Posted by Steven on 11/8/2009, 10:41 am
81.86.247.14
MONTREAL MASTERS BOTB - DAY 1 'SYNDICATED' REPORT
272 people (plus 4 robot players) and 13 teams with 5 or more entrants are taking part in the BOTB for Montréal. The number of entrants is 21% up on the closest equivalent last year (Cincy) and makes it the second biggest Masters BOTB yet with just 9 entrants less than Rome.
That seems pretty good given that a lot of people in the northern hemisphere are away on holiday and some of the forums have been virtually deserted during the mini off season (for the big four) between Wimby and Montréal, so thank you for entering!
Day 1 saw half of the 24 R1 matches get played and plenty of shocks - Querrey (picked by 93%) losing to Petzschner was the biggest, followed by Èiliæ (91%) collapsing from a winning position against the Youzh, and Kunitsyn (85%) losing to the WC Niemeyer.
Detailed results can be found at http://www.britishtennis.net/competitions.html and from now on they will be updated regularly each day (for as long as I'm awake anyway!), with 'headlines' appearing on http://twitter.com/botb1 as well.
TEAMS
In what must be a first for them, Tennisopolis lead after day 1. They are followed by world no. 2 team Rusedski.co.uk and the Feddies, with MTF (showing some their old R1 form again at last) in 4th, Team CC in 5th and the Ducklings & GBTG sharing 6th.
Three of the top four teams in the overall rankings are lagging behind, with AM.com & BT.net in 9th & 10th respectively and new world no. 1 team TAT bringing up the rear! All this may say more about how strange the day 1 matches were than anything else.
INDIVIDUALS
Luke Croll (GR) was the only entrant still on 100% after 8 matches and he maintained the outright lead until late in the Montréal evening, when Hev (IN), who finished 3rd in the AO earlier this year, and BillBaker (TN) joined him in 1= on 10/12.
10 entrants are a point behind in 4= - nelslus (TA), 40-15 (AM), mattk77 (SG), RobH (BT), Lex (CC), richard meaghan (TN), Sue (TN), Shizzard (IN), Osmeone (KC) and CageEcho (TN) - with four of their players on 9/12 or better, it's not hard to see why Tennisopolis top the teams table.
58 entrants are 14= on 8/12, including goldfish (BT), the best placed of the top 10 in the overall rankings, while new world no. 1 kaseldop (GR) heads a group of no less than 93 entrants (over one-third of the total) 3 points off the lead in 72=.
Caro (AM) is currently the 'lanterne rouge' in 272nd, but she recovered well from an 0 for 7 start, getting 3 of the last 5 matches of the day correct. She is one of 38 entrants currently in the gorillas' cage.
WINNER PICKS
On the ATP BC, Fed is by far the favourite to win with Muzza a distant 2nd, but in our comp, the winner pick %s tell a different story, perhaps because AM.com is the biggest team!
43% Muzza (including about 80% of the AMs & JMs)
35% Fed (including all of the Feddies)
13% Duckboy (including 5 of the 6 Ducklings)
5% Rafa
2% Nole (including both of the ND.com entrants)
2% Potty (3 of the 6 who picked him play for BT.net)
50% have picked Duckboy to be the bottom half finalist. The only winner pick from outside the ATP top 6 is Lleyton Hewitt, picked by one of his team. Other finalist picks include Kolya, Gonzo, Verdasco & (oops) Querrey.
Has Rafa been trying to lull the competition (and 95% of us!) into a false sense of security with his abject displays in training here? Ominously, he teamed up with a little known Spaniard yesterday to beat Nole and Vemic in straight sets ...
(for a nicknames guide, see http://www.andymurray.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253)
QUOTES OF THE DAY (a bumper edition covering the entry period too)
1minutetomidknight (AM) "Have Kohlschreiber winning this tournie"
sound (AM) "Tell me you're lying."
He was, and sound may now be wishing he had been lying too when he said: "I have Querrey beating Nadal in the third round." He also said "My mum has Dancevic going to the third round beating Simon and Sela," so Montréal may not be that household's finest hour!
greatunclebulgaria (AM) re Serra's horrendous tank from 2-0 40-0 up to 4-6 0-6 down and out against Schuettler: "That will teach me to go with France when in a battle with Germany." Psst, don't mention the w*r!
1minutetomidknight (AM) wasn't too pleased either, using not one but three words ending with t and starting with c to describe the Frenchman: "Thanks a lot, Serra, you consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant." Quite!
tlimvvomax (CC) was more concerned with delusions of match-fixing: "If there was money riding on BOTB I'd be calling for a steward's inquiry into how 15% had Niemeyer beating Kunitsyn, followed by it actually happening."
LadyTigress (JM) was reduced to clutching at straws: "Gee, I have 0 points so far!!! ... I can't believe I'm now relying on Polansky, a man whose name I had never heard of until 8 hours ago." while Hawkeye (AM) lamented: "So, remind me, why were we so desperate for this
Less than halfway through day 1 and Silver (BT) was already reduced to a seething mass of blind rage: "Oh my FREAKING Lord, 0 for 4 already. I HATE THIS GAME AND I HATE EVERY TENNIS PLAYER I DON'T PICK. Actually more importantly, I hate the tennis players I DO pick for LOSING. See, Day one and already I'm angry. NOT GOOD, PEOPLE. NOT GOOD." (*)
(*) for safety reasons, the caps lock function has been taken away from further posts
DJ (MP) saw a reason not to despair though: "It's the first day in the first round - things are almost always different by the end of it." then added quietly: "i hope."
Finally, as Marat roars back to take the 2nd set, serial gorilla-botherer Sallydaisy (JM) gives those of us who picked Monfils some hope: "Safin takes the first set........ there's hope left yet for my Pick'em score today........ just hope i haven't jinxed him saying that!!!" Thank you Sally, thank you!
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