June 26th, 2009 Picks

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(skip to picks)3-1-0 today thanks to Venus Williams and the NBA Draft. Vijay Singh's very solid, but not good enough, 4-under 66 was two strokes off the mark to win the prop on Streak for the Cash. Better luck next time Vijay and on to the picks.

Recaps

Venus Williams Starts Slow Finishes Strong

V. Williams def. K. Bondarenko 6-3 6-2

Venus Williams is a five-time champion at Wimbledon. Let's hope she can finish strong on the tournament as a whole.

``As so many find against Williams, Bondarenko was on the defensive from the outset, saving break point in the first game of the match. But it was not long before Venus made the breakthrough. The five-time Wimbledon champion sent a backhand down the line to bring up two break points for 3-2, and Bondarenko sent a forehand way long for Venus to convert the second. Then at 3-5, a massive return from a weak second serve gave Venus set point. Another huge return wrapped up the set. [Bondarenko] saved break point for 2-4 with a most wonderful dropshot at the end of a 19-stroke rally, only for successive errors to hand over the tamest of breaks. Venus underlined her superiority with the fastest serve of the day, and within 10 minutes she took the victory with her first match point."

Read more....Match StatsWilliams Interview (post-match)

At 5 Under Lucas Glover Remains Four Strokes Off The Lead

L. Glover -5 (65), V. Singh -4 (66)

Vijay Singh and Lucas Glover were neck and neck throughout the first round. Both players killed the back nine with runs of three birdies in a row. Singh had an early lead of one stroke through five holes but he and Glover remained even after nine as the two players alternated birdies on #7, #8, and #9 with Glover carding the extra. Singh made his run of birdies on 11 through 13 to regain a one stroke lead but Glover's run came right after that and they were back to all square through 15. Singh bogeyed to finish out the round one stroke behind the U.S. Open Champion.
Singh's ScorecardGlover's ScorecardPhotosGlover Post-Round InterviewRound 1 Wrap-Up

Griffin, Thabeet, Harden Round Out The Top Three In This Year's NBA Draft

Hasheem Thabeet went second to the Memphis Grizzlies, then Jordan Hill and DeMar DeRozan went #8 and #9 to New York and Toronto to give the PAC-10 two picks in the 6-10 range. (Aside: New York fans are idiots if they're going to boo Jordan Hill because he's not Steph Curry. Sit back and enjoy watching Reggie Miller zero calorie lite and be glad you did not draft him.) Hansbrough went early, before Lawson, at #13 to the Indiana Pacers. They've got a truly Larry Bird-esque lineup now, except without as much skill and aside from Hansbrough a lot less trash talking. A bunch of teams called dibs on foreign born players not ready to play in the NBA yet with the 20-25 picks, and the Big East, especially Pittsburgh had to wait until the second round to be selected.
Simmons Draft DiaryFord's Draft GradesGoogle Draft Day News Glom

Picks
1) Zach Johnson vs. Boo Weekley - Weekley cards a lower front 9 score
2) Tommy Haas vs. Marin Cilic - Haas
3) Anthony Kim vs. Sergio Garcia - Garcia cards a lower second round score
4) Chicago Cubs @ Chicago White Sox - Cubs
5) Kansas City Royals @ Pittsburgh Pirates - Pittsburgh
6) Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays - Philadelphia
7) Indiana Fever @ New York Liberty - New York
8) San Francisco Giants @ Milwaukee Brewers - Milwaukee
9) Minnesota Twins @ St. Louis Cardinals - Minnesota
10) Colorado Rockies @ Oakland Athletics - Colorado
11) Daniel Jacobs vs. George Walton - 8 rounds or fewer

Previews

Marin Cilic (right) had to battle past smash server Sam Querrey in five sets while Haas (left) simply had to wait for Michael Llodra to crash into something.

2) 31 year old Tommy Haas will meet young up and comer Marin Cilic in the third round of Wimbledon this afternoon. The two have had very different routes into the third round so far. Haas had some trouble with a strong serving Alexander Peya (ATP 52 week rank #197) losing the first set tie break before taking the tie break in the second set 7-0 and winning the next two sets comfortably. Haas' second round match was cut short when his opponent, Michael Llodra, collided with a ball boy, the umpire's chair, or both, and was forced to retire in the first set. Cilic won his first round match against Alberto Martin handily in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-4 before being taken to the limit by #47 Sam Querrey.

Cilic may have been worked harder so far this tournament, but it is still early going and I would not expect any player who has made it this far to be significantly drained from even a pair of five set 3 hour marathons. Of the two Tommy Haas has played much better recently, and on grass courts especially. Looking at their playing activity this year one can see Haas has defeated the likes of Jo Wilfried Tsonga and Novak Djokovic while taking Roger Federer to five sets all in the past two weeks. Based on that it would seem smart to take Haas, but I can see the big serve of Cilic giving him trouble, just like Peya's did in the first round. I also think he will be less prepared for the match having played only 7 games in the second round. This is very close and I think it will come down to whether Cilic can play fundamentally sound enough to play a good return game. I think Haas will break Cilic's serve more than once and Cilic will need to do the same to win this match. Of course, if you want some reassurance in picking Cilic keep in mind that Haas lost for the first time this year to another 6'6" player with a big serve, Sam Querrey, and is only 1-4 against 6'10" Ivo Karlovic.