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The Rules
This is roughly how the game works:
- Pick one player for every match.
- If your player wins, you earn 2 points.
- You may pick the same player at most 3 times.
- You have 2 jokers to double your points for a match:
- 1 joker up to and including round 3
- 1 joker from round 4 onwards
- In the semi-finals your points are automatically doubled:
- Win = 4 points
- With joker = 8 points
- In the final your points are automatically tripled:
- Win = 6 points
- With joker = 12 points
For the full rules: click here
An example
In Match 1 Bruce picks Carlos Alcaraz. Carlos Alcaraz plays Tallon Griekspoor in that round and wins 3 sets to 1. Bruce gets 2 points for the win of Carlos Alcaraz, 3 sets for and 1 set against.
In Match 1 Sheila picks Tallon Griekspoor. So Tallon Griekspoor plays Carlos Alcaraz and loses 1 set to 3. Sheila gets 0 points for the loss of Tallon Griekspoor. The standings now look like this:
| Name | Pts | Sets for | Sets against | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce | 2 | 3 | 1 | +2 |
| Sheila | 0 | 1 | 3 | -2 |
In Match 2 Bruce picks Casper Ruud. Casper Ruud plays Jannik Sinner in that match and loses 0 sets to 3. Bruce gets 0 points for the loss of Casper Ruud, 0 sets for and 3 sets against.
In Match 2 Sheila also picks Casper Ruud. So she also gets 0 points, 0 sets for and 3 sets against. The standings now look like this:
| Name | Pts | Sets for | Sets against | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce | 2 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| Sheila | 0 | 1 | 6 | -5 |
Suppose Bruce had used a joker in Match 2. Then his result in Match 2 would have been doubled: 0 points, 0 sets for and 6 sets against.
A good tactic
We don't know what a good tactic is. It comes down to knowledge, skill, insight and pure luck.
There are 127 matches and 128 players. You may pick each player at most 3 times. Watch out: it can all be over after 1 round, because a loss means the end of the tournament (for that player, of course).
For using your jokers, too, we don't know what the best tactic is. It does seem wise to play a joker on a match where you are fairly sure your chosen player will win.
But in the end, things never go quite the way you planned.
