Author Archives: Jesse Pentecost

The Days Of Our Youth

I must confess I was late in learning to appreciate Juan Carlos Ferrero. I probably only really came to admire him in his career’s long twilight, as a potent combination of injury, illness and a changing game lent the sun-washed … Continue reading

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The Same New Balls

Now that Bernard Tomic has attained twenty years of age – a milestone that was as restrained in its celebration as it was devoid of homoeroticism – there are once again no teenagers ranked within the ATP’s top one hundred, … Continue reading

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Filed under ATP Tour, Players

There Has Been Only One

Last year there were ten players (all men) who claimed their maiden titles on the ATP Tour, although history remains coy about what indignities they visited upon them after that. This year, in an outcome doubtless endorsed by immortal Scotsmen … Continue reading

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The Trimmings of Objectivity

It didn’t take long for my innocent intention to write about the best tennis matches of 2012 to be revealed as dewy-eyed naivety. It was supposed to be simple, but rapidly came to feel reductive, if not intrinsically dishonest. The more … Continue reading

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Filed under ATP Tour, Davis Cup, Grand Slams

Masters Retrospective (Part Two)

This is the second part of my look back at this year’s Masters 1000 events. It’s all there in the title. The first part, to which I whimsically appended the term Part One, can be found here. Internazionali BNL d’Italia, … Continue reading

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Masters Retrospective (Part One)

The moment came just after Shanghai. With eight of the season’s allotted nine Masters 1000 events completed, it looked for all the world as though the ATP’s premier tournaments would be claimed  exclusively by the sport’s top four players, an … Continue reading

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How The Life Goes On

It is several weeks shy of one year since I was last in this situation, mind murmuring in torpid contemplation of the tennis season just past. The fifty intervening weeks have wrought change on my life, such that I’m now … Continue reading

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Shredding The Lions

Davis Cup Final, Day Three Ferrer d. Berdych, 6/2 6/3 7/5 Stepanek d. Almagro, 6/4 7/6 3/6 6/3 The Czech Republic has defeated Spain in the one hundredth final of the Davis Cup. Astute historical observers might note that the … Continue reading

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Lessons Learned

Davis Cup Final, Day One Ferrer d. Stepanek, 6/3 6/4 6/4 Berdych d. Almagro, 6/3 3/6 6/3 6/7 6/3 The first day of the 2012 Davis Cup final has been completed, with the Czech Republic and the constitutional monarchy of … Continue reading

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A Modern Kind Of Fairy Tale

World Tour Finals, Final (2) Djokovic d. (1) Federer, 7/6 7/5 Novak Djokovic has ended the frivolous debate over who should be considered the ATP’s Player of the Year by defeating Roger Federer in the final of the World Tour … Continue reading

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