Australian Open 2013 contest - It's moved to another board

[Forehand_lob]

Thanks to field limitations, the true title of the contest should be: Australian Open 2012 contest - If you ever see me walking down the hall look the other way.

Coming up with a witty title is one of the hardest things about running the contest and Serena named the contests for this year. So, if Serena comes and enters, she will get a whopping 50 bonus points. That would be one way to get a second Serena slam. It'd be a golden slam too, since I'm planning on running this for the Olympics too.

THE RULES

1. Pick quarterfinalists, semifinalists, finalists, and champions for both ATP and WTA draws. You will receive 7.5 points for each correct quarterfinalist, 5 points for each correct semifinalist and finalist, and 20 points for each correct champion. (The "I Have Monogrammed Shorts" rule is in effect; picking Djokovic as champ will only get you 10 points if he wins).

2. SUBSTITUTE PICK: Pick a player from each draw to replace one of your quarterfinalists. If this player makes the quarters, they will take the place of whomever you picked in that section of the draw

3. BIGGEST LOSER: pick the highest seed that will lose in the earliest round from each draw. The player must be a top-16 seed. You get 5 points if your seed is the highest to lose and 2 points if your seed falls in the same round as the highest seed to lose.

4. WINNING UGLY: Pick a player in each draw. If that player was the quarterfinalist who lost the most games en route to the QFs (i.e. within rounds 1-4), you get 5 points. If that player did not lose the most games but lost more games than anyone picked, you get 2 points.

BONUS PICKS

1. DOUBLES ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE GAME: Pick the winner of the men's, women's, and mixed doubles events (the draws for these are usually posted later, so you may amend your original post to include these). A correct pick will get you 5 bonus points for the men's and women's pick and 3 bonus points for the mixed. Picking the non-winning finals team will get you 2 points for the men's and women's and 1 point for the mixed.

2. AUSSIE KIM VS. NEW YORK SAM: Who will lose less games at the AO, hometown girl Sam Stosur or I-dated-Lleyton Kim Clijsters? Pick one and the correct choice will get you 2 bonus points.

EXTRAS

***Unseeded quarterfinalists are worth an extra half point for every seed they take out en route.

***WTF bonus: if you have a pick that makes it to the quarterfinals that no one else made (not even as a substitute pick), you'll gain an extra 5 points for it.

DEADLINE

It should be before play starts, but I'm flexible so long as not that much of the tournament has already happened. When in doubt, post your picks! Doubles draws are also decided later, so just make a post about those when they're out.

The DRAWS

They'll be up later in the week, but here's the address for them:

Men's singles

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

Women's singles

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

Men's doubles

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

Women's doubles

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

Mixed doubles

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/sco ... index.html

PS - what happened to baked goods, I hear you ask. Well, they are a pain to do, and I'm simplifying things so I can get the results up earlier and with less stress.

[Forehand_lob]

I'll be the first one to put my picks up. I'm shooting for the gold, either the top gold or special gold, I'm not sure which.

Men

Quarterfinals

Djokovic v. Ferrer
Murray v. Tsonga
Del Potro v. Federer
Berdych (Dimitrov) v. Nadal

Semifinals

Djokovic v. Tsonga
Federer v. Berdych

Final

Djokovic v. Federer

Champion

Federer

Winning Ugly: Ferrer
Biggest Loser: Fish (I like Gilles Muller as a terrible first round matchup)

Women

Quarterfinals

Jankovic v. Clijsters
Azarenka v. Wickmayer
Serena v. Kuznetsova (Sharapova)
Bartoli v. Kvitova

Semifinals

Clijsters v. Azarenka
Kuznetsova v. Kvitova

Final

Clijsters v. Kuznetsova

Champion

Clijsters

Winning Ugly: Bartoli
Biggest Loser: Aggie Radwanska (Bethanie Knee-High Socks is going to take her out)

Doubles
Men: Melzer/Petzschner
Women: King/Shvedova
Aussie Kim vs. New York Sam: Aussie Kim

No love to soon-to-not-be-world-number-one Wozniacki from me!

[funches]

ATP

Quarterfinals

Djokovic over Ferrer
Murray over Tsonga
Federer over del Potro
Baghdatis over Nadal

Semifinals

Djokovic over Murray
Federer over Baggy

Final

Djokovic over Federer 6-3, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2

Sub: Tipsarevic (Ferrer)
BL: Almagro (I don't think I've ever won this in any contest, male or female)
WU: del Potro

WTA

Quarterfinals

Clijsters over Wozniacki
Azarenka over A. Radwanska
Kanepi over Kuznetsova
Kvitova over Stosur

Semifinals

Azarenka over Clijsters
Kvitova over Kanepi

Final

Azarenka over Kvitova 7-6, 0-6, 6-4

Sub: Serena (Kanepi)
BL: Sharapova
WU: Wozniacki

Doubles

Men: Bryans
Women's: King-Shvedova
Mixed: Raymond-Bopanna

[louise]

Men
Djo d Ferrer
Monfils d Tsonga
Djo d Monfils

Fed d Fish
Nadal d Baggie
Fed d Nadal

Fed d Djo

Women
Li d Woz
Aza d A-Rad
Aza d Li

Kuz d Wms
Kvi d Bar
Kvi d Kuz

Kvi d Aza

Mens Dubs: Bryans
Womenas Dubs: Huber/Raymond

[qualopec]

Hi, i'm new here! Hope you don't mind me joining the party, i love tennis and couldn't resist !!
Good luck to everyone, including the guys who do all the work (the tennis players).

Men's Singles Championship
=====================

Quarter-Finals

Novak Djokovic vs Richard Gasquet
Andy Murray vs Giles Simon

Mardy Fish vs Roger Federer
Nicolas Almagro vs Rafael Nadal

Semi-Finals

Novak Djokovic vs Andy Murray
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal

Final

Novak Djokovic vs Roger Federer

Champion - Roger Federer

Substitute Pick - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga over Giles Simon
Biggest Looser - Tomas Berdych
Winning Ugly - Richard Gasquet

Women's Singles Championship
========================

Quarter-Finals

Jelena Jankovic vs Kim Clijsters
Victoria Azarenka vs Agnieszka Radwanska

Serena Williams vs Svetlana Kuznetsova
Marion Bartoli vs Petra Kvitova

Semi-Finals

Kim Clijsters vs Agnieszka Radwanska
Serena Williams vs Marion Bartoli

Final

Kim Clijsters vs Serena Williams

Champion - Serena Williams

Substitute Pick - Samantha Stosur over Marion Bartoli
Biggest Looser - Sabine Lisicki
Winning Ugly - Jelena Jankovic

Aussie Kim vs New York Sam - Aussie Kim

Doubles Championships
==================

Man's Doubles - Bhupathi, Bopanna
Womens's Doubles - Dulko, Pennetta
Mixed Doubles -

[Forehand_lob]

The deadline is extended. Post your picks!

[HoB]

A day late (still not used to the fact that the 2012 season is already a few weeks underway), but here goes:

Men
QF:
Djokovic d. Ferrer
Tsonga d. Murray (Monfils)
Federer d. Del Potro
Nadal d. Berdych

SF:
Djokovic d. Tsonga
Federer d. Nadal

Final:
Djokovic d. Federer

Winning ugly: Del Potro
Biggest loser: Roddick (I don't see anybody losing first round, but Roddick's got the worst draw by far)

As for the ladies, I'll go out on a limb:
QF:
Li (Clijsters) d. Jankovic
Azarenka d. Schiavone
Williams d. Lisicki
Kvitova d. Stosur

SF:
Azarenka d. Li
Kvitova d. Williams

F:
Kvitova d. Azarenka

Winning ugly: Schiavone
Biggest loser: Sharapova

Men's doubles: Llodra/Zimonjic
Women's doubles: Huber/Raymond
Aussie Kim vs NY Sam: Kim

Normally, I at least try to check some H2H records, but I've bought my first Mac today and I haven't quite figured out how to open and switch to different tabs. Hope that submitting this works fine!

[Forehand_lob]

Well, the biggest loser for the women is Stosur. Looks like she's back to her "playing with one hand wrapped around her throat" style.

[Forehand_lob]

I might as well put the baked goods back in, since we only have 4 people participating. Not going to pretend that I'm happy we are down to so few people.

Right now, Mardy Fish is our leading contender for the biggest loser on the men's side.

[Forehand_lob]

Fish is our men's biggest loser with minor points going to Simon and Roddick.

Vania King has equaled her best showing in Slam singles and will face Ivanovic. Ivanovic should win, but it's Ivanovic, so there's an equal chance of her winning 6-1, 6-2 and losing in 3 sets.

I saw Serena play a bit last night on Tennis Channel. She did not look all that great, but she was able to win. If she doesn't improve, I can definitely see Zvonareva beating her.

[Forehand_lob]

What do everyone's picks look like? Here's the answer:

Djokovic 5
Federer 5
Ferrer 4 - OUT QFs
Nadal 5
Tsonga 5 - OUT
Murray 4
Del Potro 3 - OUT QFs
Baghdatis 2-OUT
Berdych 2 - OUT QFs
Monfils 2 - OUT
Almagro - OUT
Dimitrov - OUT
Fish 2 - OUT
Gasquet - OUT
Simon - OUT
Tipsarevic - OUT

Azarenka 5
Kvitova 5
Serena 5 - OUT
Clijsters 4
Kuznetsova 4 - OUT
Bartoli 3 - OUT
Li 2 - OUT
Jankovic 3 - OUT
A. Radwanska 3 - OUT QFs
Stosur 3 - OUT
Wozniacki 2 - OUT QFs
Kanepi - OUT
Lisicki - OUT
Schiavone - OUT
Sharapova
Wickmayer - OUT

I'm a little (but only a little) surprised that I'm the only Sharapova-picker. I guess the injury and general yips in her game scared everyone else off. Most of our shots at WTFs are gone.

[funches]

I count five people, including a newbie.

My infinite string of not picking the biggest loser (although it might be just in my head, maybe I've won it several times) continues. I thought about Fish but could not see him losing in the first two rounds to the opponents he could face. I thought about Stosur but figured she would come good after winning the U.S. Open. Actually, that was just dumb thinking. The U.S. Open win was less indicative of her career than here flameout here.

I really like Tomic. He's provided the only interesting tennis of the first week (at least, the only interesting tennis I've seen) in his five-set comeback against Verdasco in the first round and his five-setter against Dolgopolov last night. He hits the right shot at the right time and plays different than anyone else on tour. Dolgo should have won that match last night, but he plays just a little too loose. He reminds me of my personal favorite, Baghdatis, not necessarily in his game, but the way you never know what you're going to get from shot to shot and point to point. A screaming winner here, a flubbed forehand there. He has a lot of game, but I'm not sure he has the demeanor to be great, just like the Bagman.

Clijsters looked good against Hantuchova. This was the first non-grass slam since her comeback that I didn't pick her to win, but she's still the best female on hard courts (including Serena) when she's on top of her game. Not sure what to expect from her the rest of the way, but I'd make her the slight favorite to win this.

In his latest mailbag, Wertheim addressed an issue that galvanized the old anti-Roddick crowd that used to flock here when the board was still active - the time when Roddick conceded a point after a blown line call and then inexplicably got tons of credit for it. Wertheim said he asked Roddick about it once, and Roddick said exactly what everyone said here - that there was obvious mark and he just saved the umpire the exercise of getting out of the chair and finding the mark. Although Roddick didn't do anything wrong and never tried to make a big deal of the point, it's easy to see why his glorification for the incident irritated a bunch of people during the American media's Roddick infatuation days.

Roddick and Hewitt played with nary a post about it. That's an indication of how much has changed in tennis and on this board in the last six years. The match would have hijacked this thread in 2005 or 2006.

[funches]

Gasquet had 33 winners and eight errors tonight in his beatdown of Tipsarevic.

That's the best ratio I've ever seen at a non-Wimbledon match, where they refuse to award errors to almost anything.

Next up: Ferrer, who is 5-1 vs. Gasquet, with all five wins in blowouts.

Unfortunately for Gasquet, Djokovic is a roadblock the quarters, but it would be nice to see him get to the quarters and revive his career.

[Forehand_lob]

I forgot to do my mixed doubles pick until now. Let's be fun and go Jankovic/Tomic.

[HoB]

The biggest surprise for me is that there aren't really any surprises this AO (like e.g. Baghdatis, Tsonga, Raonic, Dolgopolov or Li in the past years). We may be with only 4 contestants, but it looks like we'll have predicted many of the 16 quarterfinalists.
Of course, I may have jinxed us and tomorrow Hewitt (kudos to him for reaching the 4th round!) will defeat Djokovic, Kukushkin beats Murray, and Makarova thrashes Serena. Errani or Zheng would indeed have been a good WTF pick, but if I understand F_lo correctly, it's between Lisicki and Sharapova for the WTF. Maria lost only 5 games in 3 matches, so I think that F_lo gets rewarded for being the only one who kept his faith in her. Like funches, I made the mistake of thinking that Stosur had become a more stable player by winning the US while keeping her head cool during Serena's flame-out. I think Stosur is like Mauresmo: she may still do well in other slams, but she'll never win her home slam.

Regarding the tennis: I only saw bits and pieces thus far, but I'm still happy with my men's final pick. Djokovic is destroying the opposition, and Federer looked so at ease in beating Tomic... I had expected a much tougher match, as funches has nailed it (once again) when he said that there's a lot to like about young Bernard.Not sure whether I agree with Clijsters as favorite for the tournament, although her saving 4 match points against Li shows she is hungrier than I thought she was. I see her winning against Wozniacki, but I'm impressed by Azarenka thus far, so I don't know whether Kim will get past the semifinals. But perhaps I'm biased by all the Belgian media who try to downplay Clijsters' ambitions for her last year on tour.

Oh, and if we still have to make a mixed doubles pick, I'll go with Kimiko Date-Krumm and Nishikori. It's not going to happen, but it's only fair to make a sentimental pick if the 1st round of the mixed is already finished.