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Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

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    Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

    OK, a bit late to do properly as we already have some small events completed, but at least nothing over 250 level has kicked off yet.

    So, my prediction for the top 4 men's YE ranking slots this year:

    1. Djokovic (seems well nigh inevitable absent injuries)
    2. Murray
    3. Raonic
    4. Kyrgios

    #2
    Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

    I'd like Murray to finally win the Australian Open and Djokovic to finally win the French Open (and with it, the career Grand Slam).

    What surface are Rio putting the Olympics on? One assumes clay?

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      #3
      Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

      It's on hard courts, so that it fits in with what the tours are doing at the time.

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        #4
        Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

        Heh, London obviously considered that for about two seconds before saying, "No, it'll be on grass, ta".

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          #5
          Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

          I suspect the thinking wasn't far off that (as well as the fact that it would seem silly to build a whole new load of hard courts when there is already a top class facility in the city). Also the difference between grass and the fast hard surfaces used in North America is less than between clay and hard.

          The tennis at Rio is a week later in the calendar than London was and is fitted in between two Masters events - Toronto is a fortnight earlier whilst Cincinnati is the following week. In 2012 these events were held back to back in the two weeks after the Olympics.

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            #6
            Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

            From what I've seen reported, the motivation was longer term than just fitting in with the 2016 calendar. The idea is that having this venue will allow a significant tournament to be held in Rio for years to come that will attract everyone and not just clay court specialists.

            See also the Mexican Open switching from clay to hard a couple of years back.

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              #7
              Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

              Well, that off-topic chit chat is all well and good, but when those 4 players show up in the top 4 ranking spots come end of December, I don't want to see anyone saying "yeah, I expected that too".

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                #8
                Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                I think you're safe enough with you being the only one to tip Kyrgios. Wawrinka's not going to just drop off a cliff, and neither is Berdych.

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                  #9
                  Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                  Kyrgios is a left-field choice, for sure. He has the talent, but there has been no evidence at all of the neccesary application for a top ten ranking, let along a top four one. That means doing it consistently month after month, which is just not him.
                  Raonic? More plausible, but he is kind of the other way. All the professionalism, none of the magic. He feels like another 5-8 merchant to me.

                  My guess

                  Djokovic
                  Nishikori
                  Murray
                  Federer

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                    #10
                    Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                    Andy Murray's take on a realistic challenge for Kyrgios - top 15 by the end of the season.

                    The other aspect with Kyrgios is going to be staying fit. He is a big bloke who throws himself about when highly motivated, which has resulted in a number of spells away from the tour hurt already in his career. He may have to modified his attacking style a bit simply to stay healthy, but that will impact his ability to win.

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                      #11
                      Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                      Djokovic
                      Murray
                      Federer
                      Nadal.

                      They still beat all the rest too much of the time. Only injury will stop them being top 4 this year, though I think it may be the last one for Nadal and Federer.

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                        #12
                        Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                        Djokovic
                        Nadal
                        Murray
                        Federer

                        Do wonder though if the Olympics is the big motivation keeping Federer going and he could retire after it or the US Open? It's basically the only achievement he's not ticked off.

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                          #13
                          Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                          That is my guess as well.

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                            #14
                            Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                            If Djok wins the French, he too will be going to Rio looking for that career "golden slam". It could define the men's tennis at the Olympics.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                              1. Djokovic
                              2. Nadal
                              3. Murray
                              4. Federer.

                              Do we all think this will be the swansong for the big 4 as a group? I wouldn't be so sure. If Federer has another strong year he might just keep going. He seems to enjoy himself on tour.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                Djokovic
                                Murray
                                Nishikori
                                Wawrinka

                                I wouldn't be surprised to see Federer still holding out in the top four next year. But Nadal's body is getting more and more beaten up, and his game is so reliant on physique. He'll have good tournaments, and beat anyone, on any surface, when it goes right. But I don't think he'll have the capacity to play at the top level right through the year.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                  Well, we didn't specify an exact scoring system for this, and there's still this week's Tour Finals to go, but I think on any reasonable scoring system and regardless of the results of the Tour Finals, San Bernardhinault is the winner. He's got at least 3 of the top 4, and it'll be all 4 (though possibly not in quite the correct order) if Nishikori overtakes Raonic this week, as seems perhaps more likely than not given Raonic's injury problem of last weekend. Indeed, it's still mathematically possible, I think, if Novak overtakes Andy this week as well as Kei overtaking both Milos and Stan, that San B might end up with all 4 in the correct order, which would be a spectacular prediction coup, if undesirable from the perspective of us Murray fans.

                                  If Nishikori does indeed overtake Raonic this week, the Janik will come 2nd with 3 of the 4 top 4 correct, otherwise it'll be me in second place (depending on whether we use a scoring system which penalises my Kyrgios guess in proportion to his distance from the top 4) with 3 of the 4 correct.

                                  Etienne, SSK and mulitipleman all made the twin schoolboy errors of putting Federer and Nadal in their selections.

                                  Rogin didn't have what it takes to make an actual prediction, but gets a big raspberry anyway for his "Berdych isn't going to fall off a cliff" comment.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                    I don't understand why I get a raspberry - I said I thought you were brave for predicting Kyrgios to finish the year above Berdych (hence you'd be likely to win the prediction competition you started) and, er, he hasn't.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                      Fair enough Rogin, I was being flippant.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                        LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, we have the results!

                                        In joint fifth place, we have Seven Saxon Kings and mulitipleman 78 with their identical predictions of:

                                        1. Djokovic (in fact 2nd)
                                        2. Nadal (in fact 9th)
                                        3. Murray (1st)
                                        4. Federer (16th)

                                        In fourth place we have Etienne with

                                        1. Djokovic (2nd)
                                        2. Murray (1st)
                                        3. Federer (16th)
                                        4. Nadal (9th)

                                        which is the same four as SSK and multiman of course but in a better order as it has the top 2 in a permutation of the top 2 slots

                                        In third place we have Janik with

                                        1, Djokovic (2nd)
                                        2. Nishikori (5th)
                                        3. Murray (1st)
                                        4. Federer (16th)

                                        although the absence of a scoring system specified in advance leaves room for debate as to whether Etienne should be placed 3rd ahead of Janik: does the substitution of Nish (5th) for Nad (9th) outweigh the fact that Etienne got a perm of the top 2 and Janik didn't?

                                        There's also room for debate about the ordering of the gold and silver medallist predictors. I will concede the debate and put myself, Evariste Euler Gauss, in second place with my prediction of

                                        1. Djokovic (2nd)
                                        2. Murray (1st)
                                        3. Raonic (3rd)
                                        4. Kyrgios (13th)

                                        and San Bernardinhault in first place with

                                        1. Djokovic (2nd)
                                        2. Murray (1st)
                                        3. Nishikori (5th)
                                        4. Wawrinka (4th)

                                        as my unique success in putting a perm of the top 3 in the top 3 spots was perhaps outweighed by the margin of my error with my punt on Kyrgios.

                                        Rogin comes seventh for chipping in with comments from the sidelines but failing to commit to an entry.

                                        Congratulations to San B.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                          I think this is the most successful I've ever been at anything tennis related. I've never even won a set before.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                            Ha, I'm not sure I ever have, either, San B! I have been in a deceptively promising lead once or twice in matches against my missus, but she's always ended up winning every set. Considering I've always had the edge over her in both speed and stamina, that says a lot for the poor quality of my hand-eye co-ordination.

                                            Too early yet for a 2017 YE prediction contest probably, but I've given a bit of thought to a scoring system for predictions of the top 4, and come up with this:

                                            Cumulatively:
                                            - 5 plus points for getting the top 1 right
                                            - 5 plus points for your 1 and 2 being a perm of the actual 1 and 2
                                            - 5 plus points for your 1, 2 and 3 being a perm of the actual
                                            - 5 plus points for your 4 being a perm of the actual
                                            - 1 negative point for every degree of difference in actual and predicted position for each of your top 4 named players.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                              I wonder if my first ever attempt to edit a thread title will have worked? [edit: no, of course it fucking didn't, who do you think I am, someone off The IT Crowd?]

                                              Anyway, get your predictions in for 2017 year end! Ideally and for maximum righteousness, do so before a competitive ball is struck in the new year, but entries up to the start of the Aussie Open will be accepted. Men's and women's this time. Scoring system as in my previous post.

                                              My own attempts to follow in the next day or so.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                                Ladies first.

                                                1. Muguruza
                                                2. S. Williams
                                                3. Kerber
                                                4. Halep

                                                Now the Gents.

                                                1. Murray
                                                2. Nadal
                                                3. Djokovic
                                                4. Raonic

                                                I am usually a wooden spoon contender with these but perhaps it can change this time. I am expecting Muguruza to find consistency and dominate at some point and i figure next year is the time.

                                                Williams and Kerber are definites for the top 4 but after that i felt it was a toss up. I have went for Halep just because i like her style.

                                                Murray should stretch his lead early on in 2017 and i think this is his time to cement his already large legacy. Nadal has joined up with Moya and i think this will work for him as long as he stays relatively healthy. Djokovic appears to be vulnerable and i have him at 3 but i am fully aware that if he finds his groove then he will almost certainly get back to number 1.

                                                I expect Federer to still be competitive but he has so much ground to make up that i don't think he will break the top 4.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Tennis singles 2017 YE: PREDICTIONS NOW PLEASE

                                                  On the men, of which I know marginally more than I know about the women:

                                                  1 - Djokovic
                                                  2 - Murray
                                                  3 - Nishikori
                                                  4 - Thiem

                                                  Djokovic is still the best player on tour, and I don't see any reason that he'll not get over whatever minor issues he had in the second half of the year. Murray obviously is close. Nishikori's been consistent. Then Federer and Nadal will have good tournaments still, may even compete in grand slams, but have no interest or consistency in the run of the mill stuff. And I think Wawrinka might be fading. So I'm going for the outsider call with Thiem.

                                                  --

                                                  On the womens' side:

                                                  Kerber
                                                  Williams
                                                  Halep
                                                  Keys

                                                  But this is pretty much based on near zero knowledge.

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