I don't understand betting odds, but just looking at them, it looks like the favourite to win has the lower number. Is that right?

Darn, what looked a balanced draw initially, great ( as per usual ) for Bally, awful for Hev and averageish for Anne doesn't look so good now.

A much more decent draw and I did give Laura a fair chance, but Jankovic isn't a good one, and close as she made it at Wimbledon in 2010, I am not optimistic.

Maybe can hope that Barthel, for all her success at Hobart, is a bit knackered and not as prepared as she would want, and I have the impression there is a fair history of folk doing very well immediately before Slams and then bowing out surprisingly easily at the Slam, most especially when they have not been really top ranked players. Here's hoping

Re Heather and Laura' draws, Heather's bad luck is really just the last couple ( very bad ) but in the three before that they were fine to very good, though clearly unlucky in play to get the elbow injury against Johansson at Wimbledon.  From seemingly poised to pick up 100 ranking points there, I don't think she's had that much luck generally for a while.

Laura's overall slam R1 draws have on average been much worse than Heather's.

They have each been in a main draw 5 times, meeting following WRs :

Heather :  2010 :  139  2011 :  133 ( won ), 70 & 4   2012 :  3   Average : 70

Laura :   2009 :  32   2010 :  3   2011 :  77 ( won ) &  47 ( won )  2012 :  13  Average :  34

-- Edited by indiana on Saturday 14th of January 2012 07:47:43 PM

indiana wrote:

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and I have the impression there is a fair history of folk doing very well immediately before Slams and then bowing out surprisingly easily at the Slam, most especially when they have not been really top ranked players. 

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An egregious example of the "availability heuristic". And I thought you were a statistician....

Or maybe it's just wishful thinking?

IMO Laura is capable of an upset, she nearly got a set off Jankovic at Wimbledon 2010 and has improved greatly since. That said, presumably JJ will have a better idea now of how she plays...

Helen40 wrote:

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Hope I wake up to good news!

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 Helen, does that mean that,  like me, you also were thinking the matches were being played last night ?  I  went to bed early/ish, then woke up at 12.12 expecting  Hev's match to have started.  Was very confused, thought there must be  have been a rain delay when I couldn't find any action.   Eventually penny dropped

 

 

Ha Ha,  I won't ask their hair colour  

Really excited about tonight.
Midnight tennis with cocoa!