So, probably fuelled by a glass of two of Pinot Noir and a nice fuzzy feeling amidst all the madness, I thought in the absence of tennis for the next few weeks, folks might enjoy participating in this fantasy tennis event. 

The top 8 men and top 8 women of all time (as measured by grand slam wins) have gathered at a world famous tennis centre somewhere in the USA (the country with the most Slam winners) to play in this event to work out the Champion of Champions. 

The 8 men and women will be taking part in a best of 5 set (mens) and best of 3 set (womens) event covering all 3 of the slam surface types, with 7 matches in total over the course of a week, in both events. 

The 7 matches will comprise of 3 hardcourt, 2 grass and 2 clay matches in both events. The Academy has 3 major courts, each housing c. 15-20k spectators , one for each surface. In the quarterfinal matches, 2 will be on hard, one grass and one clay. The semis and finals  will be one on each of the 3 surfaces. 

The draw will be shown for each event in the next post below. Each night this week, starting Sunday evening, I will put up a poll and leave it for c 24 hours to allow folks to vote on who they believe will win the match up. The player with the most votes at the end of the 24 hours will win and move onto the next round. I have put the surface selections into a hat and will draw the surface for that match immediately before the poll is put up. It is luck of the draw , so match 1 could be on clay, 2 on hard, 3 on hard and 4 on grass, etc or any combination of the 3 surfaces, given 2 will be hard, 1 grass and 1 clay. 

In the semis, the match up will be a different surface to the one the winning player played on in their QF. eg. if match 1 is on clay, and match 2 is on hard, then match 5 (between the winners of those 2) will be on grass. Ditto for match 3 and 4 winners playing on a different surface in Match 6, the second semifinal. The final will be on the remaining surface option of the 3 from left over from the semis. 

This isnt intended to vote for the best player ever, it is intended to be a Champion of Champion event with the luck of the draw of the surfaces - I have no preference or axe to grind so folks will need to trust me that their preferred player hasnt been treated badly when I draw the surface for that tie at home each evening! 

I hope this makes sense: the draw will be in order as per below:

M1 v M8 - Match 1 - QF

M4 v M5 - Match 2 - QF

M3 v M6 - Match 3 - QF

M2 v M7 - Match 4 - QF

Winner Match 1 v Winner Match 2 - Match 5 - SEMIFINAL

Winner Match 3 v Winner Match 4 - Match 6 -SEMIFINAL

Winner Match 5 v Winner Match 6 - Match 7 -FINAL

So on Sunday, I will post a poll for the Match 1 mens and Match 1 womens face offs. Monday, Match 2 of both, Tuesday Match 3 etc through to the semis on Thursday and Friday and then the final on Saturday night next week through to completion on the Sunday evening. 

Hope this makes sense. Two rules for the draw and for the result:

Draw - seeding and qualification for the event based on slam wins ever. If two players tie on slam wins, the most recent player to win a slam gets the highest seeding, or qualifies if it is for 8th place.

Winner of each match will be person who gets most votes when I close it down (as near as possible to 24 hours). IF there is a tie, then i will leave it open and the next vote to come in will break the tie and win the match. i will announce the result or if there is a tie and let it purely be down to the luck of the draw for the next voter to come through. 

Draws below - match 1 will be posted tomorrow evening, Sunday, with the surface that I have drawn. Draws in second post below. 

Please take this as a bit of fun, dont get too hung up on it or process, dont get too hung up on surface choice. it is a game to amuse those who wish to take part!!!