Talk About Tennis 2.0

DAY 5 PICKS ANNOUNCEMENT

Mayar Sherif has withdrawn, giving Zidansek a walkover, and making one less match to choose from when making picks. I don't think anyone has picked her already, but if you have, you must go back and make a new pick.

Let's start Day 5 with our (up until now) winners, and then TMQ will examine the corpses from yesterday to see what drove them to make their awful pick. We lost 1 more player today with a no pick, leaving us with 69 remaining afloat

Day 5 breakdown

Daria Kasatkina 17
Veronika Kudermetova 15
Elena Rybakina 13
Simona Halep 8
Karolina Pliskova 7
Jessica Pegula 3
Ekaterina Alexandrova 2
Danka Kovinic 2
Jelena Ostapenko 1
Aryna Sabalenka 1

And now for the losers--I'm afraid there wasn't much DANKness to be found amongst your remains. It wasn't even a hot day in Paris yesterday, yet the air is full of STANK

Ajla Tomljanovic (4 victims): STANK TMQ does not advise picking a rando that just caused a major upset in the tournament, because the letdown in the next match is all too often real. Tomljanovic put up a fight, but it was a STANKy one.

The Ghost of Petra Kvitova (2 victims): STANK This could have been a nostalgia pick, because I can't imagine anyone who has watched Kvitova play this year would make this choice. Barring a deep run at Fake Wimbledon this year, TMQ has officially relegated her to Granny status. Don't read this, nelslus.

Camia Osorio (2 victims) STANK As TMQ currently watches Leolia Jeanjean (who incidently has even wilder hair than Katerina Siniakova) pounding Karolina Pliskova, I believe it is not a good idea to bet against the French wild cards this year. As for Osorio herself, I see flashes of the talent that she is reported to have, but it's not fully there yet.

Magda Linette (1 victim) STANK See Ajla Tomljanovic ^^

Maria Sakkari TMQ will award this a faint DANK as Sakkari was the undoubted favorite (although I think she's overranked because of the stupid WTA covid ranking system--don't read this Megan Fernandez). I might have left this match alone though, because the only reason that Muchova isn't in or near the top 10 is that she's been injured for months and is working her way back into form.

JTContinental wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 9:59 am Maria Sakkari TMQ will award this a faint DANK as Sakkari was the undoubted favorite (although I think she's overranked because of the stupid WTA covid ranking system--don't read this Megan Fernandez). I might have left this match alone though, because the only reason that Muchova isn't in or near the top 10 is that she's been injured for months and is working her way back into form.

My vanity is bigger than my convictions, so I rather enjoyed the name-check.

So, Jellybean strikes again. I mean, Jeanjean. That's got to be Jellybean in french, for sure.
Not that KaPlis is an accomplished clay courter, but she has reached the finals of Rome twice. I find this to be a large upset.
Now, we only need a male player called Jolie Rancher...

I picked Kovinic to beat Schmeidlova, spent hours convincing myself if was too close a match to call and swapped my pick to Halep. Kovinic just won in straight sets. If Halep loses I will cry

No reason to think Halep would lose.

The same reason to think that Jabeur would lose
It is the WTA. NOBODY, and I do mean NOBODY (except Iga) is safe. Let's watch Liam suffer for an entire match

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm So, Jellybean strikes again. I mean, Jeanjean. That's got to be Jellybean in french, for sure.
Not that KaPlis is an accomplished clay courter, but she has reached the finals of Rome twice. I find this to be a large upset.

Three times to the Rome final and won once. It's an upset for sure. A large upset? Depends on how you view Pliskova in a major. Despite being somewhat more reliable in the last several years, her default is an early round exit, it's the deep runs that remain outliers. She's had a single run at RG despite the success at Rome. Doesn't make sense, but it is what it is.

The Kovinic match had some suspense.

After going up 6-3, 5-3, she got broken at love serving for the match after not facing a break point in her previous five service games. Then, serving at 5-all in the game that probably determined the winner, she saved two break points in a 24-point game before finally holding for 6-5. Not sure I would have liked her chances if she had dropped that game, but she broke easily to finish it off.

ponchi101 wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:02 pm So, Jellybean strikes again. I mean, Jeanjean. That's to be Jellybean in french, for sure.
Now, we only need a male player called Jolie Rancher...

Also...

Pliskova's record for the year until last week was 2-6.

In her current form, losing to anyone is not an upset, and Jeanjean qualifies as anyone.

jazzyg wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:34 pm The Kovinic match had some suspense.

After going up 6-3, 5-3, she got broken at love serving for the match after not facing a break point in her previous five service games. Then, serving at 5-all in the game that probably determined the winner, she saved two break points in a 24-point game before finally holding for 6-5. Not sure I would have liked her chances if she had dropped that game, but she broke easily to finish it off.

Happy I couldn’t watch that one then!

Liamvalid wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:23 pm I picked Kovinic to beat Schmeidlova, spent hours convincing myself if was too close a match to call and swapped my pick to Halep. Kovinic just won in straight sets. If Halep loses I will cry

I'm riding shotgun here, except Pegula/Sabalenka instead of Kovinic/Halep. I'm glad I didn't stick with Pegula - the match would have given me a heart attack. Sam ewiht you and Kovinic - did you really want to suffer through that?

Halep's a fighter and a past champ here. I wouldn't count her out.

Suliso wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 1:26 pm No reason to think Halep would lose.

She kicked me off the SP before by losing to people ranked way below her. And here she’s done it again