2013 Slam Challenge - Wimbledon

[fedfan]

Its that time again - the crown jewel of tennis tournaments: Wimbledon. This means its also getting to be time to post your picks for the Slam challenge. In this post you'll find the rules and the current rankings. Good luck!

2013 SLAM PREDICTION CHALLENGE - RULES

• Pick a Winner, Runner-up, two Semifinalists, one Dark Horse, and one Wildcard candidate for each Slam.
• Points will be awarded as follows: 12 Winner, 7 Runner-up, 3 Semifinalist.
• Dark Horse gets points for whatever their final position is; they cannot be one of the Big Four (Djokovic, Federer, Murray, Nadal) - although could be ranked anywhere (e.g. if Nadal drops to #5 and Ferrer is #4, Ferrer can still be the DH although Nadal cannot). A Dark Horse can loosely be defined as "any player who has not won a Slam within the past two years." For the sake of the 2013 Slam Challenge this means the "Big Four." If and when a new Slam champion arrives, this rule is subject to change!
• Wildcard gets points as the Dark Horse, but cannot be ranked in the top 10 at the beginning of the tournament.
• Note that points are not cumulative, but you do get points if a player finishes lower than what you picked (e.g. If you pick Djokovic to win but he's the runner-up, you still get 7 points; if you pick Murray to be the runner-up but he wins, you only get the 7 points you picked him for).
• So the maximum points per Slam is 25 - if you get all four and/or your Dark Horse or Wildcard is correct.
• Tiebreakers after the US Open will be handled by predictions for the World Tour Finals.
• New members who want to join start off with a total number of points equal to the lowest score for each Slam, minus one point per Slam (For instance, the lowest point total for the Australian Open was 13 and for Roland Garros was 9; 13 + 9 = 22 - 2 per Slam = 20 points for those entering the Challenge with Wimbledon)

Examples:
Your Picks: W - Murray, RU - Djokovic, SF - Federer, Ferrer, DH - Berdych, WC - Raonic

Scenario A
Actual Results: W - Raonic, RU - Murray, SF - Djokovic, Berdych
Points: 12 for Raonic, 7 for Murray, 3 for Djokovic and 3 for Berdych for a total of 25 points

Scenario B
Actual Results: W - Federer, RU - Djokovic, SF - Murray, Raonic
Points: 7 for Djokovic, 3 for Murray, 3 for Federer, 3 for Raonic = 16 pts

In other words, there are different ways to get 25 points. Also, it should be relatively easy to get a decent number of points - strategize and pick wisely!

2013 SLAM CHALLENGE RANKINGS (Through Roland Garros)
Key: Total - name (Australian Open, Roland Garros)
*denotes default points awarded due to non-participation

46 - secrettennisjunkie (25, 21)
45 - Moxie629 (20, 25)
43 - crystalfire (25, 18)
43 - Fedfan (25, 18)
42 - kskate2 (20, 22)
38 - El Dude (20, 18)
34 - britbox (21, 13)
34 - Mastoor (18, 16)
33 - Yolita (25, 8*)
31 - riotbeard (22, 9)
30 - Denisovich (18, 12)
30 - Didi (17, 13)
30 - the AntiPusher (12*, 18)
30 - Omair (12*, 18)
29 - DarthFed (21, 8*)
28 - Srini (20, 8*)
28 - Broken_Shoelace (20, 8*)
27 - johnsteinbeck (19, 8*)
25 - Kieran (17, 8*)
24 - Mog (12*, 12)
24 - tenedab (12*, 12)
24 - 1972Murat (12*, 12)
23 - shawnbm (12*, 11)
21 - homertino (13, 8*)
21 - herios (12*, 9)
20 - Ftan (16, 9; - 5 penalty for 2 days late)

W - Murray
F - Nole
SF - Nadal, Ferrer
DH - Berdych
WC - Isner

 

[kskate2]

W: Murray
F: Djokovic
SF: Nadal, Ferrer
Dark Horse: Delpo
Wild Card: Haas

 

[britbox]

W: Murray
F: Djokovic
SF: Nadal
SF: Del Potro
Dark Horse: Berdych
Wild Card: Raonic

 

[El Dude]

OK, votes are in. A lot of folks bailed out this time, unfortunately - but that's just how it is.

Anyhow, there are a couple "mis-picks" that had to be adjusted. For instance, Mastoor, you picked Dimitrov to be in the SF and Murray as your WC, although Murray is not qualified to be a WC as he is one of the "Big Four." I switched Murray to the SF and Dimitrov to the WC, if that's OK. If you want something else let me know.

Herios, technically Wawrinka doesn't qualify for the DH as he's #10. Can you make another pick?

Adjustments today won't be penalized - unless, of course - you un-pick someone who lost!

 

[El Dude]

LOL - there goes 7 points for me (after Rafa's 1R loss).

 

[herios]

Herios, technically Wawrinka doesn't qualify for the DH as he's #10. Can you make another pick?

El Dude, Sorry I just saw this.
Although the event started, I will pick a WC from those who have yet to play, so I play fair

Please replace Wawrinka with Raonic.
Thanks

 

[El Dude]

Four picked players out now: Nadal, Tsonga, Isner, and Kohlschreiber. Dropping like flies.

 

[Denis]

Lost two horses already. I don't expect much from Dimitrov either.

 

[El Dude]

And now Federer. Jeez.

 

[Denis]

Ha! I didn't have him!

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

Dude, here's a stat i'd like you to investigate: will Game of Thrones followers/Song of Ice and Fire readers fare above average in the Wimby Slam challenge?

 

[El Dude]

Ha ha, funny johnsteinbeck. Are you saying that George RR Martin is scripting Wimbledon?

It certainly seems so. Roger as ******** and Rafa as ********?

---

And Maria Sharapova as ***********?


SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! if you're interested in Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones, do not read unless you have seen the latest episode / read Book three.



It certainly seems so. Roger as Ned Stark and Rafa as Robb Stark?

---

And Maria Sharapova as Catelyn Stark?

 

[Denis]

Dimitrov is OUT.

 

[Riotbeard]

This might jinx me, but I am still in the running for a perfect score if JJ were to make it to the semis and pull a crazy upset.

 

[ftan]

I am here making my picks very late .. as usual.. just for fun as I know I am disqualified

W - Nole
Final - Nole, Murray
SF - JJ, Del Po
Wildcard : JJ
Dark Horse: Haas

 

[Riotbeard]

I just wanted throw this out there because there is no other people in the world who would care, but I am ranked 68 on my tennis channel racket bracket.

 

[Denis]

Well, Im not doing the tennis channel thing this time, but you will get points and kudos for Janowicz over here.

 

[El Dude]

Riotbeard, you've predicted yourself into a lot of win-win situations by having your wildcard and darkhorse on opposites sides of the draw, and you have a couple different ways you could get a perfect score. Actually, as far as I can tell you will get a perfect in most scenarios except those that Andy Murray wins in the semi-final, in which case you'll get either 16 (if Andy wins it all) or 20 (if either Novak or Juan Martin wins it). Every other scenario and you get 25.

In other words, well done!

 

[ftan]

I made good predictions too :clap :clap

 

[El Dude]

Right, ftan - but after four of the top 10 players were out.