Hey all, been lurking for most of the year and decided to get in on the fun.
Friday, June 25
I know what you're thinking: another moron with a parlay. I can't deny the moron part but I like my chances with this one. I know there are some huge favorites but I try to provide some insight into each pick so you can see where my head's at and see that I'm not just blindly picking favorites.
DJOKOVIC/HEWITT/MAYER/RODDICK/CLIJSTERS/V. WILLIAMS
4.37 to win 8.39
DJOKOVIC/MONTANES
Djoker has a 3-0 H2H against Montanes with all three meetings on clay. If Djoker can handle Montanes on his preferred surface then he shouldn't have any trouble with him here, as Montanes owns a 12-18 lifetime record on grass and hasn't been setting the world on fire this week.
HEWITT/MONFILS
After seeing some of his match against Beck, I don't think Monfils is close to 100% and against a superior grass court player like Hewitt, that's not good news for him.
MAYER/LU
Mayer is the better grass court player and it's really not close. Mayer is 15-8 on grass in his career and took out Cilic and Fish and has looked pretty good doing it. He has made it to the quarters here before, albeit in 2004, but he's comfortable on the grass. Lu has had a pretty easy run to the third round here, with his two opponents combining for a 8-12 career record on grass. His second round opponent, Przysiezny, stated after the match that he was bothered by a back injury which affected his serve. Safe to say that Mayer is a step up here and with Mayer leading the career H2H @ 2-0 (granted, the encounters were years ago), I'll take him.
RODDICK/KOHLSCHREIBER
Roddick has stated that he's pretty much putting all his eggs in the Wimbledon basket and obviously belives he can make a deep run again here. His opponent in the second round, LLodra, has a game that is perfect for grass with his serve and volley and he has been in great form leading up to WImbledon. He gave Roddick a little trouble in the first set, but once Roddick brought out the serve and volley, it was curtains for Llodra. Kohlschreiber was pushed to the limit in his last match against Gabashvili, who is only 2-9 in his career on grass. Color me unimpressed.
CLIJSTERS/KIRILENKO
Kirilenko is so hot but she sucks on grass (12-18) and Clijsters is a machine.
V. WILLIAMS/KLEYBANOVA
Over the last five years, Venus is 26-2 at Wimbledon with losses to her sister and Jankovic. All but three of those wins were straight set wins and she did beat Kleybanova two years ago, 6-3 6-4. She dismantled Makarova last round, who has had an impressive run leading up to Wimbledon witha handful of good wins en route to the title at Eastbourne. Kleybanova has nice some return stats this week, with her break points converted in double digits, but she also has faced her share of break points. I don't think Venus will give her nearly as many chances, while Venus should be seeing plenty of break opportunities herself.
Friday, June 25
I know what you're thinking: another moron with a parlay. I can't deny the moron part but I like my chances with this one. I know there are some huge favorites but I try to provide some insight into each pick so you can see where my head's at and see that I'm not just blindly picking favorites.
DJOKOVIC/HEWITT/MAYER/RODDICK/CLIJSTERS/V. WILLIAMS
4.37 to win 8.39
DJOKOVIC/MONTANES
Djoker has a 3-0 H2H against Montanes with all three meetings on clay. If Djoker can handle Montanes on his preferred surface then he shouldn't have any trouble with him here, as Montanes owns a 12-18 lifetime record on grass and hasn't been setting the world on fire this week.
HEWITT/MONFILS
After seeing some of his match against Beck, I don't think Monfils is close to 100% and against a superior grass court player like Hewitt, that's not good news for him.
MAYER/LU
Mayer is the better grass court player and it's really not close. Mayer is 15-8 on grass in his career and took out Cilic and Fish and has looked pretty good doing it. He has made it to the quarters here before, albeit in 2004, but he's comfortable on the grass. Lu has had a pretty easy run to the third round here, with his two opponents combining for a 8-12 career record on grass. His second round opponent, Przysiezny, stated after the match that he was bothered by a back injury which affected his serve. Safe to say that Mayer is a step up here and with Mayer leading the career H2H @ 2-0 (granted, the encounters were years ago), I'll take him.
RODDICK/KOHLSCHREIBER
Roddick has stated that he's pretty much putting all his eggs in the Wimbledon basket and obviously belives he can make a deep run again here. His opponent in the second round, LLodra, has a game that is perfect for grass with his serve and volley and he has been in great form leading up to WImbledon. He gave Roddick a little trouble in the first set, but once Roddick brought out the serve and volley, it was curtains for Llodra. Kohlschreiber was pushed to the limit in his last match against Gabashvili, who is only 2-9 in his career on grass. Color me unimpressed.
CLIJSTERS/KIRILENKO
Kirilenko is so hot but she sucks on grass (12-18) and Clijsters is a machine.
V. WILLIAMS/KLEYBANOVA
Over the last five years, Venus is 26-2 at Wimbledon with losses to her sister and Jankovic. All but three of those wins were straight set wins and she did beat Kleybanova two years ago, 6-3 6-4. She dismantled Makarova last round, who has had an impressive run leading up to Wimbledon witha handful of good wins en route to the title at Eastbourne. Kleybanova has nice some return stats this week, with her break points converted in double digits, but she also has faced her share of break points. I don't think Venus will give her nearly as many chances, while Venus should be seeing plenty of break opportunities herself.
