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Alex Ghiculescu's avatar

I realise that if you just picked the top seeds it would be no fun, but man, these are some optimistic predictions!

Since I’m here:

1. Tsitsipas > Zverev

2. Paul > Fils (you’re right this one feels very open)

3. Rublev > Fritz

4. Alcaraz > Djokovic

Agree with SF and F.

I guess they weren’t that whacky…

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Hugh Clarke's avatar

Yeah that's the thing, if you check the paths none of them are really all that impressive for the calibre of players they are

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Alex Ghiculescu's avatar

Update after R2: my picks sucked. Would be funny if Q2 is the only one I get right.

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Nick's avatar

I'm going to wait until the end of Miami to decide if I'm on the Tsitsi train again. You could be right.

As an American, I love seeing a lot of the guys have favorable draws / have the home crowd advantage.

Will be interesting to see if the new court changes the usual results. Sucks that the ATP is homogenizing the courts. It was nice when courts were in different niches, which helped or hurt different players. I'd rather have a variety of champions during the season rather than a couple of guys who do really well on fast, low bouncing courts.

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Hugh Clarke's avatar

That's smart. I am a mix of excited and hopeful that the change is real

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Clement's avatar

Thanks for the piece!

I'll drop my predictions while I'm at it

1. Tsitsipas > Machac

2. Paul > Opelka

3. Rublev > Fritz

4. Alcaraz > De Minaur

Also getting Alcaraz Tsitsipas as a final, and Alcaraz W

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Larry Cabanero's avatar

I'm excited to how the NextGen guys can disrupt. I agree that Tien's big recent wins may have been more about his opponents' weak days than Tien's game. But he's been consistently holding his own against Top 100 players. It'll be interesting to see how quickly he can up his game as he gains more experience.

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Tennis Sweet Spot's avatar

Heard from someone playing there that, for now, the only difference they saw is a lower bounce. But that's it. Doesn't sound like earth-shattering changes.

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Brad Bowling's avatar

From the Third Quarter in the Dark Horse section:

"It’s hard to pick a dark horse down there because the path is so brutal: FAA and Draper are in form and Medvedev is a class player."

I'm a bit confused as Medvedev is in the Second Quarter, what am I missing here? Maybe it's meant to say Fritz?

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Hugh Clarke's avatar

Good catch Brad. Should say Fritz

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CourtVision's avatar

love your predictions ! i got couple of matches and players i want to have an eye on this tournement ! fonseca draper, alcaraz nole, tsitsipas form, shelton playing on home soil, arthur fils to start his season?...BTW i just HATE this master 1000 format with that much Top players seeded ( fck boring 1st rounds imo) i mean why extend the tournament while every master 1000 7 days format were insanely dense and cool to watch ! (MONEY) (sight)

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Daniel González Arribas's avatar

ADF has definitely been more consistent this year, he might have bagged a title already if Machac hadn't playstation'd the final. He can run on adrenaline to take out a version of Djokovic that is not dialed in.

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