This competition is a bit different to the usual, in that we are predicting NOW for up to 6 months ahead. You might find that difficult and challenging, but it's all part of the fun. :D And it will be interesting to see if our longer term predictions actually come off, and if not how near to the actual results we get. It may sound daunting but please don't be put off - we are all in the same boat and none of us have a crystal ball, but we all have some tennis knowledge so it should be interesting and fun. It will also give us ongoing interest throughout the year. :ok: Unlike the other comps you don't have to do it daily, just once, so it will suit those who don't have time for the other comps. You can of course still enter the other comps as normal, or feel free to develop your own; this does not replace those by me, Liam or Mr Invisible it's just something different to run alongside things and give an extra dimension (well hopefully!). :)

Anyway what do you need to do? Basically make picks for winners (and in some cases runners up and semi-finalists) for the selection of tournies that I post. All 4 GSs will of course be included, and a selection of ATP and WTA tournaments (mainly masters and Tier 1s). Points will be awarded for correct picks, and these will be updated after each tournie. At the end of the year the player with the highest score wins.

This is stage 1 and I'm going from the AO through to and including Wimbledon. Later in the year part 2 of the comp will involve the same for tournies in the latter half of the year. There will be a few other twists but that is basically what it's all about.

I have no idea how this will pan out, it's a new idea that I came up with and worked on with help form Jo so please bear with us and myself or other CC staff will be on hand to help and resolve and problems as they arise. It would be nice to get as many playing as possible so please give it a go if you can. Thanks a lot. :)

Here's the tournaments you need to pick:



ATP CALENDAR (GS in CAPS; all others Masters Series except Queens)

14/01 AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Melbourne/ Hard
13/03 Pacific Line Open, USA (Indian Wells))/Outdoor Hard
27/03 Sony Ericsson Open, USA (Miami))/Outdoor Hard
21/04 Monte Carlo MAsters, Monaco/Outdoor Clay
05/05 Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)/Outdoor Clay
12/05 Hamburg MAsters, Germany/Outdoor Clay
26/05 FRENCH OPEN, Paris/Outdoor Clay
09/06 Artois Championship, England (Queens Club)/Outdoor Grass (International Series)
23/06 ALL ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON/Outdoor Grass

WTA CALENDAR (GS in CAPS; all others Tier 1 except Eastbourne)

14/01 AUSTRALIAN OPEN, Melbourne/Hard
18/02 Qatar Total Open (Doha)/Outdoor Hard
10/03 Pacific Line Open, USA (Indian Wells)/Outdoor Hard
24/03 Sony Ericsson Open,USA (Miami)/Outdoor Hard
14/04 Family Circle Cup, USA (Charleston)/Outdoor Green Clay
05/05 Qatar Telecom German Open (Berlin)/Outdoor Red Clay
12/05 Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome)/Outdoor Red Clay
26/05 FRENCH OPEN, Paris/Outdoor Red Clay
16/06 International Womens Open, England (Eastbourne)(Tier 2)/Outdoor Grass
23/06 ALL ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS, WIMBLEDON/Outdoor Grass


What you need to do to follow :)

Here's what you need to do::

GRANDSLAMS please pick:

4 semi-finalists
1 Runner Up
1 Winner
2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)
1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage
1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

*Please ensure you do this for both WTA AND ATP.


OTHER TOURNIES please pick:

1 Winner
1 reserve

Further Info:


WILDCARDS

Pick a player OUTSIDE the top 32 current Australian Open seedings (link below) who you think will do better in a slam than their current rank indicates. Your wildcard is awarded points according to their progression through the tournie from reaching Round 2 onwards. The further they go the more points you accumulate. The wildcard runs independent of your other choices.

EARLY EXIT

Pick a player currently INSIDE the top 32 according to AO seedings who you think will go out earlier than their seeding suggests. Scores depend on how early they exit. They must exit in Round 1 or 2 to score.

Link to AO seedings

http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/a...sub_toparticles


RESERVES

Reserves are used if your player pulls out with injury or for any other reason BEFORE their first match of the tourny. Your first choice reserve will then be substituted for the player that pulls out; if another of your players pulls out, your second choice reserve is substituted (GS only). If more players and/or your reserves pull out, no further reserves will be allowed, sorry. :)

POINTS

A full scoring system will be announced shortly. The points stated for each successful pick will be what you score, there will be no deviation from these. Obviously the further your players go the more you get so you can start predicting now without knowing the scores you'll get.

BONUSES

Bonus points will be avaialble in certain circumstances (to be announced):

The Grandslam - all 4 2008 GS Champions picked correctly (whether same player or up to four different ones); ATP and WTA will be treated as seperate.

3/4 Slams - as for above but with 3 correct winners (ATP and WTA seperate)

ATP and WTA Double - if you predict both the correct Male and Female Champions in SAME Slam.

Maiden Slam - if your winner is correct and has NEVER won a slam before.

First Time Finalist - your winner/ runner up pick makes the final and has NEVER been in a slam final before.

Unseeded Bonus - for any player that makes the finals or semi-finals without a seeding in that tournie.

Maturity Bonus - any successful pick for a player over 30 at the time of their win or final/semifinal appearance.

I may introduce a bonus ad hoc at a later date.


That's it for now. Any queries please post here or send me a PM and I'll come back to you. :ok: Thanks for your support, look forward to seeing you in the comp :D

This looks good - do I post all my predictions here? Any deadline - as I may need to give this some thought?! :)

yeah, post your predictions in this thread. If you can get your AO predictions up ASAP, then you can have a bit more time to think about the rest :ok:

Yep, that sounds good :ok: I'd better post something on deadlines.

DEADLINES for ENTRY

I must aplogise for this going up rather late, it was my intention to get it up over Xmas but I take full responsiblity for being bone idle and screwing that up. :blush: :lol: Seriously though it took a lot longer than expected to iron out the rules and set-up.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN - please have your AO predictions up before it starts this coming Monday. That gives folks the weekend which will hopefully be enough time. All you need to do is focus on the AO only then, pick me 4 semi-fainalist, a winner and runner up. Don't foget your 2 reserves in order fo preference of use, and your wildcard and early exit if you want to do them. The draw is now out so that will make life much easier.

Try NOT to miss the AO cos a slam carries more points than the other tournies. :ok:

OTHER TOURNIES - the AO ends on 27th Jan, and the next tourny is the WTA Qatar Open on 10th Feb, a month from now. So let's get the AO over with first and have the rest done by the 4th of Feb. Hope this is OK. :)

4 semi-finalists:

Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal

1 Runner Up

Rafael Nadal

1 Winner

Roger Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

David Ferrer
Andy Roddick

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Richard Gasquet

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Djokovic

Murray
Nadal

1 Runner Up

Murray

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Youhzny
Roddick

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Davydenko

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

1 Runner Up

Venus

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Ivanovic
Sharapova

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Paszek

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Jankovic

oops, I didn't do women, and now it won't let me edit. Ok, so not a huge WTA fan - so a lot of guessing!

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Jankovic

Venus
Ivanovic

1 Runner Up

Venus

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Kuznetsova
Serena

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Krajicek

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Sharapova

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Djokovic

Roddick
Nadal

1 Runner Up

Nadal

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Davydenko
Murray

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Gasquet

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

1 Runner Up

Henin

1 Winner

Venus

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Sharapova
Ivanovic

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Vaidisova

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Dementieva

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Baghdatis

Gasquet
Nadal

1 Runner Up

Nadal

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Djokovic
Roddick

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

almagro

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

1 Runner Up

Serena

1 Winner

Venus

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Ivanovic
Vaidisova

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

krajicek

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

petrova (please not though :pray: )

rikey, im all predicted out :blush:

4 semi-finalists:

Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic

Andy Murray
Rafael Nadal

1 Runner Up

Rafael Nadal

1 Winner

Roger Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

David Nalbandian

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Mario Ancic

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Tursunov




4 semi-finalists:

Justine Henin
Serena Williams

Ivanovic
Chakvetadze


1 Runner Up

Chakvetadze

1 Winner

Justine Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Hantuchova
Venus Williams

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Lindsay Davenport

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Dementieva

any problems just message me =]

MEN

1/2:
Federer
Djokovic

Youzhny
Roddick

Runner Up:
Roddick

Winner:
Federer

Reserves:
Ferrer
Youzhny

Wildcard:
Kiefer

Early Exit:
Ferrero

WOMEN

1/2:
Henin
Serena

Venus
Hantuchova

Runner Up:
Venus

Winner:
Henin

Reserves:
Schnyder
Safina

Wildcard:
Davenport

Early Exit:
Zvonareva

Hey Felix - sorry but you need to change your Wildcard in the women's because Vaidsova is a seed. You need to pick a womn outisde the 32 seeds. Cheers :)

ATP

4 semi-finalists

Federer
Djokovic
Youzhny
Roddick

1 Runner Up

Youzhny

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves

Murray
Ferrer

1 'Wildcard'

Safin

1 Early Exit

Almagro


WTA

4 semi-finalists

Henin
Serena
Ivanovic
Kuznetsova


1 Runner Up

Kuznetsova

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves

Vaidisova
Jankovic

1 'Wildcard'

Davenport


1 Early Exit

Bammer

Prepared to make a fool of myself but oh well!

Men
Semi-finals
Federer v Djokovic
Gasquet v Roddick

Winner
Federer

Runner-up
Roddick

Wildcard
Safin

Early exit
Tursanov

Reserves
Ferrer Murray

Women
Semi-finals
Henin v Serena
Venus v Kuzzy

Winner
Henin

Runner-up
Venus

Wildcard
Davenport

Early exit
Dementieva

Reserves
Vaidisova
Ivanovic

welcome to the wonderful world of predictions contests ;)

Well we have fun don't we? do we? :unsure: :lol:

Welcome nevets, feel free to join in any others you fancy such as the AO comp where we predict matches daily. :ok:

oh yeah, we have fun - we just often make fools of ourselves :P :D

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Djokovic

Murray
Roddick

Winner
Federer

Runner up
Roddick

2 reserves
Gasquet
David Ferrer

1 'Wildcard
Marat Safin

1 Early Exit
Nalbandian



Women:

4 semi-finalists:
Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

Winner
Henin

Runner up
Venus

2 reserves
Ivanovic
Sharapova

1 'Wildcard
krajicek

Early exit
Bartoli

Men

Semi-finals
Federer v Djokovic
Murray v Nadal

Winner
Federer

Runner-up
Nadal

Wildcard
Safin

Early exit
Tursonov

Reserves
Roddick
Ferrer

Women
Semi-finals
Henin v Serena
Venus v Kuznetsova

Winner
Henin

Runner-up
Kuznetsova

Wildcard
Davenport

Early exit
Petrova

Reserves
Ivanovic
Sharapova

Men

semi-finals

Federer vs Djokovic
Nadal vs Murray

winner
Federer

Runner-up
Nadal

Wildcard
Safin

Early exit
Davydenko

Reserves
Roddick
Gasquet


Women

Semi-finals
Henin vs Serena
Kuzy vs Venus

Winner
Serena

Runner-up
Venus

Wildcard
Davenport

Early exit
Sharapova

Reserves
Ivanovic
Szavay

Just to let everyone know this will close tomorrow at approx midnight (please check for when AO starts). You can still enter the rest of the comp but once thsi is closed it is closed - end of - as I think accpeting late entries will be unfair to others, sorry :)

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Radwanska

1 Runner Up

Serena

1 Winner

Venus

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Ivanovic
Vaidisova

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Pennetta

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Petrova


Question - do i have to submit men predictions? are we scored on men, and womens, or cumulation of both men and womens?

Men

Semi Finalists

Federer
Djokovic
Murray
Nadal

Runner up
Nadal

Winner
Federer

Reserves
Roddick
Nalbandian

Wildcard
Safin

Early Exit
Blake

Semi Finalists
Justine
Serena
Venus
Kuznetsova

Runner Up
Venus

Winner
Justine

Reserves
Jankovic
Ivanovic

Wildcard
Davenport

Early Exit
Chakvetadze

4 semi-finalists:

Federer
Djokovic

Youzhny
Roddick

1 Runner Up

Roddick

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Murray
Ferrer

1 'Wildcard'

Safin

1 Early Exit

Almagro

Decided to just concentrate on the Mens -about as much as I can cope with :phew:

I'm going to do mine in a min but I'm a bit confused by the reserves section. Are they reserves for your choices of finalists? I re-read the section but am still a bit muddled.

As I understand it , its reserves for any of your players.Could be wrong though.

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Djokovic
Gasquet
Roddick

1 Runner Up

Roddick

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Murray
Youzhny

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Clement

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Blake

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Jankovic
Venus Williams
Petrova

1 Runner Up

Venus Williams

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Sharapova
Serena Williams

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Sugiyama

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Dementieva

The reserves are nto just for finalists, they are to replace any of your four semi finalist picks if needed. So basically, make your four 1st choices and then just give your 2 reserves, 1st and 2nd choice. Tbh I doubt we'll need then but just in case a player pulls out before plays starts. I hope that makes sense :)

Btw shame Tommy is out! He'd have had a great seeding :(

ATP

4 semi-finalists

Federer
Djokovic
Nadal
Youzhny

1 Runner Up

Nadal

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves

Murray
Ferrer

1 'Wildcard'

Safin

1 Early Exit

Nalbandian


WTA

4 semi-finalists

Henin
Serena
Ivanovic
Kuznetsova


1 Runner Up

Kuznetsova

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves

Venus
Jankovic

1 'Wildcard'

Davenport


1 Early Exit

Sharapova

:o

I know, I am v upset :( He had more shoulder surgery over Christmas and obviously hasn't recovered. He never seems to have a complete year.

Men

Semi Finalists

Federer
Ferrer
Murray
Roddick

Runner up
Murray

Winner
Federer

Reserves
Davydenko
Nalbandian

Wildcard
Kiefer

Early Exit
Almagro

Semi Finalists
Justine
Serena
Venus
Kuznetsova

Runner Up
Venus

Winner
Serena

Reserves
Vaidisova
Ivanovic

Wildcard
Paszek

Early Exit
Jankovic

Men:

4 semi-finalists:
Federer
Djokovic

Murray
Nadal

1 Runner Up

Murray

1 Winner

Federer

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Davydenko
Youhzny


1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Nalbandian

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

1 Runner Up

Venus

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Serena
Sharapova

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Davenport

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Petrova

Men:

4 semi-finalists:

Federer
Djokovic

Murray
Nadal

1 Runner Up

Nadal

1 Winner

Djokovic

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Youhzny
Roddick

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Marat Safin

1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage

Lleyton Hewitt

Women:
4 semi-finalists:

Henin
Serena

Venus
Kuznetsova

1 Runner Up

Kuznetsova

1 Winner

Henin

2 reserves (see below - in order of preference of use i.e 1st and 2nd choice)

Ivanovic
Sharapova

1 'Wildcard' (see below) *for AO only at this stage
Rezai


1 Early Exit (see below) *for AO only at this stage
Mauresmo

Think I am being a tad blonde here but I'm not fully getting this. Do I predict 4 people who will get into the semi's of most of those turnaments?

Arent we just predicting the AO on this thread ? :unsure:

The other thread deals with all the other tournaments up to and including Wimbledon.

Ah ok, I just noticed the other thread. Cheers Al :ok: