Falla's favour... and Falla still couldn't pull it out the bag with Fed in that kind of poor form and him playing some impressive shots.

As for Floppy, I too picked him, but I had him going out to Monfils in the next round, so that'll be damage limitation for me... unless de Bakker gets through there as well.

I see my dad is equal 6th for the day! Could be a breakthrough tourney for him. I'm down on equal 27th. Not too bad, but need to improve. I NEED a good run early in the year this year. The past two years I've pulled out astonishingly good runs only at the end of the season. First it was Madrid in 2008, and then I had a pretty mediocre to terrible 2009, until at the last minute in Shanghai I pulled out a top ten finish I think which at the last possible moment saved me from a plunge of the Madrid points coming off and propelled me into the top 100. So far this year it's been mediocre. I REALLY don't want to get to the last Pick'em of the year again and face having to pull off another amazing performance in the face of all those points coming off, so I'm looking to do something here.

steven · Tennis legend

LadyTigress wrote:
See, I heard nothing of this internet rumour, which is why I picked Gulbis to win.

Unfortunately I also picked Gasquet. My father went for Stakh, jammy.

To be honest, I wouldn't have picked that waster Gulbis to win even I hadn't heard the rumour. And if I had, he'd have gone and lost, not even turned up and/or retired!

LadyTigress wrote:
Only 37% picked Chela?!?! Geeeeeeez... What were the other 63% on? I can only suppose that they all thought that Falla's one-off wonder at Wimbledon was the start of something big. Actually Fed's playing appallingly in that match rather helped the scoreline along in Falla's favour... and Falla still couldn't pull it out the bag with Fed in that kind of poor form and him playing some impressive shots.

I'd agree that Falla's not that good, but Chela has been even worse recently. Also, Falla had already beaten Chela this year and the bookies made it 62:38 to Falla, remarkably close to how the picks split.

LadyTigress wrote:
Not too bad, but need to improve. I NEED a good run early in the year this year.

I hate to worry you, but we're already in the latter half of the year ...

LadyTigress wrote:
The past two years I've pulled out astonishingly good runs only at the end of the season.

Go back a year or two earlier, and you too could be Numpty Nalby!

-- Edited by steven on Tuesday 10th of August 2010 01:33:41 PM

steven · Tennis legend

Doctor, doctor, I think one of my friends has turned into a biscuit!

She's just told me that she was one of the 8% who picked Stakh to beat Dammit, thus avoiding having her first day messed up by him.

Surely that makes her a GEMmy dodger?

Yup, I'll get me coat ...