2014 Slam Challenge - US Open Edition

[El Dude]

I'm just "saying no" to Berdych.

Anyhow, folks - you can still make or adjust your picks until "kick-off," which I believe is 1pm EST. Anything after that will be penalized by 3 points per round.

 

[Moose]

Winner: Novak!
Finalist: Federer

Semi: Raonic...Ferrer

1/4: Murray...Robredo...Berdych...Dimitrov

Darkhorse: Tsonga
Wildcard: Feliciano Lopez

 

[TennisFanatic7]

TF7 is wrong, read OP. Fed is eligible for DH as he has not won a GS title in the last eight slams.

Apologies - I was reading it as "You can't be a dark horse if you've won a slam in the last two calendar years, or if you've won eight slams in your career". Would it not be easier to just phrase it as "You can't be a dark horse if you've won any of the last eight slams"?

 

[kskate2]

Winner: Novak
Finalist: Dimi

SF: Milos & Ferrer

QF: Andy, Stan, Cilic, JWT

DH: Fed
WC: Ernie

 

[kskate2]

I'm just "saying no" to Berdych.

Anyhow, folks - you can still make or adjust your picks until "kick-off," which I believe is 1pm EST. Anything after that will be penalized by 3 points per round.

Matches start at 11AM EST. ESPN is not picking up coverage until 1pm EST.

 

[isabelle]

W : Tursunov
F : The Fog
SF : La Monf and The Dog
DH : Sock
WC : Edberg
1st round losers : Mr Vavrinec, Mr Sharapova, Kinder, Birdie, Muzza, Nole and all those guys who can't play tennis

Anyone disagree ???

 

[El Dude]

Funny post, isabelle. OK, I've finally compiled all the votes. I'm honestly surprised not more people picked Federer as the Dark Horse - statistically it is a no-brainer. Anyhow, I once again compiled are shared predictions for the 21 contestants:

Key: 5 pts Winner, 3 pts Runner-Up, 2 pts. SF, 1 pt QF, DH, WC

83 Djokovic
61 Federer
36 Raonic
35 Ferrer
34 Dimitrov
22 Murray, Wawrinka
21 Tsonga
12 Cilic, Gulbis
11 Berdych
5 Lopez, Monfils
4 Robredo
2 Kyrgios
1 Nishikori, Pospisil, Bautista Agut, Anderson, Tomic, Isner, Young

I kind of rushed through this, so there might be some mistakes, but that's the gist of it. It is good to seem Raonic and Dimitrov getting lots of love. Tsonga's back in the mix and Murray has fallen quite a bit. Interestingly similar cluster of Cilic, Gulbis, and Berdych.

The highest ranked player to get no love: Richard Gasquet (#14)

 

[El Dude]

Out of the tournament:

FIRST ROUND: Young, Pospisil
SECOND ROUND: Gulbis, Tomic
THIRD ROUND: Ferrer

 

[GameSetAndMath]

TF7 is wrong, read OP. Fed is eligible for DH as he has not won a GS title in the last eight slams.

Apologies - I was reading it as "You can't be a dark horse if you've won a slam in the last two calendar years, or if you've won eight slams in your career". Would it not be easier to just phrase it as "You can't be a dark horse if you've won any of the last eight slams"?

I am not the one who phrased it that way.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Anyone keeping score?

Can we have a score update before the semis?

 

[El Dude]

Kiu, I'll compile the scores at the end of the tournament. I do keep track of who is out, but no one starts compiling points until the quarterfinals anyway.

Out of the tournament:

FIRST ROUND: Young, Pospisil
SECOND ROUND: Gulbis, Tomic
THIRD ROUND: Ferrer, Isner, Kyrgios
FOURTH ROUND: Tsonga, Robredo, Raonic, Bautista Agut, Dimitrov
QUARTERFINALS: Murray, Wawrinka, Monfils, Berdych
SEMIFINALS: Djokovic

 

[kskate2]

Aung Aung is the only person that picked Nishi as Wildcard. :clap

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

^ Well done to Aung Aung

Thank goodness I took Roger has my DH...

 

[Aung Aung]

He was my favorite among the players that i can pick for wild card (i think he was 11 before the Open starts). And i thought he has a high chance to go past Raonic cos he beated him before in Tokyo and possible semi as well if Stan didnt make it to quarter. But i surely didnt expect him to go through both Stan and novak to the final.

I only pick murray ahead of djokovic mainly because i m a murray fan and wants to see him win or at least get to final. Also i thought djokovic might not win it after winning Wimbledon ( he only won 1 slam each in 2012, 2013 ).

Overall, my pick was just pure luck. I got it wrong in most other picks

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

...

Overall, my pick was just pure luck. I got it wrong in most other picks

The rest of us don't use pure luck, we use our crystal balls!


It's always pure luck picking these things.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Oh well so much for using Federer as my DH in this tourament
I am gonnnnnnnnnnnnnnne

 

[El Dude]

We've got some interesting competition going into the final day.

If Marin Cilic wins tomorrow, GameSetAndMath wins the US Open Challenge - quite an accomplishment considering his rankings through the first three tournaments! If Nishikori wins, Aung Aung just edges him (I'm assuming GS&M is a guy, forgive me if you're not).

If Cilic wins tomorrow, then ftan and El Dude (me) tie for first place in the overall Challenge, which will require a face-off at the WTF. If Nishikori wins, then ftan gets the title and I'm the runner-up.

Which leaves me with a quandary...I want Nishikori to win in real life, but want to face ftan at the WTF! ;-)

 

[Moxie]

^ Thanks for the pre-match summary of the intrigue, Dude. I understand your dilemma, but you could think of it as a win-win for you tomorrow. (I hope Nishikori wins, too.)

 

[ftan]

I am ready El Dude.. bring it on

 

[Riotbeard]

Congrats GSM, Ftan, and El Dude.