Intrepid Reporter "DARTH NEWS" takes a look at the Yoda Cup & Yoda Cup Guru Race after the Australian Open in Melbourne!
Well after many twists and turns the first Grand Slam of 2012 is over and done with and Dragan, the 27 year old from Bela Crkva, Serbia is the new Yoda Cup Champion, he currently sits in the top position at the head of the table with three Grand Slams still remaining to decide the winner of the inaugural Yoda Guru Title!!
DRAGAN started brillantly to win the Australian Open Yoda Cup competition and scored a record of 2080pts in the Yoda Cup for an individual Slam, he chose both men's and women's winners prior to the start of the tournament which proved to be the key to his victory, he currently sits in 1ST place and holds a lead of 128pts over Tono in second spot, he will be looking to continue his form at the French Open in May and try and extend his lead in the Guru race even further.
TONO performed very well and secured 2ND place with a total of 1952pts and is comfortably placed heading into Roland Garros, he will be looking for a win to put pressure on Dragan but a less than satisfactory performance could see him falter and slip further behind, he holds a slender 16pt lead over Backhandpass in third spot.
BACKHANDPASS enjoyed a great start ending up in 3RD place with a total of 1936pts, he carried his impressive form from the Vader Trophy into the Yoda Cup and now sits in a very good position only 144pts out of the top spot, he currently holds a 32pt lead over Don in fourth spot.
DON finished close up in 4TH place and secured a good total of 1904pts, he is handily placed and still well in the hunt for Guru honours, he is only 176pts behind Dragan and will be hoping for another consistent performance at Roland Garros to stay in the hunt and put pressure on those above him, he currently holds a lead of 112pts over Aiur in fifth spot.
AIUR was so close to finishing higher but eventually had to settle for 5TH place with a total of 1792pts, he is reknowned for his consistency and is still a good chance of improving his position and putting the heat on those above him, he will be looking for a top three finish at the French Open, he is currently 288pts out of the lead but only holds a very slender 8pt margin over Arvis in sixth spot.
ARVIS started brillantly and led for a large part of the Aussie Open but ended up in 6TH place overall with a total of 1784pts, he will be looking for another good start at Roland Garros and an even better finish to enable him to climb up the leaderboard and stay in the mix for Guru honours, he is 296pts behind the leader and currently holds a 56pt lead over Charles in seventh spot.
CHARLES started slowly but made his way up the leaderboard to finish in 7TH place, three first round losses didn't help his cause but he recovered well to secure a respectable total of 1728pts, he finds himself 352pts behind Dragan and will need a strong performance at the French Open to make his way into contention, he currently holds a lead of 56pts over Adrian in eigthh spot.
ADRIAN was another who started well but slipped down the table late in the tournament to finish up in 8TH place, he secured 1672pts but finds himself 408pts behind the leader and is another who will be looking for a strong performance at Roland Garros in May to rise up the leaderboard, he currently holds a lead of 112pts over The Lost Scot in ninth spot.
THE LOST SCOT finished up in 9TH place overall but his cause wasn't helped by missing five match prediction picks which cost him another possible 80pts, he still ended up securing 1560pts but now sits 520pts out of first place and will probably need to finish in the top two at the French Open and secure big points to move back into contention, he currently holds a lead of 152pts over Wolmas in tenth spot.
WOLMAS had a tournament he would rather forget finishing in 10TH place with his match predictions costing him dearly, he finished on 1408pts but he now has a big challenge ahead of him as he finds himself 672pts behind Dragan and will need a huge performance at Roland Garros to climb up the table and give himself any chance of competing for the Guru Title, he holds a very slim 8pt margin over CrossCourt in eleventh spot.
CROSSCOURT was the hard luck story of the tournament finishing in 11TH place, the young Australian was leading heading into the fourth round match predictions but was unable to make any match prediction picks until the finals and lost a chance to secure vital points, he ended up with a total of 1400pts which was a fine effort but his inability to make all his match prediction picks looks like it might have cost him his chance to win the Yoda Guru Title in 2012, he is 680pts out of the lead but he did edge out SophieG who finished up in twelfth spot by 112pts.
SOPHIEG started miserably with five first round losses costing her any chance of enjoying a successful tournament, she finished in the dreaded "Wooden Spoon" position in 12TH place, securing only 1288pts, she finds herself a massive 792 points behind the leader Dragan and will now probably need a record points haul at Roland Garros to help her rise up the leaderboard, her main focus now will possibly be on getting out of twelfth spot and not finishing the 2012 Yoda Cup competition holding the "Wooden Spoon"!
The battle will continue in late May on the red clay of Roland Garros, I will be there to report on all the twists and turns of the exciting Yoda Cup & Yoda Cup Guru Race!! 
Last edited by Tono (Feb. 1, 2012 1:05pm)
