51 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Intrepid Tennis Reporter "DARTH NEWS" summarises Week 15 of The Vader Trophy for "2012"!! smile

ARVIS AND THE LOST SCOT ENJOY TOURNAMENT SUCCESS IN VADER!

Week 15 of the Vader Trophy competition has seen ARVIS and THE LOST SCOT secure outright victories at the Barcelona and Bucharest tournaments respectively.

Arvis, the 28 year old Florida resident has suffered a number of disappointing results in the Vader League of late but put those recent results behind him by winning his third outright tournament victory in Barcelona, he was the only competitor who chose eventual champion Rafael Nadal and was rewarded with a total prizemoney haul of $622,267.

He decided not to have eventual runner up David Ferrer as one of his five picks, however Nadal's victory and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco making the semifinals proved to be enough for him to comfortably secure the outright honours in Barcelona.

The Lost Scot celebrated his maiden outright tournament victory in the Vader League at the 250 series tournament in Bucharest, Romania, it was the Texan's third tournament win overall but his first ever outright tournament success in the Vader Trophy competition.

Every competitor who made their picks in the Vader League chose eventual champion Gilles Simon to win in Bucharest so the players remaining three picks ended up deciding the tournament winner in Romania, with numerous upsets occurring in the draw the key pick for The Lost Scot proved to be the Italian player Andreas Seppi who lost in the quarterfinals.

TONO enjoyed a solid week by finishing second overall in Barcelona and third in Bucharest, the New Zealander holds onto 1ST spot and increased his overall lead to $293,136 over Backhandpass in second place.

BACKHANDPASS had a disappointing week finishing at the bottom of the table in both tournaments, however the 49 year old still maintains his position in 2ND spot overall and leads Aiur in third place by a healthy margin of $777,465.

AIUR had a good week finishing second overall in Bucharest and third in Barcelona, his decision to bypass the Nadal and Ferrer picks in Barcelona means the Philadelphia resident will still have picks available for both Spaniards further on in the competition, he holds onto his position in 3RD spot and now leads The Lost Scot in fourth place by $567,031.

THE LOST SCOT had mixed success overall this week, he celebrated his first outright tournament win in Bucharest but ended up second from bottom in Barcelona, however the 20 year old was the "BIG MOVER" of the week moving up one position from fifth place into 4TH spot overall and he now holds a slender $113,062 lead over Wolmas in fifth place.

WOLMAS missed the deadline and did not lock in any picks in the Vader league this week, his failure to make his picks see's the man from New Jersey slip down one place into 5TH spot overall, he now only holds a slim margin of $47,728 over Arvis in sixth place.

ARVIS had a very solid week by winning outright in Barcelona and securing good prizemoney to boot, although he finished second from bottom in Bucharest the prizemoney earned in Barcelona helped him to close the gap on Wolmas in fifth place, he still sits in 6TH spot overall though but he will look to continue his climb up the leaderboard in the coming weeks and months.

Next week the competition will see three 250 series tournaments being played in Munich, Belgrade and Estoril respectively, with only two of the worlds top 10 players in action the opportunity exists for some different and interesting picks to be made by all Vader Trophy competitors as they continue their quest in search of Vader League supremacy in 2012. smile

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52 Reply by Tono

(26 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

That's funny, I thought I was better at picking the clay court tourneys rather than the hard court ones hmm......you could split the hard court titles into two maybe??....pre the clay court swing and post Wimby or something otherwise just have one season long hard court one.....shame there aren't a few more indoor tourneys on TDC.

It would be a shame to see you leave Fantasy Tennis mate ....it really would! sad

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53 Reply by Tono

(26 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

I think your "King of Clay" idea is a great one Thomas and not because I am currently in the lead either wink....very innovative thinking there Mr Wolansky! smile
You could also have a hard court title too in the future if you so desire, don't think there is enough tourneys on TDC to warrant an indoor one though huh.

As for the other idea of awarding points to Aiur and Adunar where there was no actual points won....I agree with Aiur, I think that one is best left alone at this stage.

Don't mean to pry etc Thomas but I'm hoping that you are fully back on deck now in Fantasy Tennis. big_smile

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54 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yes indeedy I agree with you there Aiur....congrats to both, a much needed boost for Arvis and Scotty this week in Vader, and the next month of tournaments will be VERY interesting indeed, looking forward to Roland Garros already I must admit! smile

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55 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Ferrer played his heart out against Rafa in the final, with an ounce of luck he could have won that first set and he was serving for the 2nd set too.....GREAT effort by David by as usual the King of Clay found a way to win on his favourite surface. smile

Adunar I see on FTT that zucksters is starting to make his charge up the leaderboard now.....he still has two Rafa picks up his sleeve so I'm assuming he will use those at the Madrid and Rome Masters tourneys, he will be in the top 10 overall very soon and it looks like he will be the player to beat once again on FTT....zucksters choosing to bypass picking Rafa at Indian Wells and Miami has proved to be a very clever decision indeed! hmm

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56 Topic by Tono

(2 replies, posted in Male Players)

After straight setting one of the best dirtballers in Almagro at the Barcelona Open and now doing the same to World No.4 Andy Murray, Milos Raonic has got me wondering just how far he will climb up the rankings this year.

The lanky Canadian looked all at sea the last time I watched him play on the red dirt but he has obviously ironed out a few things and from the brief highlights I saw against Murray he looked very impressive with his HUGE serve and BIG forehand dominating the hapless Scot.

There looks to be certain similarites between the way Isner and Raonic play on clay, serve big and crunch your forehand that seems to be their modus operandi....both players could certainly cause a few problems at Roland Garros if they stay healthy.

I was originally thinking that Raonic was still a year or two away from being a consistent member of the Top 10 but if he continues to impress on ALL surfaces then I might have to reconsider my thoughts on that subject.....can't wait to see what he is capable of on grass courts!! smile

So people what do ya'll think....will Milos make the Top 10 this year or is he too injury prone and inconsistent at this stage of his career??

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57 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah Novak needs some time with family to grieve for his grandfather I reckon....I'm sure there would have been quite a few FTT players picking him in Belgrade though, they can't help themselves eh Thomas. wink

The Rogers Cup in Toronto is the first Masters 1000 event after the Olympics so that could be an interesting tourney I reckon. smile

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58 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah Rafa and most of the Top 4 guys will be spent mentally after Wimbledon and the Olympics I'm guessing.....maybe a great opportunity for someone else to win a Masters Title later in the year I'm thinking wink

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59 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Bucharest is a blow out tourney for most of us unfortunately, I only have Simon left in Vader too hmm......I changed from Seppi to Stebe at the last minute in Vader otherwise I'd still have the Italian alive trying to earn me some more coin....Scotty has wrapped up the tourney win at Bucharest already!

In FTT I still have Simon and Seppi alive in Bucharest smile....I think it's the first time this season that I have made different picks in Vader & FTT, ah well it's only a small 250 series tourney so it shouldn't hurt the bank balance too much.

If Rafa wins the tourney in Barcelona then Arvis will get the other tourney win in Vader by the looks.....I can hear Arvis shouting from here....GO RAFA!! wink

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60 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Looks like the Bucharest tournament is living up to it's tradition of providing PLENTY of upsets for all us Fantasy Tennis fans hmm.........most if not all of us would expect Simon to go on and win this thing now but the way some of these matches are turning out who would know??
I'm beginning to like my dark horse pick of Stebe more and more at this stage. wink

P.S. Where has the Sir Chewie thread gone??

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61 Reply by Tono

(21 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

LOL @ Arvis......done, that bet is locked in Arvis! wink

@Aiur....hedging your bets there eh mate, where is the confidence in yourself then??....or are you trying to use reverse psychology on all of us?? wink

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62 Reply by Tono

(21 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

The Han Solo Betting Agency have just released their latest odds on who they think will become the inaugural "KING" of the R2D2 Crown in 2012!!

After the completion of the third of nine Masters series events on the ATP World Tour, Dragan still leads the competition and remains the bookies favourite to take the title in 2012......the Serbian 28 year old maintained his consistency by again scoring more than 100pts in the Monte Carlo Masters bracket, Dragan has achieved 102pts, 179pts and 135pts in his first three respective Masters events this year and holds onto favouritism at 4-1.

Aiur continued his charge up the leaderboard with a very impressive victory in the Monte Carlo tournament, his odds have shortened even further into 5-1 after his win and the 23 year old from Philadelphia is now the bookies 2nd favourite to take the inaugural title of "King" of the R2D2 Crown this season, Aiur is also a model of consistency cracking the century mark in all three tournaments so far this season, his scores of 101pts, 145pts and 151pts has him right in contention.

Pre season favourite Don from Oklahoma is still right in the hunt for R2D2 glory, the 65 year old is yet another of the competitors who has finished with a century or more points in each of the three Masters tourneys this season, he has gained very consistent results in the first three events with points tallies of 100pts, 157pts and 133pts respectively, he remains at his previous odds of 6-1.

Tono enjoyed his best result so far this season at Monte Carlo, he had a slow start in Indian Wells where he collated only 88pts but the 45 year old from New Zealand is now beginning to make his presence felt in this competition with two successive points tallies of 138pts and 142pts respectively, the bookies have responded to that consistency and shortened his odds into 8-1.

Backhandpass is another of the R2D2 combatants that has achieved three successive scores of 100pts or more, his scores of 106pts, 120pts and 132pts has him sitting in 4th spot overall, the 49 year old from Wisconsin has been one of the early pacesetters in most of the Masters events this season and remains a good chance of securing the inaugural title this year, his odds have remained the same as previous at 10-1.

Adunar, the newcomer from Switzerland enjoyed a successful debut in the R2D2 Crown competition, the 23 year old finished a close up 2nd behind Aiur securing 148pts in Monte Carlo, he makes his first appearance at sixth on the betting line at odds of 12-1, his result at the Miami Masters in March see's him with a bit of work still to do but another good performance in the Madrid Masters in a few weeks time will see him come right into contention.

Wolmas led after the first Masters tournament at Indian Wells but the 25 year old from New Jersey then slipped down the leaderboard with his 85pt haul in Miami, he rebounded very well in Monte Carlo however securing a very good score of 132pts which keeps him in touch with the leaders, his odds remain the same at 14-1 but there are strong rumours circulating that he may not continue to participate in Fantasy Tennis.

Arvis cracked the 100pt barrier for the first time this season in Monte Carlo finishing with a points tally of 116pts, however the 28 year old from Florida is now more than 100pts behind the leader and will need to try and grind his way back or take some risks to make his way up the leaderboard, his odds of winning the inaugural "King" of the R2D2 Crown remain as they were previously at 20-1.

The Lost Scot missed the deadline for the tournament in Monte Carlo and his chances of winning the competition now appear to be over, the 20 year old from Texas made a good start in this years competition too with scores of 104pts and 109pts respectively in the first two events at Indian Wells and Miami, he will now be competing for tournament honours only by the looks of it and his odds to win the overall competition have now blown out to 30-1.


Current R2D2 Crown 2012 Odds (As at 24 April 2012)

DRAGAN $4.00
AIUR $5.00
DON $6.00
TONO $8.00
BACKHANDPASS $10.00
ADUNAR $12.00
WOLMAS $14.00
ARVIS $20.00
THE LOST SCOT $30.00

Odds will be updated again after the completion of the Madrid Masters in the second week of May!!

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63 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Intrepid Tennis Reporter "DARTH NEWS" summarises Week 14 of The Vader Trophy for "2012"!! smile

AIUR CONTINUES HOT FORM IN THE VADER LEAGUE!

Week 14 of the Vader Trophy competition has seen Aiur continue his hot run of form and secure yet another outright tournament victory in The Monte Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco this week.

The 23 year old from Philadelphia has now won four tournaments in succession in the Vader League with three of those four wins being by an outright margin, the man from the state of Pennsylvania has also been victorious in five of the past seven tournaments in the Vader Trophy which makes him the hottest competitor going around right now.

Aiur decided to take some big picks in the Monte Carlo tournament and his strategy was rewarded as he picked three of the four eventual semifinalists to help him earn a nice $1.34M, his picks included eventual champion Rafael Nadal and beaten finalist Novak Djokovic along with semifinalist Tomas Berdych, the two key picks which edged him ahead and secured him the outright victory proved to be Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Stanislas Wawrinka.

His successful week saw Aiur move past Wolmas into outright third on the Vader League standings and if his hot run continues then he will soon be applying pressure to Backhandpass in second spot, Backhandpass finished a close up second behind Aiur in Monte Carlo, the 49 year old Wisconsin resident also chose the trio of Nadal, Djokovic and Berdych but was let down slightly by his respective Tipsarevic and Almagro picks, however he still earned himself a very solid prizemoney haul of $1.27M though.

The Lost Scot was another who took both Nadal and Djokovic and he benefitted by finishing in third place overall in Monaco with a total prizemoney haul of $1.2M.


TONO ended up in fourth place overall in Monte Carlo choosing Nadal but deciding to bypass on the Djokovic pick, the NZer still sits in 1ST spot overall though and maintains his lead over Backhandpass in second place but only by the very slim margin of $34,283.

BACKHANDPASS enjoyed a strong week and almost regained the overall lead off Tono, he remains in 2ND spot however and now leads Aiur in third place by a healthy margin of $809,276.

AIUR continues his rich vein of form and was a worthy winner of the Monte Carlo tournament with some savvy picks, he was also the "BIG MOVER" of the week and now sits in 3RD spot overall with a solid lead over Wolmas of $340,441.

WOLMAS had a disappointing week finishing bottom of the table but he did pick eventual winner Nadal to still earn himself a reasonable payday, the 25 year old slips one place into 4TH spot and leads The Lost Scot in fifth by $220,230.

THE LOST SCOT finished up third overall in the Monte Carlo tournament and has closed the gap between himself and Wolmas in fourth place considerably, the 20 year old still sits in 5TH spot overall but holds a healthy lead of $566,421 over Arvis in sixth place.

ARVIS finished down in fifth place in Monaco and has now slipped even further behind, the man from Florida remains in 6TH spot on the leaderboard and he now stands alone in the cellar awaiting the possible return of the young Australian CrossCourt.

Next week the competition will see two tournaments being played in Barcelona and Bucharest respectively, Barcelona is a 500 series event so good prizemoney is on offer there while the Bucharest tournament in Romania is a small 250 series event, again a large number of Top 20 players are entered to participate in the respective tournaments so making picks in the Vader League will once again be a challenge for all Vader Trophy 2012 competitors. smile

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64 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Am still to watch the match but the scoreline would suggest to me that Nole probably checked out in the second set....Rafa will start RG the favourite once again but you are right about Madrid and Rome Adunar, those tournaments he will probably not get all his own way because of the different pace and conditions.

Happy for Rafa though, he will now be extremely tough to beat for the rest of the clay court season! smile

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65 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

After seeing some of the semis this morning I think I might have to agree with you Adunar smile....Rafa looked a lot better than earlier in the tournament and as you say there is probably more riding on this match for him than there is for Nole....should still be a cracker of a match though all the same huh. big_smile

I'm now thinking that maybe Rafa has the edge too. wink

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66 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah there is way more than just the Monte Carlo title on the line tomorrow for Rafa & Novak......if Nole beats Rafa yet again you would have to think that he will start RG as the favourite this year BUT if Rafa wins this thing for the 8th consecutive time then that will give him the shot in the arm that he needs....no pun intended. lol

Should be a great match for so many reasons....in boxing terms Djokovic will only be looking for a points decison tomorrow then at RG he will go for the knockout......meanwhile Rafa scraps with the best of them and he will fight to defend his title both here in Monte Carlo and then again at RG.....a battle of wills coming up I think!

I haven't seen Rafa play an awful lot so far in this tourney but from what I've seen he will have to keep the ball a lot deeper in the rallies otherwise Nole will attack and dominate him, still the slower courts will favour Rafa's defence but is he a little bit under done in terms of preparation for beating Novak I wonder? hmm

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67 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah I'm hoping for a Rafa win again at MC but will the Novak factor stop him I wonder?

I've just realised BHP that with Simon's win over Tsonga I now have a chance to retain my overall lead in Vader this week.......all I need is for Rafa to win the tourney! wink

Oh and I can finally see your young Rafa pic too btw. smile

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68 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Exactly Aiur! smile
The strategy involved in FTT & Vader is what I enjoy the most about this format....when to fire yr bullets and when not to is the challenge for all of us huh. wink

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69 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Tono wrote:

I went for Melzer to make an impact in Murray's section and took the trio of Tipsy, Simon and Verdasco in Tsonga's...I was going to take Wawrinka instead of Almagro too but decided to stick with Nico, I think Stan could easily make the quarters though.

I should have stuck with my initial thoughts....DOH! hmm....Aiur's Wawrinka pick turned out to be a goodie, well done mate!

I've got my plan in FTT & Vader Arvis wink
There are actually HEAPS of FTT players blowing the BIG picks Arvis....for example the current leader "charlesshields" has already taken Federer, Tsonga, Delpo & Almagro SIX times and Novak & Rafa FIVE times...What The???.........and most of the others in the top 10 have already taken Fed & Nole at least FIVE times too.....they will have to choose the likes of Monfils etc in the Slams if they keep that up. lol

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70 Reply by Tono

(99 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

It must have been a while since Ferrer got dominated in straight sets by another player.....Bellucci is talented though and Ferrer's favourite off forehand shot would have played right into the strong leftie forehand of the Brazilian......still I didn't see this result coming. hmm

Dragan is still making every post a winner in R2D2 although he has Aiur alongside him at the top of the leaderboard now, we are going to have some interesting clashes tomorrow though, should be good. smile

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71 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Looks like Aiur is going for another tourney win in Vader this week......it's looking very much like a head to head shootout between him and BHP for tourney honours in Vader this week.....unless there is numerous upsets that is!! wink

I'm thinking you will probably grab the lead back off me after this week too BHP. wink

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72 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Arvis wrote:

Tono, can you contact the FTT guys?  I beat Backhandpass in Houston, they just never gave me any money for my James Blake 1st-round loss.

I know it's not much, but I come in dead last in enough tournaments all on my own without having to have another last place finish that isn't even my fault.

Help? sad

-Arvis

All fixed now for ya Arvis! smile

@Thomas....Thanks for the update on Soderling too Thomas......so is he now a "Bird Whisperer" huh? lol

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73 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah it seems you, me and Zucksters are on the same wave length in FTT.....Zucksters has exactly the same seven as me in Monte Carlo with only one exception, I have Simon and he has Cilic, his Cilic pick could be a savvy one too if the Croat can topple Berdych next up.
I originally had Jo-Willy in my team of seven instead of Tipsy but it would have been my 4th Tsonga pick so I decided to go with Janko instead.

I noticed too that quite a few of the leaders in FTT have taken Nadal, Djokovic & Murray which was expected, they will max out their big picks sooner than we think perhaps. wink

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74 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

Yeah I've flicked them an email about the glitch on day one of tournaments, same thing happened at Houston too hmm

Yep we are trucking along together at this stage Adunar in both comps huh....hopefully the good results continue smile... I have a wee feeling that Tsonga won't make the semis though.

I went for Melzer to make an impact in Murray's section and took the trio of Tipsy, Simon and Verdasco in Tsonga's...I was going to take Wawrinka instead of Almagro too but decided to stick with Nico, I think Stan could easily make the quarters though.

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75 Reply by Tono

(628 replies, posted in Other Tournaments)

They use a result scraper from a yahoo website Arvis....apparently it's automatically set up to update results and prizemoney but obviously there are a few glitches STILL.....sigh!

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