Talk About Tennis 2.0

Liamvalid wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:07 pm

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

Sawry. Stings. But Zheng has been hyped, one reason I stayed away from the match.

meganfernandez wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:09 pm

Liamvalid wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:07 pm

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

Sawry. Stings. But Zheng has been hyped, one reason I stayed away from the match.

I knew I’d made a mistake! I thought either Halep would lose, or go to win the tournament, blocking me from beating the draw because I’d already picked her. Oh well, cest la vie! Last night in Paris I’m sure I’ll get over it once I hit the bar

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

Oh, man. This is going to do wonders for your reputation!
(Availability bias, we know)

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

I was already dead, but I see the infamous Suliso jinx at work here. We all see what you did!

We start Day 6 with 49 players remaining after 2 more no picks. More than half of the players have crowded the bandwagon.

Day 6 Breakdown

Elise Mertens 27
Martina Trevisan 10
Sloane Stephens 7
Angelique Kerber 3
Amanda Anisimova 1
Daria Saville 1

And now for yesterday's losers, I will rate your pick as DANK or STANK. Please note that it smells much better in here today, except for one especially STANKy corner.

Simona Halep (8 victims) DANK This was TMQ's Day 5 pick, so of course it was the correct one, and that it is Simona who is actually wrong.

Karolina Pliskova (7 victims) STANK TMQ watched that match in its entirety, and while Leolia Jeanjean and her Patty Schnyder-put-her-finger-in-a-light-socket hair hit some of the DANKest crosscourt backhand angles I have ever seen, Pliskova countered by standing stone-footed at the baseline in the middle of the court like a steaming mound of hot Paris garbage and loaded the net with STANK by firing every groundstroke directly into it.

Ekaterina Alexandrova (2 victims) Lightly DANK TMQ did not watch this match, but it looks like it was competitive and Begu is a solid journeywoman--perhaps not the wisest pick, but TMQ is also not mad at it.

Jelena Ostapenko (1 victim) DANK Competitive again, and Cornet can be streaky. However, the French women seem to be on a mission so far, so pick against them at your peril.

JTContinental wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 9:43 am ...

Karolina Pliskova (7 victims) STANK TMQ watched that match in its entirety, and while Leolia Jeanjean and her Patty Schnyder-put-her-finger-in-a-light-socket hair hit some of the DANKest crosscourt backhand angles I have ever seen, Pliskova countered by standing stone-footed at the baseline in the middle of the court like a steaming mound of hot Paris garbage and loaded the net with STANK by firing every groundstroke directly into it.

...

I picked Cornet to win tomorrow (Saturday). Crazy I know! But I want her to win . Her run at the AO was inspirational and a joy to watch. I hope she finds equal success and joy tomorrow in front of her compatriots … and then she can lose to Iga on Monday!

It's day 7! Watch out for the zombie roaming the premises; hopefully they will shuffle off harmlessly by tomorrow. We only lost 4 competitors yesterday, so there are 45 hopefuls just 1 win away from a coveted spot in the Update Picks & Results thread. SHOWDOWN SATURDAY <air horns> guarantees that not everyone will make it as we have picks from both sides of the Zheng/Cornet and Rybakina/Keys matches. We also have a bandwagon that I would describe as dubious, but we'll see if Jeanjean can keep whipping that backhand crosscourt the way she has been.

Day 7 breakdown

Irina-Camila Begu 16
Aryna Sabalenka 6
Qinwen Zheng 5
Alize Cornet 4
Elena Rybakina 4
Daria Kasatkina 3
Madison Keys 3
Paula Badosa 2
Jessica Pegula 2

I hadn't done any scoreboard checking before posting, and the bandwagon looks much less dubious than I though

And now, some (sort of) unusually kind words for our losers

Angelique Kerber (3 victims) STANK This pick had diminishing returns each round and TMQ decrees you waited one round too long to pull the lever on this one. Should she have won? Yes. Should you have known she wouldn't win? Also yes.

Daria Saville (1 victim) DANK Saville was just as angry as you for not winning this giftwrapped match, cracking a racquet completely in half in frustration at one point. Her rise back up the rankings has been quick, and she might be back in seeded territory by the US Open.

JTContinental wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 9:32 am .... SHOWDOWN SATURDAY <air horns> guarantees that not everyone will make it as we have picks from both sides of the Zheng/Cornet and Rybakina/Keys matches. We also have a bandwagon that I would describe as dubious, but we'll see if Jeanjean can keep whipping that backhand crosscourt the way she has been.

Day 7 breakdown

Irina-Camila Begu 16
Aryna Sabalenka 6
Qinwen Zheng 5
Alize Cornet 4
Elena Rybakina 4
Daria Kasatkina 3
Madison Keys 3
Paula Badosa 2
Jessica Pegula 2

I am in the Rybakina tram. Now that I see that some people even picked Keys to win, I am more certain we won't make it. I was counting on Keys irregularity but obviously other people know more.
Keys 3 & 4. It was a good SP for me

I watched almost every point of the Saville match, and she got outplayed by Trevisan, who was very opportunistic at coming to the net and finishing off points with great approaches and good volleys. It looked like Saville's only game plan was to hit high balls to Trevisan to take advantage of her 5-3 height, but it didn't work, and she could not hit enough winners from neutral positions to win the match.

Agree Saville is on her way back up, but her M.O even when she was at her best was sloppy mistakes at crucial times. She knocked me out of a suicide pool many years ago at the Aussie Open against Suarez Navarro after taking an early lead, then falling apart.

For me, Sabalenka and Keys are very similar in that they both have a lot of power but make so many errors. This unpredictability is why I would not pick these two players past the first two rounds of a major tournament LOL even though I know that they've had prior successes. They are just too much of a wild card.

hoangers wrote: ↑Sat May 28, 2022 4:27 pm For me, Sabalenka and Keys are very similar in that they both have a lot of power but make so many errors. This unpredictability is why I would not pick these two players past the first two rounds of a major tournament LOL even though I know that they've had prior successes. They are just too much of a wild card.

It is the reason I picked AGAINST her today. She can go through spells that are downright Navs/Graf/Serena, and then she can go for an entire set without finding the court.
Her game is magnificent, when she is on. But as you say, when she is not...