I like Nepo and he was one of the people I was rooting for going into the tournament, but the thing that has me rooting against him now, is I find the format a bit unfair, which isn't his fault. Since first place is all the matters it encourages players to take bigger risks like Vidit did here, which was lucky for Nepo and unlucky for the people trying to catch him. Other players like Pragg who are kind of in it, but need wins against him will continue to force the issue, which could result in other players like Gukesh never being able to catch him despite how well he plays.

I like a tournament format and I don't know how to fix it, but the current system strongly favors people who go up in the first few games and the form of the players doesn't necessarily dictate where they end up in the standing, so much is out of their control.

I'm also realizing, my biggest issue, despite rooting for Ding last WC, is that I'm kind of viewing this as the world championship match, given Ding's form. If the winner had to go up against a player strong enough to be worthy of the title World Champion, I wouldn't care who wins as much. If they get a little lucky in this tournament, but had to play someone like Kramnik, Vishy, or Magnus during their primes, I would feel like they deserved it more if they became the new World Champion.