The Deuce Club, 1.14
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By Jackie Roe, TW Social Director
Ready for the Australian Open, TWibe? I know I am, especially since I haven’t watched a full tennis match since the WTFs. (WTF, indeed.) I can’t wait to catch a glimpse of the blindingly blue courts, to track a gazillion matches simultaneously on my TV and laptop, to wake up in the middle of the night and sleepwalk through work the next day. It almost seems like a rite of passage—survive the AO, and you’ve just progressed from tennis fan to real tennis fan.
I see that most of you have already shared your thoughts on the draws in earlier posts, but if you haven’t commented on who got the short end of the stick and who’s eating a cupcake, who’s going out early and who’s going all the way, feel free to do that here.
In addition to your draw analyses, tell us which matches you’re most looking forward to—and which ones you’re fearing. The latter’s an easy one for me; the prospect of a second rounder between Federer and Simon is making me pretty queasy. You know how this goes: On the one hand, I want a competitive, close match. On the other, WHAT?! No way, it HAS to be a blowout. I’m glad Simon is healthy and playing with confidence again and wanted it to translate into an AO run, but no can do, Gilles. Have to stand by my main man Fed. (This assumes that both guys get past the first round. Federer shouldn’t have a problem, unless you talk to a Fed fan (joking—kinda), but Simon-Lu isn’t quite as straightforward. Ah, Simon-Lu. Of course this makes me reminisce about their rowdy late-night meeting in Indian Wells two years ago. See-mon! clap clap clap . . . Luuuuuuu!)
**If you want to add even more drama to the AO proceedings, make sure to play the Suicide Pool. Check out the following from the lovely and inexhaustible(!) Mariya at TalkAboutTennis.com:
This is a reminder that the Australian Open ‘11 Suicide Pool is on at TalkAboutTennis.com. If you have played it before, you know what to do. You can go HERE to play. You should find the instructions and the thread for the first day (after the OOP is announced) at that link. If you don't know how to play the Suicide Pool, read on.
The basic idea of the suicide pool (SP) is to pick, for each day of the tournament (in this case the Australian Open), one player from the OOP who you think is going to win his/her match. If he/she wins his/her match you get to pick a fresh player from the next day's OOP. The end goal, of course, is to progress to the final and pick the eventual winner. There is a catch, in that you can only pick a player once for the entire tournament (so, for instance, you probably want to save Roger for a later round).
There are separate games for the ATP and WTA singles draws and you can play either or both of them.
Additional rules:
You have to be a registered member of TAT. Which you can easily become by registering, for free, of course.
We will be keeping track of the fortunes of the TWibe at the Suicide Pool. If you want to your name to be tracked, please indicate this with the text “TW” in your first day's (and ONLY your first day's) pick. Only include your TW name if it’s different you’re your username on TAT. Example picks below:
Thomaz Bellucci
Ptenisnet
TW
There will be a fresh thread open (for pick posting) at TAT for ATP and for WTA every day of the tournament. And also a thread which tracks updated results.
You have to get your picks for each day, not round, before play starts for the day. The entry deadline into the contest is the scheduled start play on Day 1 of Australian Open. This year, that's Monday, January 17, 2011, 11:00 AM Melbourne time.
Good luck!
No real topic this week, since I figured we’re too amped for the AO to think about much else. But of course, this is your anything-goes space for the weekend, so use it as you see fit! Continue the AO discussions, or distract yourself with talk about football (DA BEARS!), winter storms, the new zodiac sign, Jersey Shore . . . whatever. Have a great weekend, and enjoy the start of the “Happy Slam,” TWibe!