Jan/Feb TENNIS Magazine "expert" picks

[Luxilon Borg]

Tennis Mag "expert" pics 2014 Aussie Open/2014 Season:

Ed McGrogan:
Champion: Djoker
Dark Horse: Cilic
2014 Full Year Sleeper: Grigor D.
2014 Full Year Biggest Bust: Rog

Peter Bodo:
Champion: Djoker
Dark Horse: Monfils
2014 Full Year Sleeper: Grigor D.
2014 Full Year Biggest Bust: Almagro

Richard Pagliaro:
Champion: Dkoker
Dark Horse: Cilic
2014 Full Year Sleeper: Popsicle
2014 Full Year Biggest Bust: Ferrer

Stephen Tignor:
Champion: Djoker
Dark Horse: Cilic
2014 Full Year Sleeper: Querry
2014 Full Year Biggest Bust: Haas
(pg.38)

Also an interesting, in depth "analysis" of the top tier, called
Changes on the Horizon: Rafael Nadal and Novak Dkojovic may appear untouchable at the moment, but the top 10 is beginning to look like an apple cart ready to be upset.

(pg.28)

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

 

[Denis]

I would bet on cilic. In fact I have here in the draw challenge. He is top 10 material. He was on his way back there until he got suspended.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I would bet on cilic. In fact I have here in the draw challenge. He is top 10 material. He was on his way back there until he got suspended.

Not with that forehand.:s

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I don't get the "Biggest Bust" category...To me , it should be reserved for young guys whom we expect a lot of, and when they don't perform, THAT should be a bust, not older guys like Haas, Ferrer etc that are on their way out anyways...

 

[Luxilon Borg]

I don't get the "Biggest Bust" category...To me , it should be reserved for young guys whom we expect a lot of, and when they don't perform, THAT should be a bust, not older guys like Haas, Ferrer etc that are on their way out anyways...

Yeh when I saw Haas I was puzzled. What are you expecting from the guy?
This part of this career is gravy.

 

[tented]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

 

[Moxie]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That was like Lawrence Welk judging the MTV awards. Those picks are unimaginative and out-dated.

 

[Denis]

Depends how you see things. I find picking Janowicz unimaginative and out-dated. I think Cilic might surprise us. In the sense that he might make the quarterfinals. The only person winning the Australian Open is Djokovic of course, with Nadal having a decent shot too.

 

[Denis]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Depends how you see things. I find picking Janowicz unimaginative and out-dated. I think Cilic might surprise us. In the sense that he might make the quarterfinals. The only person winning the Australian Open is Djokovic of course, with Nadal having a decent shot too.

Cilic has been on the list for 5 years now. Aside from getting physically stronger, I don't see much that has changed.

FYI, John McEnroe reported that several years when Goran I. was working with him the first time, he basically told Mac that Cilic was "hopeless". I am not sure what he meant but...

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

i know what the point of picking a dark horse is..but multiple folk in the meeja picking cilic is a full on shambles...but they can pick cilic if they want to. :idea:

 

[Denis]

Depends how you see things. I find picking Janowicz unimaginative and out-dated. I think Cilic might surprise us. In the sense that he might make the quarterfinals. The only person winning the Australian Open is Djokovic of course, with Nadal having a decent shot too.

Cilic has been on the list for 5 years now. Aside from getting physically stronger, I don't much that has changed.

FYI, John McEnroe reported that several years when Goran I. was working with him the first time, he basically told Mac that Cilic was "hopeless". I am not sure what he meant but...

No. Cilic has been off the radar since 2010 and off the planet since last summer. He was ranked 47 in October. I know Cilic is not the greatest player in the world, but if you compare him to Janowicz, Simon, Almagro, Robredo and other top 10 contenders I'll rank him highest at this moment. He also will want to prove something due to his suspension.

Plus he made the semis in Melbourne before.

 

[tented]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

Nadal would never be considered a dark horse at any tournament. (The same goes for Djokovic, by the way.)

 

[Denis]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

Nadal would never be considered a dark horse at any tournament. (The same goes for Djokovic, by the way.)

Really?

 

[brokenshoelace]

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

Nadal would never be considered a dark horse at any tournament. (The same goes for Djokovic, by the way.)

Really?

If the above is sarcasm, ignore my post. If it's not, then yes, really. Since by definition, the number 1 player in the world cannot be a dark horse.

 

[Denis]

Obviously sarcasm. Nobody is going to pick Nadal as a dark horse, that was my original point.

 

[tented]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

Also, picking someone as a dark horse DOES mean they're picking them as someone with an outside chance of winning. (This is different from a spoiler, who is not expected to win.)

From the OED (emphasis mine):

"dark horse (Racing slang), a horse about whose racing powers little is known; hence fig. a candidate or competitor of whom little is known or heard, but who unexpectedly comes to the front. In U.S. Politics, a person not named as a candidate before a convention, who unexpectedly receives the nomination, when the convention has failed to agree upon any of the leading candidates.

1831 Disraeli Yng. Duke v. (Farmer), A dark horse, which had never been thought of‥rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph."

 

[Denis]

lol wut :huh:

dark horses as stated by the so-called "experts" include cilic and clown monfil ??? :nono

the only dark horse cilic is likely to be is dobbin out of 'Rentaghost' ..and clown monfil ?? :lolz: won't he be too busy being very unfit or maybe too busy doing up his shoelaces 856 times a set,

maybe they all did those picks while out of their heads on the festive booze.

what an unbelievable fiasco.

Yeh, well that is what happens when you don't put down the crack pipe
while making your picks. Query? Cilic? Wow.

Picking Cilic as a dark horse has the feel of a publicity agent paying them off. I can't imagine them looking themselves in the mirror, when no one else is around, and saying out loud, "Yes, Cilic has a chance of winning the Australian Open." Tignor, in particular, should know better.

That's not the point. Nobody is saying Cilic is going to win the Australian Open, but they won't pick Nadal as a dark horse either will they? Its just a name that might surprise people.

Also, picking someone as a dark horse DOES mean they're picking them as someone with an outside chance of winning. (This is different from a spoiler, who is not expected to win.)

From the OED (emphasis mine):

"dark horse (Racing slang), a horse about whose racing powers little is known; hence fig. a candidate or competitor of whom little is known or heard, but who unexpectedly comes to the front. In U.S. Politics, a person not named as a candidate before a convention, who unexpectedly receives the nomination, when the convention has failed to agree upon any of the leading candidates.

1831 Disraeli Yng. Duke v. (Farmer), A dark horse, which had never been thought of‥rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph."

I think the point is just to name someone outside the usual suspects. It's a tennis magazine after all. So they will not name people like Nadal and Del Potro as dark horses. These are contenders (although I think there are only two contenders).