Author Archives: Jesse Pentecost

A Torrent of High Comedy

French Open, Day 8 (3) Federer d. (LL) Goffin, 5/7 7/5 6/2 6/4 Roger Federer today defeated David Goffin in four sets, and thereby moved through to his 32nd consecutive quarterfinal at Grand Slam level. This equates to eight years … Continue reading

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De Profundis

French Open, Third Round ‘Pain doesn’t kill me. I kill the pain.’ These are the inspirational words that the generally likeable Svetlana Kuznetsova has inscribed into the flesh of her inner right bicep, thereby proving the adage that if you … Continue reading

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Perfect Cadence

French Open, Day Five Fognini d. (28) Troicki, 6/2 3/6 4/6 6/3 8/6 Fabio Fognini saved two match points while defeating Viktor Troicki today – 8/6 in the fifth set – and it is reasonable to suppose he played the … Continue reading

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Spread Too Thin

French Open, Day Three This year, more than ever, the policy of sustaining the French Open’s opening round over three days seems to have had the deleterious effect of spreading the excitement too thinly, guaranteeing that the genuinely great moments … Continue reading

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Minor Records and Major Drama

French Open, Day Two Kukushkin d. Gulbis, 6/4 7/6 5/7 2/6 6/4 For the first two and half sets of his match against Mikhail Kukushkin in the Roland Garros first round, Ernests Gulbis played like a man killing time, and … Continue reading

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Castles Built on Air

French Open, Day One (5) Tsonga d. (Q) Kuznetsov, 1/6 6/3 6/2 6/4 As the French Open’s laborious preparations ground wearily on – adapting Lardner’s famous stage direction, the curtain was raised for seven days to denote the lapse of … Continue reading

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Peaking at the Right Time

Nice, Final (3) Almagro d. (Q) Baker, 6/3 6/2 Nicolas Almagro today defeated Brian Baker in the final of the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur, thereby defending his title, and ruining the best feel-good story the sport has known in … Continue reading

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Luck of the Draw: Roland Garros 2012

‘Halle named a street after Federer; Roland Garros just inaugurated a highway after Nadal.’ This cogent line was uttered by Italian journalist Enrico Maria Riva upon surveying the French Open men’s singles draw, which was earlier harvested at a special … Continue reading

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Distance to Target: Zero

I’ll have something up on the Roland Garros draw after it comes out (debutante-stlye). Meanwhile, this is just a quick reminder for anyone who is interested to please subscribe to the Point Blank Tennis newsletter. It offers a weekly round-up … Continue reading

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Of Curses and Inspiration

Nice, Second Round It is apparently the best kept secret in professional men’s tennis that the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur is cursed. This is the only reasonable explanation for why otherwise astute professional men’s tennis players keep turning up, … Continue reading

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