Category Archives: ATP Tour

Weaponised Insincerity

Shanghai Masters, Final (2) Djokovic d. (3) Murray, 5/7 7/6 6/3 ‘Let’s use our cameras to capture this moment!’ The manic and skittishly bilingual trophy presentation is always a highlight of the Shanghai Masters 1000, propelled at break-neck pace by … Continue reading

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Beneath Stylised Blades

Shanghai Masters, Third Round Viewed from the outside, the main court at the Qi Zhong Tennis Centre in Shanghai bears an uncanny resemblance to a sports stadium mimicking a lotus flower. Viewed from within, the floral implications are less overt, … Continue reading

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An Adoring Roar

Tokyo, Final (8) Nishikori d. (6) Raonic, 7/6 3/6 6/0 Kei Nishikori defeated Milos Raonic in the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, thereby becoming the first Japanese man to do so in the tournament’s four decade history. … Continue reading

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The Red And The Blue

Beijing and Tokyo, Quarterfinals Perhaps it’s just me, but I find it helpful that the Japanese and Chinese Opens are colour-coded. This enables those of us with multiple streams open to tell at a glance which city the action is … Continue reading

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A Certain Gallic Aplomb

The tale of the first week of the 2012 Asian Swing – ‘swing’ is still a term I employ only grudgingly – has been that one Frenchman won his seventh ATP title, while another still hasn’t won any from seven … Continue reading

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False Start

This, I will hazard, will be a short post about a week of firsts, and a bad day for Italian men’s tennis. It is rare for me to write anything all the way through from start to finish, but I’m … Continue reading

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The Far Side Of The World

Winston-Salem, Final (3) Isner d. (2) Berdych, 3/6 6/4 7/6 John Isner yesterday spent almost two and a half hours defeating Tomas Berdych in the final at Winston-Salem, eventually saving three match points in the third set tiebreaker. The American … Continue reading

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A Kind Of Partnership

Cincinnati Masters, Final (1) Federer d. (2) Djokovic, 6/0 7/6 Prior to today’s Cincinnati Masters final, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic had played 82 sets in 27 matches, but in none of those sets had either man failed to win … Continue reading

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Words To Live By

Cincinnati Masters, Quarterfinal (1) Federer d. (10) Fish, 6/3 7/6 Roger Federer tonight defeated Mardy Fish in two highly entertaining sets of tennis at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, lest you retain any vestigial doubt as to the sport at … Continue reading

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Not Unlike Gazpacho

Cincinnati Masters, Days One to Four The big news this week at the Mason (Ohio) Masters was that Brian Baker won his first match on North American hardcourts, from only his fifth attempt. He defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber. According to some … Continue reading

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