Author Archives: Jesse Pentecost
Spring Break
No posts on The Next Point this week. I’d apologise, but I’m having too lovely a time at the beach (beach pictured, lovely time implied). There’s some internet, but not enough to enable the viewing of professional tennis. There were … Continue reading
Filed under Placeholders
The Drums of War
Davis Cup, World Group Playoffs and Semifinals Which maniac’s idea was it to schedule the Davis Cup semifinals for the week after the US Open? Even in the best years the turnaround is cruelly brief, a situation roughly analogous to … Continue reading
Filed under Davis Cup
Indefatigable
US Open, Final (2) Nadal d. (1) Djokovic, 6/2 3/6 6/4 6/1 Rafael Nadal tonight defeated Novak Djokovic to win his second US Open title, continuing a return to the men’s tour that has surely surpassed even the secret hopes … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
Going Medieval
US Open, Semifinals ‘He’s gone medieval!’ The medieval moment came as Stanislas Wawrinka finally caved into mounting pressure, having been broken early in the fourth set of his US Open semifinal against Novak Djokovic. Momentarily lost to frustration, Wawrinka twice … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
All Manner of Absurdity
US Open, Quarterfinals The US Open, an entity which I contend possesses not only impish sentience but an eye for proportion, thoughtfully balanced a pair of men’s quarterfinals that more or less lived down to expectations with two others that … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
Those Lethal Cocktails
US Open, Fourth Round A brief survey of the men’s quarterfinalists for this year’s US Open is revealing. For starters all eight men are Europeans, of whom three, naturally, are Spanish. Unsurprisingly, one of them is Swiss. Three of these … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
Known Knowns
US Open, Third Round There were several certainties heading into tonight’s third round match between Tommy Haas and Mikhail Youzhny, or, to render it in the brain-scrambling terminology made famous by Donald Rumsfeld, a number of known knowns. Firstly, it … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
Imagine That
US Open, Second Round The second round of this year’s US Open is now complete, which, until the very last moment, was about all that usefully could be said about it. There was plenty being said, of course, but little … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
A Return to Sanity
US Open, First Round Two days of the 2013 US Open are now complete, with the usual result that the first round remains incomplete and everyone is already anxious about the weather. To these outcomes I suppose we can add … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams
Luck of the Draw: US Open 2013
The draw for the US Open has been released in the traditional fashion, which is to write the names of every eligible player on little slips of paper, place them all in an antique cannon in the middle of Arthur … Continue reading
Filed under Grand Slams