Author Archives: Jesse Pentecost

All the Tension Sluiced Away

Madrid, Final (5) Nadal d. (15) Wawrinka, 6/2 6/4 Rafael Nadal today defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets to reclaim the Madrid Masters title, winning a final whose almost complete lack of drama proved a fitting conclusion to a tournament … Continue reading

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Above a Million Solitudes

Madrid Masters, Third Round (5) Nadal d. Youzhny, 6/2 6/3 Anyone truly concerned that Sky Sports is insufficiently ardent in heaping praise atop Rafael Nadal presumably found solace in last night’s effort. The encomiums began to pile up even as … Continue reading

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The Best Story in the Sport

Munich, Final (3) Haas d. (4) Kohlschreiber, 6/3 7/6 Tommy Haas on Sunday won Munich’s BMW Open, defeating local favourite and defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber in eighty-three minutes, and providing a measure of hope to thirty-somethings everywhere that an ATP … Continue reading

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Laborious Fruit

Munich, Second Round Inspired by a boisterous local crowd and the jauntily tilted BMW presiding over Munich’s Centre Court, Florian Mayer’s recovery from a set down against Marinko Matosevic kicked off a fine day for the German men. Later on Daniel … Continue reading

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The Search for Meaning

Bucharest and Barcelona, Finals Rosol d. Garcia-Lopez, 6/3 6/2 (2) Nadal d. (4) Almagro, 6/4 6/3 Lukas Rosol today won his first tour title within hours of Rafael Nadal claiming his fifty-fourth. It feels like there’s a compelling point to … Continue reading

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Rich With Portent

Monte Carlo Masters, Final (1) Djokovic d. (3) Nadal, 6/2 7/6 The Monte Carlo Masters final was off to an unpromising start when, moments before its protagnists could take to the court, the clouds carried through on an earlier threat … Continue reading

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Deep Down

Monte Carlo, Semifinals (1) Djokovic d. Fognini, 6/2 6/1 It seems magnificently unfair that Fabio Fognini should look the way he does while being a highly-ranked professional tennis player. It’s unfair on the many actors who’ll never look like that, … Continue reading

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A Cautious Soul

Houston, Final Murray / Peers d. (1) Bryan / Bryan, 1/6 7/6 12-10 (5) Isner d. (1) Almagro, 6/3 7/5 ‘Jamie Murray, by far the less heralded of the Murray brothers, helps upset the most heralded brothers in the sport … Continue reading

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Luck of the Draw: Monte Carlo 2013

Depending on your tastes and assuming you care at all, one’s reaction to the near-certainty that Rafael Nadal is about to claim another Monte Carlo Masters title can be placed somewhere on a continuum between deflation and ecstasy. This scale … Continue reading

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A Mite Overstimulated

Davis Cup, Quarterfinals Having narrowly survived the treacherous eddies and rips of its opening two rounds, the 2013 Davis Cup  has finally entered clear water down the home straight. The World Group semifinal line-up can now be made out, gathering detail as … Continue reading

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