Dextennis 
Forum 2023 grass court season
Singles round of 641 Year Ago Singles round of 64 (1) Camille Fletcher 6 6 (Q) Kendall Salinas 1 4 Jaquan Knight 6 4 6 Branson McClain 4 6 4 (16) Noah Booker 6 7 Marley Floyd 3 6 Sabrina Craig 6 6 Laura Fields 3 3 (8) Ulysses Bliss 6 6 (Q) Jennifer Kirby 4 1 Nicholas Blevins 3 6 6 Enrique Solomon 6 2 3 (9) Michelle Keller 6 6 6 (WC) Serenity Petersen 7 4 4 Grayson Banks 3 0 Nick O'Wiggins 6 6 (4) Laila Love 6 6 6 (Q) Estella Y. Kirby 4 7 3 Isaías Fuentes 6 6 6 Caiden Molina 7 2 8 (13) Gisselle Orr 6 7 Casey Frey-Danica 4 5 Curtis West IV 6 6 Jeanine Burgess 3 4 (5) Abram Benson 6 6 (Q) Aurelia Williamson 0 3 Ross Cisneros 4 7 6 Sheryl Moses 6 5 3 (12) Gracelyn Matthews 3 6 6 Emily Gallegos 6 2 0 Alyssa Dillon 6 3 Lane Bird 7 6 (2) Julian Hull 6 6 (Q) Angelo Short 3 4 Fidela Kirkpatrick 3 4 Genaro McCoy Jr. 6 6 (15) Alexis Keith 6 6 Tracie Franco 4 3 Keira Gay 1 6 7 Jabari Cervantes 6 4 9 (7) DeMarcus Shannon Jr. 6 6 (Q) Ian Villegas 0 3 Luis Bond 5 2 Connor Rivas 7 6 (10) DeAngelo Barr 3 2 (WC) Macie Goodwin III 6 6 A.J. Sánchez 2 2 Derek Rich VIII 6 6 (3) Wendy Yates 7 6 (Q) Anika Pugh 6 2 Jo Hughes 7 7 Ashlyn Mills-Myrto 5 6 (14) Francesca Burns 5 5 Viola Frederick 7 7 Dwayne North 6 5 1 Maverick Casey 3 7 6 (6) Esmeralda Serrano 6 6 (Q) Alonzo Hurley 1 4 Aarav Cisneros 6 4 6 Alanna Jesenia Ochoa 1 6 8 (11) Kyle Norris 6 7 Anthony Hoffman 1 6 Lainey Porter 3 3 Demetrius Barron 6 6 |
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Event XXV Round III1 Year Ago18 August 2023  Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Captain's loglines Air
conditioning will be ablaze across Center Helm through this next
sweltering day in athletics history, with forecasts calling for a high
of 32° C and 64% relative humidity. But the Weather Bureau is also
tracking even more potentially inclement weather brewing in unseasonably
warm ocean, as the peak of hurricane season forms. Through the initial inlet of Dexterra's first Division II national tennis tournament, scores of racquet-swilling swashbeaglers have dared tread The Brightsands Boardwalk singles main draw launched in a thunderous round of 64, with doubles main draw mates now in tow amidst the impending round of 32. Past, present and hopefully future, there are far too many spectacular clashes and high-stakes staredowns for sports media to properly track, but fans and experts alike are on the sandy edge of their Boardwalk benches in beholding this 2023 grass season sequel. While Dextennis and volumes of other media outlets are working overtime to provide extensive coverage of this action-packed event, the Writer's Assembly recently issued a challenge to all those penning their best Brightsands bookends: can you convey the most important Boardwalk points in a logline? A logline is a short summary - typically one sentence - of the plot or conflict of a story, usually screenplays or novels. It can be used to engage readers, define central elements and form a project pitch, among other things. With our crew believing that brevity is indeed the soul of wit, Dextennis elected to inspire our best attempt at the briefest, most succinct analysis possible of The Brightsands Boardwalk, though there is much to weather in these latest changes of tennis climate: • The Boardwalk singles round of 64 proved bright and sunny for those aloft the high seeds, but downright disastrous for luxury qualifier cruises: 14 out of 16 seeded entrants survived the opening round, while qualifiers imploded to an abysmal 0-8 in which they collectively won only one set. • The round of 64's singles main draw dive may also prove a valuable control for the round of 32's doubles main draw experiment; eight seeded doubles teams will sink or swim in choppy Boardwalk waters infested with unseeded sharks, four qualifier surges and the wildcard resurfacing of international delegates Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. - perhaps the greenest of all grass specialist whales. • Through the Boardwalk opener, the queen of the singles pack appeared to reassert her reign over the rankings, though out of clay bounds on grass territory: 1-seed Camille Fletcher followed up her surprise Jungle championship with a 6-1, 6-4 banishment of qualifier Kendall Salinas, next embattling a potential round of 32 overthrow by Jaquan Knight - who defied 1st Independex semifinalist Branson McClain in the throes of his career comeback. • To sunlight their initial Boardwalk prowl, the queens of the doubles herd hope to shore up their newly sole grip upon the top spot: 1-seeds Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead are hunting for any challenge to their rankings dominion as well as traces that their recent Jungle championship was a fluke - like an immediate Boardwalk round of 32 washout by qualifying newborns Izzy Reid/Klem Žitnik, blasting out of their career debut into this mother of all main draw match-ups. • Seemingly maintaining optimum speed to kick his into a new career gear, national singles number 2 and Boardwalk 2-seed Julian Hull accelerated to a 6-3, 6-4 torpedoing of qualifier Angelo Short in the round of 64; sights clearly set on outdoing his Jungle quarterfinal trip, Hull must now meet or exceed his initial Boardwalk cannonball in the round of 32 versus Genaro McCoy Jr., who mercilessly denied former 2nd Independex wildcard Fidela Kirkpatrick what could have been her first career win. • Themselves expressing to interviewers their drive to improve upon a Jungle semifinals run in which the top ranking slipped away, national doubles numbers 2 and Boardwalk 2-seeds Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth are also eager to unleash a chain of events that would anchor them in front again - if, however, they can successfully escape the qualifying jaws of Noah Knox/Dustin Stone, feasting on opposing prey with sharpened carpet specialist utensils. • After her own claim to the lead singles ranking was shockingly uprooted in the Jungle round of 32 opener - raising doubts as to whether the clay specialist could stay afloat on grass - the Boardwalk round of 64 opener heralded a possible change of fortune for 3-seed Wendy Yates, as she swung back with a 7-6, 6-2 draining of qualifier Anika Pugh, saving two set points; now the round of 32 question is whether Yates can also row through unseeded Jo Hughes, the all-court heir to a semiprofessional doubles dynasty. • Excited to net their first national tournament seeding in the wake of climbing to national doubles numbers 3, Brightsands could either be a fresh start or a rude awakening for 3-seeds Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson, following their statement run to the Jungle doubles final narrowly dismantled though leading by a set and a break - so they'll need to right the ship in the round of 32 versus qualifying powerhouse Kendall Farrell/Cameron Sean, recharging their careers with their own comeback bang. • Herself knowing what it's like to try and rebound from a crumble in the Jungle finals, the resumption of singles quarrels in the Boardwalk round of 64 was for 4-seed Laila Love nearly rife with further heartbreak: wringing a 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 breakdown of qualifying wheelchair fighter Estella Y. Kirby, she must now regroup for an even fiercer round of 32 pairing versus Caiden Molina, who serenaded an all-time classic triumph over Isaías Fuentes featuring a 16 point tiebreak and an 8-6 final set photo finish. • Also feeling proud yet hungry to take their careers to the greatest levels, doubles 4-seeds Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez are no longer enjoying the comforts of home, as Costa Esmeralda native Jiménez did during their parade to the Jungle semifinals; awash now on a Brightsands road trip, the national doubles numbers 4 must keep their hometown dreams alive even through the brightest round of 32 sunlight radiating from qualifiers Conor Conner/Cveta Wieczorek, who thus far have dawned their careers with more than enough to send any opponent packing. • As for the city of Brightsands' own hometown heroes, only two are fortunate to dive headlong into the Boardwalk round of 32: singles 6-seed Esmeralda Serrano sprouted a 6-1, 6-4 burial of qualifier Alonzo Hurley in the round of 64, leaving her as the city's last hometown singles entrant standing after Laura Fields was chopped down 3-6, 3-6 by Sabrina Craig and 14-seed Francesca Burns was set alight 5-7, 5-7 by Viola Frederick; the city has one doubles entrant in unseeded Bruno McKnight, and with partner Yaritza García, the two will look to send home Avery Bentley/Jeffrey Ramos from the round of 32. • 6-seed Serrano is also featured in the 2023 grass season's first singles rematch: the Brightsands grass specialist's run to the Jungle quarterfinals began with a wild dispatch of Costa Esmeralda native Alanna Jesenia Ochoa, who since bubbled back through the Boardwalk round of 64 with a trailblazing 1-6, 6-4, 8-6 outgrowing of Aarav Cisneros - so with Serrano and Ochoa to now clash again in the round of 32, will history repeat itself, or might the jungle flourish its spiciest revenge? • Other grass specialists are evidently faring well in the Boardwalk, with 6-seed Serrano, Jabari Cervantes, Macie Goodwin III and Curtis West IV all advancing into the round of 32, although Fields and Serenity Petersen did happen to stumble upon early pitfalls; in doubles, meanwhile, 6-seeds Jonathan Powell Jr./Lyndon Lowery, unseeded Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon and 2nd Independex finalists Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. are all joining their singles counterparts in this grassroots quest at Boardwalk brightness. • The battle of the numerals: a primetime Boardwalk singles round of 32 highlight is wildcard internationalist Macie Goodwin III taking on unseeded wheelchair wizard Derek Rich VIII in a collision between storied families, antithetical athletes and infinite outcomes - the mighty Goodwin III must wield his most masterful grass prowess to unseat the elite Rich VIII ascendancy oiled from his first main draw win by any national wheelchair athlete. • As for clay specialists treading grass waters, only 1-seed Fletcher, 3-seed Yates and unseeded Ross Cisneros - who emerged victorious from an all-clay standoff versus Sheryl Moses - remained buoyant through the Boardwalk round of 64; across the doubles pond in this next round of 32, they will be joined by 8-seeds Ayden Fuller/Juliana Méndez, former numbers 1 Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha and unseeded Kali Pittman/Emilee Archer. • Though dogged by doubts that such a young pup could not handle his first-ever tournament seeding, singles 8-seed Ulysses Bliss is currently silencing all his round of 64 critics with a 6-4, 6-1 schooling of qualifier Jennifer Kirby, days before starting his freshman year as a Beagalia Beagle majoring in Athletics; the former high school star still has far to go in acing his Jungle semifinal score, as his next test in the Boardwalk round of 32 groups him with the astute Nicholas Blevins on the heels of an all-star comeback. • In a primetime round of 64 duel quickly considered an all-time classic by fans and experts, singles 9-seed Michelle Keller heard nothing but the call of tennis duty as she wrestled a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 pièce de résistance over wildcard grass globalist Serenity Petersen, chasing off break points and set points with mystical grace; after she was stunned in the Jungle opener, can the nation's only Deaf tennis star keep her momentum going in the Boardwalk round of 32 versus former Jungle qualifier Nick O'Wiggins, himself erupting with some of the tournament's most volcanic shots? • After Petersen's downfall in singles, there is but one athlete left contending both singles and doubles in the round of 32 - and interestingly enough, he himself will soon meet Petersen in doubles: Demetrius Barron barged into singles with a 6-3, 6-3 blockade of Lainey Porter, and as he now prepares to shred 11-seed Kyle Norris, he will also wield the doubles 5-seed with Penelope Vincent; together, the two Jungle quarterfinalists will encircle behemoth wildcards Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr., likely two of the tour's most revered and daunting challengers. • The Boardwalk round of 64 witnessed the beginning of a potential career turnaround for unseeded Lane Bird, who soared through a 7-6, 6-3 pecking of Alyssa Dillon, their first career win since suddenly grounded as the 8-seed in the 2nd Independex - but Bird is still far from comfortably taking off, with 12-seed Gracelyn Matthews soon to swoop down a decisive round of 32 overshadowing. • With ocean waters recording unusually high temperatures this summer, the Weather Bureau are closely studying climate conditions as hurricane season peaks from August through October, during which time warm water can be rocket fuel for hurricanes - there is currently one low pressure weather disturbance to the west of Tristerra, which has a reportedly low chance of developing into a tropical depression, storm or cyclone; altogether, the Nature Council has recently upgraded its seasonal hurricane warning level to III out of V, representing an above normal threat of hurricane activity that would affect Dexterra. As was true for all of The Brightsands Boardwalk rounds that have already crested the beachside pourts in Center Helm, there are much too many significant shakedowns, noteworthy athletes and evolving careers for any Dexter media outlet - let alone Dextennis - to properly do journalistic justice, but through the round of 32, the tennis will speak for its historic self as the singles and doubles main draws interlock to steer towards a sweet sixteen sundown looming on the brown-and-blue horizon. Live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Round of 321 Year AgoSingles round of 32 (1) Camille Fletcher 6 6 Jaquan Knight 2 3 (16) Noah Booker 3 3 Sabrina Craig 6 6 (8) Ulysses Bliss 7 6 Nicholas Blevins 6 3 (9) Michelle Keller 6 6 Nick O'Wiggins 3 3 (4) Laila Love 2 7 7 Caiden Molina 6 6 9 (13) Gisselle Orr 1 3 Curtis West IV 6 6 (5) Abram Benson 5 6 7 Ross Cisneros 7 4 5 (12) Gracelyn Matthews 2 2 Lane Bird 6 6 (2) Julian Hull 6 6 6 Genaro McCoy Jr. 7 4 2 (15) Alexis Keith 2 4 Jabari Cervantes 6 6 (7) DeMarcus Shannon Jr. 6 3 Connor Rivas 7 6 (WC) Macie Goodwin III 1 7 3 Derek Rich VIII 6 6 6 (3) Wendy Yates 6 4 6 Jo Hughes 4 6 4 Viola Frederick 6 7 Maverick Casey 1 5 (6) Esmeralda Serrano 6 7 Alanna Jesenia Ochoa 3 6 (11) Kyle Norris 7 7 Demetrius Barron 5 6 Doubles round of 32 (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead 6 6 (Q) Izzy Reid/Klem Žitnik 4 3 Chance Ellis/Broderick Pratt 6 6 Jason Franklin/Emmanuel Grant IV 3 3 (8) Ayden Fuller/Juliana Méndez 0 4 Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon 6 6 Lillian Burch/Miles Wilson Blanchard 4 6 6 Kali Pittman/Emilee Archer 6 2 4 (4) Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez 6 6 (Q) Conor Conner/Cveta Wieczorek 2 3 Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig 7 6 Billy Holloway/Tiara Goodwin-Githa 6 4 (5) Demetrius Barron/Penelope Vincent 3 1 (WC) Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. 6 6 Calvin Rush/Colt Patel 3 6 0 Olivia May/Ædan Morris 6 1 6 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth 7 2 8 (Q) Noah Knox/Dustin Stone 6 6 6 Avery Bentley/Jeffrey Ramos 6 7 Bruno McKnight/Yaritza García 2 6 (7) Albert Q. Davis/Jazlene Chang 7 7 Luke Carney/Eugenia Malone 6 5 Delaney Snyder/Sheldon Camacho 3 6 2 Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha 6 2 6 (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson 6 7 (Q) Kendall Farrell/Cameron Sean 4 6 Kerry Hammond/Harrison Baldwin 7 6 Bridger Holder/Yasmin Giles 6 1 (6) Jonathan Powell Jr./Lyndon Lowery 3 6 4 Allison Carr/Jamari Carr 6 3 6 May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton 6 6 Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya 2 3 |
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Event XXV Round IV1 Year Ago20 August 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Spotlight greenlight Taking center stage: an original short story by the national singles number 2 Editor's note: while Dextennis writers
have worked tirelessly to provide extensive coverage of The Brightsands
Boardwalk, we are pleased to present an original work of fiction by
2-seed Julian Hull, which ties into the recent round of 32 and upcoming
round of 16. Off court, Hull is a science fiction author whose latest
novella On Sail recently entered the New Croatan Times bestseller list. Eight Minutes by Julian Hull All the generators are charged. Flashlights have fresh batteries. Plenty of blankets to go around, though that might not stop the electricity bill from blowing up. I scan the house while daylight still beams through. Only thing I need to do is start the car. "Dad! Dad, did you hear? It just happened! They say it just happened!" my son barrels out of the living room, phone screen ablaze. I turn the news away. "Yeah, I know, I got the alert. Let's go, we ain't got much time," I respond as I hurry us both out of the house. The sky radiates the deepest, most foreboding shade of turquoise we’ll never see again. "So what, no tennis today? What about our tickets?" he hollers at me as we zip towards the driveway, rising panic quivering his voice. "Is this it… for, like, everything?" We pause as we open the car doors. "We read the same thing, right?" I try to assuage him. "They said that when the Sun turns into a black hole, we’ll only have eight minutes of sunlight left. We’ll live, but you can do the math - Center Helm is fifteen minutes away! We’ll go later, maybe. Just get in and we’ll talk about it." It takes light eight minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. So suppose you know, after much anticipation, that the great ball of light in the sky finally just went poof. That means you would only have eight minutes worth of sunlight left - before permanent nighttime. What would you do with those last eight minutes of sun? I know what I’d do. I’d see the beach one last time. I’d bask in the heat and revel in shimmering waves until night falls forever. But my son doesn’t get in the car. He stares off into the neighborhood, a lump forming in his throat. "Where else are we gonna go?" With every iota of truthfulness I can radiate, I promise, "We’re going to see Mom." Thinking of anything else that might convince him. He looks back at me, seemingly with approval, yet with panic still burning. He nods. "Alright, fine," he mutters, climbing into the passenger seat. "Eight minutes." The neighborhood roads are disturbingly barren. Nobody is home. Where had they gone? The Sun store? I turn on the radio, expecting to hear the same astrophysicists as always regurgitating all the bad news for terrestrial life, climate conditions and renewable energy in the coming eternity without sunlight. Instead, I just feel bad for the only other person in the car. "In shocking national sports news, Boardwalk singles 4-seed Laila Love has gone down swinging in the round of 32 after a heartbroken run to the Jungle final. Now falling 2-6, 7-6, 7-9 to Caiden Molina in an instant classic, Love’s confidence may have been quaked by the Jungle -" I switch to a classic rock station playing songs from when I was in college. "Huh, we could have seen that guy take on that grass specialist, uh… Jabari something?" I try to stave off the awkwardness, pulling up to an all-time traffic jam on the National Highway. "No, that’s Cervantes, the grassie taking on Julian Hull. I think you’re thinking of, uh, Curtis someone. Yeah, Curtis West IV," junior corrects me, staring off at the endless line of cars gridlocked on the road. "Oh. And Serrano, our homecoming queen, she’s still in it?" The city limits are at the end of the block. People up and down are getting out of their cars. Tailgating. Setting up tables and tents and wearing these stupid little sunglasses they spent five bucks on just to wear once and throw out. Now I’m feeling crazed too. "Yeah," junior answers. "She just beat Ochoa again. Kinda like how Camille Fletcher is playing Sabrina Craig again, but I dunno if it’ll go the same as in the Jungle though. Our other hometowner, McKnight, just lost in doubles to that ex-astronaut Avery Bentley and, what's his face, Jeff Ramos, I think." My eyes, ears, nose and all my senses are transfixed on the clock. Six minutes of sunlight left. And the car has come to a complete standstill. Much like my attention to anything else. "I’d really like to see Ulysses Bliss take on Michelle Keller, the 8-seed versus the 9th sounds like a sweet round of 16 match-up. I wish we could at least see Petersen and Green Jr., or the Waukesha sisters. That super fast wheelchair guy Rich VIII, I can’t believe he took down MG3 in the round of 32." I manage my best ‘uh-huh’s and ‘yeah’s as small talk allows. The car still doesn’t move half a centimeter. "You know I, uh, I’m really sorry if we don’t go. We can still try but, uh, well… I don’t know if they’re still doing a tennis tourney with, you know, the Sun imploding. Although, I don’t see why not, stadiums have lights..." The driver in front of us gets out and starts converting his ride into a campsite. Tarp stretched out from the roof with poles planted on the median strip, lawn chair, coolers and everything. I look at junior, maintaining the same expression of disbelief. "We gotta get out of here if we want to see Mom," I break even worse news. As I turn off the engine and hightail it out of the driver’s seat, he glances around the back, seatbelt still buckled. "What about the car?" he bellows. "Leave it, probably’ll still be here when we come back,” I beg him, standing firm on the median strip, ready to close and lock the door. "Five minutes left of sun. We can make it. But we got to go now." He offers his best recalcitrant teenage groan, begrudgingly stepping out and slamming the door. "We could’ve seen Dunn and Whitehead," he grumbles, falling in line behind me as we march over to the sidewalk. "If we don’t at least see Strong and Booth at some point, I really hope we get to see Mom today." I pat him on the back reassuringly, trying to do my best fatherly thing, whatever that is. "We will, even if it’s the last thing I do. Think I can hear her already, in fact." In the midst of our final blast of scorching summer winds, I do - in fact - hear ocean waves crashing down like the world around us. We’re close, yet much too far. At that moment, the sky blackens. We freeze. Immediately look up. The last sun-kissed swirl of tangerine cloud floats away. We check on each other and move on, in our last reprieve of afternoon sun. "I don’t get it," junior retorts, "so the Sun already collapsed into a black hole, but it's still shining here because it takes light that long to get to Earth?" "Indeed. Which sucks for people on the other side of the world, where it’s already night. They probably have eight minutes left of moonlight," I reassure him. "But I guess what they say about all good things is universally true." He kicks rocks under his feet like a petulant child. "Dumb Sun couldn’t wait one day before dying so we could sit on Center Pourt. You know the Carr siblings won their career start? Bet they wish there was still a Sun." Mine is the first chuckle I’ve heard in months. "Bet they all do. Especially, who is it, Trevino and Stevenson? The Jungle doubles finalists trying to make a comeback? Or all the qualifiers that went 0-12 or something crazy like that." Only a nod back, beneath his final beads of summer sweat. I inspect my watch. Three minutes left. We’ve spent most of our last few minutes of sunlight stuck in traffic. How would that feel? To witness the collapse of all earthly light and energy while sitting bumper-to-bumper? The line of every single car anybody has ever owned, driven or manufactured in the entire history of the city just sits there on the National Highway, the world's most stubborn parking lot rusting in the rear view mirror of our footsteps. But even through the steepest, most celestial fall to rumble the planet, hope still springs eternal. The pavement under tread finally turns sandy, with concrete slabs giving way to wooden planks. Hydrodynamic echoes of splashing waves beckon louder and louder as winds pick up and the squawk of seagulls point the way. A faint waft of ocean breeze lingers with increasing allure. Then - as our destination makes its greeting official - everything clicks in my son’s weary and exasperated eyes. "Woah," he realizes, "it’s the exact spot we spread Mom’s ashes..." She waves hello as sea foam crashes onto the shore, scurrying up to where high tide left its mark, cooling our shoeless feet as we slowly sink down. An endless expanse of coral white sand glistens all around, as though diamonds finely grounded enough to reflect back all the sunlight that ever existed. The last time we were here, we turned to face the wispy dunes with one hand on her urn, as we let the love of our life gently drift into a gray mist joining the aquamarine horizon behind us. All the light in our world went out with hers. I mean, they can tell the Sun’s turning into a black hole but they can’t find a cure for cancer? Eight minutes was how long it took her to pass when we unplugged life support. "She must've led us here," I stumble out my own bewilderment, junior and I embracing like it’s anybody's last hug ever. "She wants to watch the Sun blow up with us. Again." With one minute left, we hang on. Letting the waves crash down around us. The wind whip in every direction. Birds caw and swoop down next to jagged seashells. What beauty the world still has left washes over us, down to its very last sunset. Dextennis hopes you've enjoyed this latest tale of tennis adventure. Stay tuned for more national sports action as Hull and other stars return to the courts for the first-ever Division II sweet sixteen. Live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Round of 161 Year AgoSingles round of 16 (1) Camille Fletcher 4 6 6 Sabrina Craig 6 1 4 (8) Ulysses Bliss 6 6 (9) Michelle Keller 2 4 Caiden Molina 4 3 Curtis West IV 6 6 (5) Abram Benson 6 6 Lane Bird 3 3 (2) Julian Hull 6 6 Jabari Cervantes 4 4 Connor Rivas 7 1 5 Derek Rich VIII 5 6 7 (3) Wendy Yates 4 6 3 Viola Frederick 6 4 6 (6) Esmeralda Serrano 6 6 (11) Kyle Norris 3 3 Doubles round of 16 (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead 7 6 Chance Ellis/Broderick Pratt 6 3 Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon 6 2 6 Lillian Burch/Miles Wilson Blanchard 4 6 1 (4) Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez 4 4 Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig 6 6 (WC) Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. 6 3 4 Olivia May/Ædan Morris 2 6 6 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth 4 6 6 Avery Bentley/Jeffrey Ramos 6 2 1 (7) Albert Q. Davis/Jazlene Chang 7 3 5 Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha 6 6 7 (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson 5 7 6 Kerry Hammond/Harrison Baldwin 7 6 0 Allison Carr/Jamari Carr 4 3 May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton 6 6 |
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Event XXV Round V1 Year Ago22 August 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Magic 8-ballers Who will shake their place in tennis history as past, present and future all storm into an unpredictable quarterfinals? Dexter tennis fans: be sure to get your tickets to Center Helm as our first-ever Division II tournament enters its final stages. Surfing through a tsunami round of 16 featuring titanic upsets and steely torpedoings, The Brightsands Boardwalk has washed ashore its second and final week of play which next dives into a whirlpool quarterfinals. For much of our national Beagle fleet, here awaits their most perilous plunge into their most treacherous tennis depths, though they can rest assured they have done themselves and our nation proud by simply wading into these deepest reaches of athletic challenge. As they go up to their necks in shark-infested racquets though, which of these scuba-thrivers will further immerse themselves in championship admirableness, and who may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? "So far, I personally believe that the English Coast have gathered a formidable tennis successor to that of the Spanish Coast, although I do hear that Bay Dexter might have things in motion to put a cherry on top of our grass season," opined Rebecca Margareta, national Caretaker of the Tennis Assembly, in an interview with Good Morning Dexterra specially hosted in Brightsands. "But, you know, there's still three matches left to play in both singles and doubles, so we'll see how things stand when all is said and done." From a watershed sweet sixteen now to a groundswell of the current elite eight, a litany of thrilling rematches and high-stakes clashes at The Brightsands Boardwalk have reached upwards of forty percent of the Dexterra population, according to ticket sales and television/streaming viewership data released by the Ratings Bureau. Officials estimate that that percentage may soon climb to as much as half or even two-thirds of the population, benchmarks set by the 1st and 2nd Independex Championships as well as The Swing of the Jungle. Of course, though the Tennis Assembly would like one hundred percent of all Dexters to join in this athletic beach trip, what matters more is the quality of the matches and the tournament as a whole. In the case of the Boardwalk, there are indeed a number of exciting showdowns all through its most recent bearings keeping afloat this penultimate 2023 grass event. Attempting our best efforts to foretell a murky Boardwalk elite eight, Dextennis consulted with an oracle to read the tennis tea leaves regarding four primetime duels: a magic 8-ball. (1) Camille Fletcher vs. (8) Ulysses Bliss As
was the situation in the Jungle, both the singles and doubles 1-seeds
have held firm into the quarterfinals - but one faces a riveting
rematch, again. Ever since Camille Fletcher emerged from storied Jungle
overgrowth championing the national singles number 1 ranking, fans and
analysts alike have been eager to see how the clay specialist continues
to perform on grass, and many believe she has remained solid through her
initial Boardwalk steps. After kicking it to eleven for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
dispatching of Sabrina Craig in a demanding Jungle rematch, Fletcher is
back in the quarterfinals seemingly swinging to solidify the top
ranking. But her next test is another stellar and grueling rematch:
8-seed Ulysses Bliss, ascending to his second consecutive quarterfinals
amidst his freshman tournament seeding just before starting his freshman
year at university. Outclassing a 6-2, 6-4 acing of 9-seed and former
international delegate Michelle Keller in the round of 16, the primetime
limelight no longer seems to faze the up-and-coming Bliss, who many
Boardwalk entrants say has been downright scary on court as he continues
to make notable improvement. But when this meteoric star first met
Fletcher in the Jungle semifinals, he appeared to melt in his brightest
spotlight shining upon him since debuting as a 2nd Independex wildcard,
while La Matadora hardly broke a sweat as she stood poised to take our
tennis world by champion surprise. But with Bliss now on a stunning
Boardwalk run and Fletcher grappling with the pressure of maintaining
the number 1 ranking, will there be a change of fortune in the second
and perhaps more crucial collision between these top dogs? A magic 8-ball says: Don't count on it - so Dextennis predicts (1) Fletcher in 3 (2) Julian Hull vs. Derek Rich VIII While
the incumbent singles number 1 wrestles with one marquee Jungle
rematch, a former co-singles number 1 must weather another spinning
Jungle rematch. When Boardwalk 2-seed Julian Hull hatched his 2023 grass
tour through the round of 32 opener in Costa Esmeralda, he expended all
his might to chase down speedy wheelchair qualifier Derek Rich VIII -
who has since fiercely crawled back looking to sue for anything but
peace now adrift the Brightsands elite eight. In the wake of publishing a
controversial short story titled Eight Minutes
while national singles number 2, Hull has continued to propel forwards
on court with a 6-4, 6-4 desertion of grass specialist Jabari Cervantes,
having dropped only one set throughout his entire Boardwalk voyage - so
far. The quarterfinals marked a Jungle death knell for the great nephew
of the late Pennyworth Farr, where Hull imploded in a 14-game final set
nailbiter versus an unseeded quadragenarian farmer. On the other
racquet, reaching such a top level as the quarterfinals is considered a
once-in-a-lifetime milestone for the unseeded likes of Rich VIII, who
has become the first Dexter wheelchair athlete to reach a national
tennis quarterfinals. Having kicked out international delegate and grass
specialist Macie Goodwin III en route to squeaking by the round of 16
with a 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 breakdown of Connor Rivas, the ex-homeless eighth
of his name has ramped up our national tennis equity with a wealth of
monopolistic racquets seemingly too big to fail. As 2-seed Hull prepares
to once again batten down the hatches to weather further enriching
rollouts of Rich VIII history, might their next and worthiest meeting
produce a similar outcome as their first captain's quarterings? A magic 8-ball says: Most likely - so Dextennis predicts Rich VIII in 2 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth vs. Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha In
what could be one of the most revolutionary engagements in our early
national tennis epoch, the Boardwalk quarterfinals will pit together two
former doubles numbers 1 and further entrench one team's place in
history. Conspiring sole installment in the top doubles ranking since
tying for it until eclipsed in the Jungle semifinals, former co-numbers 1
and Boardwalk 2-seeds Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth appear far from wiped
out in their latest grass campaign, conquering round of 16 territory
with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 expulsion of Avery Bentley/Jeffrey Ramos in which
they kicked racquets into overdrive after first set encirclement. But
though they also launched the Boardwalk with a tightrope recall of
carpet specialist qualifiers, the two Innerforth innovators are soon to
endure their greatest ordeal in their quest to reclaim the top ranking:
former numbers 1 and 1st Independex champions Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley
Waukesha. After washing up in their 1st Independex title defense to then
successfully but briefly land a Jungle qualifying spot, the Waukesha
sisters have made remarkable strides in their own journey back atop the
leaderboard, enshrining Boardwalk round of 16 transcendence with a 6-7,
6-3, 7-5 riptide of 7-seeds Albert Q. Davis/Jazlene Chang. And while the
former international delegates are reportedly well-prepared to barge
towards their most ironclad national endeavor yet, they also have
kryptonite to which they can succumb - as clay specialists expected to
drown on grass shores. In this primetime highlight with potential to
become an instant classic, will the higher ranked of these two flagship
doubles teams prevail to return to the semifinals, as many analysts
predict? A magic 8-ball says: Most likely - so Dextennis predicts (2) Strong/Booth in 3 Viola Frederick vs. (6) Esmeralda Serrano Of
the four hometown entrants representing the city of Brightsands, only
one has persevered into the Boardwalk quarterfinals - where she must now
implant a plot twist in an otherwise fantastic cinderella story. When
unseeded entrant Viola Frederick left home in Upperlight, few knew what
to expect from the 2nd Independex qualifier who pushed then 1-seed
Serenity Petersen to five sets in the opening round of 128. Yet she has
gone above and beyond even the most conservative of Boardwalk
expectations since her last main draw excursion, now harpooning in the
round of 16 her most colossal career catch: a hydrothermal 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
overflow of 3-seed and clay specialist Wendy Yates' attempted grass
resurgence, after an early Jungle anchoring cost Yates her half of the
co-number 1 ranking. To begin her Boardwalk brilliance, Frederick also
flooded 14-seed and Brightsands hometowner Francesca Burns in straight -
albeit close - sets, a curious parallel to the rising star's next
daunting quarterfinal brawl. Apparently living only a two minute walk
from Center Helm, for 6-seed Esmeralda Serrano the Boardwalk has long
been sentimentally revered as her home tournament, and through its first
national tennis edition, Serrano has peppered some of the spiciest
grass specialty ever dished out by English Coast racquets. Undeterred by
her Jungle quarterfinal pitfall, the last hometown athlete standing has
lost nary a set in her Boardwalk parade, now neighboring a 6-3, 6-3
walkout of 11-seed Kyle Norris in the round of 16. But an unseeded
miracle run to the elite eight was what last rained out the fiery
Serrano. Could the magic of tennis history repeat itself now on a grass
homecoming queen's turf? A magic 8-ball says: My reply is no - so Dextennis predicts (6) Serrano in 3 There
are numerous other Boardwalk quarterfinal athletes and matches of note,
and though a magic 8-ball did not want to provide further consultation,
Dextennis are still game to field our best guesses: • In a vital entanglement along their trailblazing path to solidify the number 1 ranking, Boardwalk 1-seeds Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead must rubble the only doubles grass specialists left afield: unseeded Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon, sprouting masterfully having already outgrown the Brightsands 8-seeds in the opening round. Will the two tallest ranking giants stomp back to the semifinals, or might two resilient backpackers pluck a final four-leaf clover? Dextennis predicts: (1) Dunn/Whitehead in 3 • Another grass specialist appears ready to swing for the Boardwalk apex aloft the quarterfinal canopy: unseeded Curtis West IV has been at his Boardwalk greenest since fossilizing the 13-seed, but he must now make an artifact out of ever-evolving 5-seed Abram Benson, adaptable and versatile as always heading into his second consecutive quarterfinals. Will grass mystique continue to hunt the generalist hunter, or could it be a field day for one more familiar with this terrain? Dextennis predicts: West IV in 3 • Reeling from synonymous pairs of seismic upsets, unseeded Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig also mark their second consecutive elite eight as they welcome unseeded Olivia May/Ædan Morris in a match-up which defies nearly all the odds. The former Jungle quarterfinalists now swing into the Boardwalk quarters after keelhauling a 6-4, 6-4 mutinous revenge of the very team who kerplunked their first grass defeat - 4-seeds Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez, while the latter miracle workers have recently blessed a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 shocker of international delegates and wildcard grass specialists Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. in an all-time classic. Of two surprise quarterfinals bracket contest spoilers like Bowman/Craig and May/Morris though, who will embolden their mightiest mettle to clinch their first career final four? Dextennis predicts: Bowman/Craig in 2 • The last but certainly not least of Boardwalk doubles quarterfinal matches features one of the tour's most quietly endearing yet rattling comeback stories versus another fairytale first-time appearance in the elite eight. Regrouping after they were crestfallen in the Jungle finals, national doubles numbers 3 Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson continue to float on through the most dire of dig-ins - including a windswept 5-7, 7-6, 6-0 erosion of unseeded Kerry Hammond/Harrison Baldwin in which they saved one match point clamoring through the round of 16; meanwhile, on the other quarterfinal baseline awaits unseeded May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton, who polished off a 6-4, 6-3 send-off of Allison Carr/Jamari Carr in their first family sweet sixteen. Between gritty comeback kids like Trevino/Stevenson who themselves upset the 3-seeds in the Jungle quarters, and skillful upstarts ready for an elite close-up like Thorsen/Hamilton, who will uphold their prestigious place in a spectacular semifinals? Dextennis predicts: (3) Trevino/Stevenson in 3 • While the Boardwalk climate continues to fare bright and sunny, the Weather Bureau has recently issued a tropical storm watch with a system forecasted to bring torrential rains and heavy flooding to island nations southwest of Dexterra. Tropical Storm Fontus - named after the ancient Roman god of wells and springs - is expected to make landfall on Tristerra approximately 9 P.M. Wednesday, 23 August, and head northeast towards the English Coast-Bay Dexter boundary between Allsgoode and Beagalia. Though high winds and rainfall may sweep across the entire nation this week, the Weather Bureau believes Fontus will likely weaken from passing through our neighbors and dissipate when it hits the Gracierra Mountains - so though extra precaution is warranted for all Dexters until the weekend, officials foresee minimal damage and loss of life in what hopefully may be more of a hurricane season litmus test. Many Brightsands quarterfinalists from Tristerra may want to check in with family and friends at home, including Bliss, Hull, Frederick and even the Waukeshas who recently moved to New Shetland. Almost one week ago, The Brightsands Boardwalk set off with more than 64 singles and 32 doubles crewbeagles to circumnavigate an inaugural Division II national tennis tournament. Now, but three victories - Pyrrhic or runaway whichever they may be - separate the surviving adventurers from the depths of despair and the annals of history. Though they have already sweetened the round of 16 as they now quarter the elite eight, who may finalize fourward semifinal motion with championship sundown looming on the horizon? These high-stakes clashes and more are likely beyond the range of any earthly prognostication. Dextennis predicts: tennis in 2 Live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Quarterfinals1 Year AgoSingles quarterfinals (1) Camille Fletcher 6 2 4 (8) Ulysses Bliss 3 6 6 Curtis West IV 6 3 6 (5) Abram Benson 3 6 4 (2) Julian Hull 6 6 Derek Rich VIII 0 2 Viola Frederick 7 6 (6) Esmeralda Serrano 6 3 Doubles quarterfinals (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead 6 3 6 Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon 4 6 4 Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig 6 5 4 Olivia May/Ædan Morris 3 7 6 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth 6 4 6 Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha 1 6 3 (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson 7 7 May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton 6 5 |
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Event XXV Round VI1 Year Ago24 August 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Semifinal fourcast National tennis finds a fantastic final four during a federal holiday marred by tropical weather Happy Worker's Day, Dexters - we hope you’re safe and dry! While the penultimate Thursday in August is formally honored as an annual federal holiday to commemorate the nation's workforce, most of whom can now enjoy a four-day weekend before resuming the means of production, this Worker's Day 2023 shall also produce a booming national tennis semifinals. The holiday falls on this date because Dexter schools traditionally reopen from summer vacation on the last Monday in August, although students can start classes as late as the first Monday in November, but this year will add on a score of historic matches for current and future athletic pupils to study as The Brightsands Boardwalk examines its main draw finalities. But much of Dexterra are celebrating this salubrious convergence having taken shelter: after making landfall near the western suburbs of Skyswim on Wednesday evening, Tropical Storm Fontus is hammering torrential rain and heavy winds upon Tristerra, Bay Dexter, the Peninsula Oceanturn and parts of the English Coast such as Allsgoode and Riverwaves, though fortunately having weakened after ravaging other island nations southwest of ours, for whom aid efforts are currently underway (donate at rescue.dex/fontus/contribute). Though the Gracierra Mountains appear to be shielding much of the eastern Spanish Coast and the northern English Coast from Fontus fury, in fact nudging the storm westwards away from the nation, moderate rain and high winds are forecasted for the Brightsands metropolitan area throughout these roughly final four Boardwalk days. So between Worker's Day breaks and Fontus furor, what else may be in store for Dexter history as national tennis churns out its first-ever Division II semifinals? "Right now we’re seeing a lot of felled trees and flooding, some minor injuries, but there’s really been minimal damage and zero loss of Tristan life," reported Chair Graham Calhoun of the Skyswim Rescue Bureau, local leader of that subnational organization, in an interview on The Evening News Hour with Itzamna Leonard. "There have also been some landslides reported along Mount Sheepdog but even our most rural folks are holding up fine. The storm probably didn’t regain that much strength when it hit the ocean again after making landfall on other islands, but everybody still needs to take extra precaution until all the heavy rain and high winds pass." The city of Skyswim is Tristerra’s fourth-largest major locality by size and population, and is revered within national tennis folklore not only as the hometown of the Farr-Hull families, but also as the birthplace of 1st Independex champion Michael Loy - the only Dexter to achieve both the national and international singles number 1 rankings. Most Skyswimmers - Tristans in general - evacuated to dodge Fontus ferocity, though others are hunkering down with weather updates and live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk, which may already be rivaling the storm for the top trending news story. Swirling from its colossal quarterfinals now to a spectacular semifinals, the Boardwalk continues to bring forth a number of terrific twists and turns in our national tennis records. A new singles number 1 is officially in order: after current number 1 and reigning Jungle champion Camille Fletcher was dethroned in the elite eight, all four singles semifinalists can now claim the top ranking by winning the Boardwalk championship. Interestingly, of these four Boardwalk singles semifinalists, only one also reached the Jungle semifinals. Across the doubles pond, three out of the Boardwalk final four are resurfacing from the Jungle semifinals - which includes one of the season's most pivotal rematches, while incumbent doubles numbers 1 and Jungle champions Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead extend their victorious reach for now. As these top three ranked doubles teams and two ascendant stars all converge on the Boardwalk semifinals though, might there also be new doubles numbers 1 in order? Dextennis reviews these riveting final four and elite eight Boardwalk showdowns in the ever-evolving national tennis landscape: Singles top half semifinal: (8) Ulysses Bliss vs. Curtis West IV The
singles top half semifinal features the only Jungle singles
semifinalist to resurface in the Boardwalk singles final four, taking on
the first grass specialist to climb into a grass semifinals. Scheduled
to begin 16 credit hours at the University of Beagalia next Monday, 28
August, Brightsands 8-seed Ulysses Bliss returns to the final four
seeking to redeem his freshman career still only four months after
debuting. Having aced a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal all-time classic over
singles number 1 Camille Fletcher - justice for flunking his Jungle
semifinal bid en route to her championship - Bliss has seemed to silence
those who doubted his first-ever tournament seeding, especially having
already schooled 9-seed Michelle Keller in the round of 16. But while
the former 2nd Independex wildcard appears to be adjusting to the
performative limelight, he must now mulligan the semifinals tasked with
his greenest and most specialized opponent yet. Bewildering fans and
analysts alike with some of the thorniest grass specialty to pierce the
courts, unseeded Curtis West IV has far outpaced expectations in his
first 2023 grass tournament, springing to the Boardwalk semifinals as if
plotting to prove himself the preeminent grass specialist. The
descendant of retired grass tennis stars has followed in his fathers'
footsteps with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 uprooting of robust 5-seed Abram Benson
in the quarterfinals, outgrowing his previous dispatch of 13-seed
Gisselle Orr from the round of 32. Yet the fourth of his name could be
left directionless by one who has treaded these deep semifinal waters
before. Between such a boy wonder hoping to end his brightest summer
vacation with the beachiest championship sundown, and a master of the
grass pantheon looking to inherit his own apotheosis, who may ultimately
greenlight a historic Boardwalk final? Dextennis predicts: (8) Bliss in 3 Singles bottom half semifinal: (2) Julian Hull vs. Viola Frederick The
singles bottom half final four eyes a groundbreaking first all-Tristan,
all-Black semifinal meeting amidst Fontus barraging their hometowns off
the Dexterra mainland. Washing up from a Jungle quarterfinals implosion
which sank his co-top ranking, singles number 2 Julian Hull seems to be
well within his tennis element as he dives into the Boardwalk
semifinals after a 6-0, 6-2 quarterfinal ransacking of wheelchair raider
Derek Rich VIII to pilot past the elite eight. Blasting some of this
event’s heaviest shots with his unique trident-shaped racquets, the
recently licensed scuba diver from Trident Forge continues to be one of
the steeliest and most titanic challengers adrift, seeming to absorb
further athletic prowess with even the slightest chance of a light
drizzle or the faintest whiff of mild ocean breeze. And as heavy showers
pour down on his Tristan home, 2-seed Hull appears ready to dive
headlong into the final national tennis depths he has yet to reach - but
he must shield against some of the most enormous pressure to ever test
the former co-number 1’s mettle. Spiraling along one of the most
thunderous miracle runs that continues to take our breaths away,
unseeded Viola Frederick has ironed out a clear name for herself in her
first 2023 grass appearance, crushing the hometown dreams of 6-seed
Esmeralda Serrano with a 7-6, 6-3 quarterfinal deluge after rushing past
hometown 14-seed Francesca Burns in the round of 32. The 2nd Independex
qualifier who then pushed the 1-seed to five sets has come roaring back
with plenty of Boardwalk reasons she herself deserves that top ranking,
despite being one of the lowest-ranked entrants to ever wade any
semifinal waters. Naturally, though the Upperlight upstart has been able
to weather two top-ranked Brightsands battleships, Frederick’s
firepower may not be enough to wipe out the national number two.
Straddling such a seemingly sturdy former co-captain along the tipping
point of an ironclad pressure-cooker, which admirable athlete can shock
their greatest career milestone and reach a seismic Boardwalk final? Dextennis predicts: (2) Hull in 3 Doubles top half semifinal: (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead vs. Olivia May/Ædan Morris By
far two of the strongest national tennis athletes afield and two of the
brightest rising stars aloft will now collide in a surprising yet
jolting doubles top half semifinal. Having solidified the sole top
ranking after launching their 2023 grass campaign tied for it, doubles
numbers 1 Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead have consistently and resolutely
demonstrated that they indeed deserve to stand alone at the top. The
Jungle champions appear to be now amassing a stairway to Boardwalk title
heaven with a hard-hitting 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 quarterfinal conquest of
unseeded grass specialists Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon, with other
unseeded up-and-coming powerhouses discarded along their tournament
path. Of course, even the greatest of the greats must at some point
falter, and the rankings queens may soon stand athwart a right proper
overthrow. Unfurling one of the most incredible tournament runs never
predicted by fans or analysts, unseeded Olivia May/Ædan Morris have
sprinted from the Jungle round of 16 now to the Boardwalk final four
wielding clear proof of greatness concept. The only two athletes not in
contention for number 1 don't seem to mind their rankings irrelevancy -
having told the press that "rank is just a number," they've doled out
two of the biggest upsets all tournament: wildcard 2nd Independex
finalists Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. and unseeded 1st Independex
finalists Calvin Rush/Colt Patel. And with a similarly impressive 3-6,
7-5, 6-4 quarterfinal dismantling of Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig in that
team's second consecutive elite eight, two suddenly rising stars are
now two sets away from quaking the doubles dominion to its rankings
core. As a potentially already hall-of-fame career looks to consolidate
the number 1 position and reinforce champion merit against two of the
tour's most magical, mystifying tennis alchemists, who will explore the
great Brightsands beyond and gravitate towards the Boardwalk final? Dextennis predicts: May/Morris in 3 Doubles bottom half semifinal: (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth vs. (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson There
have been multiple thrilling high-stakes Jungle rematches throughout
the Boardwalk course, but one of its most sensational will soon shake
the doubles bottom half semifinal. Careening back into the final four
after their tie for the top ranking shattered in a Jungle upset, doubles
numbers 2 Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth continue to crawl back and get the
tennis job done despite dropping one set in every Boardwalk round,
recently persisting through a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 quarterfinal epic over
former numbers 1 Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha. The resilient
ex-trainers have pressed, pushed and heaved a monumental second grass
effort, scrubbing a meteoric ex-astronaut and two rigid carpet
specialists to work out this second semifinals chance. But the former
1st Independex qualifiers will soon come to grips with their weightiest
brawl all season: a rematch with two 2nd Independex qualifiers who
resoundingly beat them 1-6, 3-6 in the Jungle semifinals. Themselves
stampeding a second consecutive deep tournament run following their
vanquishing in a nailbiting Jungle final, doubles numbers 3 Dorian
Trevino/Viviana Stevenson also continue to valiantly regroup and put the
tennis pieces back together even when shoved well beyond their limits,
case in point a gritty 7-6, 7-5 quarterfinal saddling of dark horse
unseeded entrants May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton. The portraitists of
apparent divine intervention spersed with raw talent have saved one
match point and two set points across their entire Boardwalk snapshot so
far, narrowly winning a tiebreak in every round. Yet as they seem to
rightfully wield their first-ever tournament seeding at a staggering
3rd, their mightiest test since the rumbling Jungle finish line is now
firmly within their grasp. In one of the starriest and most potentially
memorable rematches to splash down on this current Brightsands semifinal
climate, who will box in their fiercest budding rivals to punch two
golden tickets to the Boardwalk final? Dextennis predicts: (3) Trevino/Stevenson in 2 Live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Semifinals1 Year AgoSingles semifinals (8) Ulysses Bliss 6 6 Curtis West IV 4 3 (2) Julian Hull 6 1 6 Viola Frederick 1 6 2 Doubles semifinals (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead 4 6 6 Olivia May/Ædan Morris 6 3 4 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth 6 3 6 (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson 2 6 4 |
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Event XXV Round VII1 Year Ago26 August 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ So long, and thanks for all the fish Dexters temporarily wave goodbye to national tennis from a championship reflecting pool Sapphire
waves crash down on coral white sands amidst a drizzly haze, as school
bells and office chatter resonate somewhere near the roar of a stadium
crowd. With the means of production resuming after a rainy Worker's Day while students ready supplies at the end of a sunny vacation, the final weeks of summer 2023 are underway in Dexterra - but not without a momentous slice of sports history to again bring daily life to a standstill. The first-ever Division II national tennis tournament will soon behold two pivotal championship clashes in which the number 1 rankings are at stake, wrapping The Brightsands Boardwalk with palpable exclamation marks. Yet after Tropical Storm Fontus leaves the host city with residual moderate rain and winds, tournament organizers have announced that the singles and doubles championships will occur with the roof closed on Center Pourt. However, organizers are also churning out full refunds for ticketholders who wish to stay indoors and avoid inclement weather. Wherever and however Dexters safely soak up these two decisive Boardwalk finals floating on in the wake of Fontus fortitude, the first-ever D2 event may mark the unofficial end of summer with a historic bang while much of the workforce enjoys a four-day weekend and some students brace to return to school this Monday. "The city of Brightsands and The Brightsands Boardwalk are thrilled to host our first-ever national tennis finals, and we have been more than satisfied with the current tournament progress. We are also working closely with the Safety and Weather Bureaus to protect the public and act responsibly after Tropical Storm Fontus passed through town," declared Veronica Bronwyn-Sharrow as Chair of Brightsands Tennis in a press conference today. "If you decide to try and attend the finals in person, be sure to dress warmly and wear rainboots or ponchos." With the Gracierra Mountains doing some heavy lifting in shielding the area and the nation entire, the storm washed out Tristerra, the Peninsula Oceanturn and Bay Dexter, before veering northwest into the Peninsula Westfields where Brightsands sits and then returning to the ocean - curiously, the same direction as the 2023 grass season, which began with The Swing of the Jungle along the sprawling forests of Costa Esmeralda. But perhaps the upcoming Boardwalk championships themselves and the significance they harbor are far more alluring for those within reach. While national tennis gears up to anoint a new singles number 1, might there also be a new doubles number 1 to shimmer upon the horizon? Dextennis reviews the Brightsands be-all end-all after what has already been a memorable Boardwalk addition to the 2023 grass season: Singles championship: (8) Ulysses Bliss vs. (2) Julian Hull   Singles finalists: Bliss (left) and Hull (right) The
inaugural D2 singles final features a consequential first-ever
all-Tristan showdown: one of the nation's most meteoric stars hopes to
outshine one of the steeliest and gnarliest not only for an historic
championship, but to also splash down upon the number 1 ranking. Set to
officially become a Beagalia Beagle this Monday, Boardwalk 8-seed
Ulysses Bliss will spend the last weekend of summer vacation by becoming
one of the youngest singles finalists in Dexter sports history at only
18 years old, two days before landing in the Athletics undergraduate
degree program at the University of Beagalia with such classes this
14-week semester as TENN 104: Fundamental Tennis Aerodynamics and ATHL 102: the Study of Dexter Athletics in Contemporary Beagle Theory.
The native of Upperlight - whose neighborhood was flooded by Fontus
this week though thankfully without harm - is sailing through only his
third national tennis event after launching his career mere months ago
as a wildcard at the 2nd Independex Championships. He was quickly ousted
in that introductory match, but the graduated high school league
champion then entered the 2023 national grass season as if determined to
prove his place in these tennis major leagues: suddenly embarking on an
incredible run to the Jungle semifinals, he earned high praise and
early acclaim from pundits who touted him as a potential future national
number one - though few foresaw him coming within two sets of the top
ranking in this very next tournament. Taking his first-ever tournament
seeding by Boardwalk surprise, Bliss has risen above fervent doubts and
feverish hype alike by vanquishing current singles number 1 Camille
Fletcher in a quarterfinal epic, 9-seed Michelle Keller in a round of 16
acing and recently grass specialist Curtis West IV in a 6-4, 6-3
semifinal dispatching - but can the boy wonder now weather his wildest
singles final boss feasible? Himself blasting many of the event's
heaviest-hit, deepest-landing shots with blue and white trident-shaped
racquets, Boardwalk 2-seed Julian Hull appears to be far and away living
up to his neptunian nickname throughout these tennis depths. Having
plunged into the 2023 grass season tied for the singles top ranking, the
King of the Deep washed up from the Jungle quarterfinals humbled a step
down as the rankings first mate, though second may as well be dead last
to such a highly competitive talent in the prime of his life at 25
years young. The native of Trident Forge - who helped digitally lead
Fontus evacuation efforts along with family still in town - has lately
fished out his greatest career performance since aglow in the 2nd
Independex semifinals, validating months of pressure-packed hype and
polarizing debate as to whether he can truly stake a place at the top.
And though he has indeed shored up a picturesque Boardwalk run while
publishing a short story and officially becoming a New Croatan Times-bestselling
author, the science-fiction writer has yet to face any seeded opponent
on court. From letting a tiebreak slip to Genaro McCoy Jr. in the round
of 32, to sweeping Derek Rich VIII off his wheelchair in the
quarterfinals and now to a 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 semifinal anchoring of miracle
upstart Viola Frederick, many analysts believe his Brightsands trip has
sloshed back and forth like a clipper braving a brutal storm - perhaps
to capsize in its most thunderstruck final forecast yet. As the nation's
first-ever D2 title and number 1 ranking fall between two courageous
Boardwalk singles finalists in an all-Tristan brawl, could Ulysses’
blissful champion smiles soon tear a hole in Julian’s hull? Singles
athletes kindly offered their best and brightest predictions: Carter Allen: Bliss in 2, winning one set with seven games Laila Love: Hull in 2, saving set point in a tiebreak Esmeralda Serrano: Hull in 3, coming back from down a set and a break Doubles championship: (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead vs. (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth     Doubles finalists: Dunn/Whitehead (left) and Strong/Booth (right) The
first-ever D2 doubles final centers around one of the most highly
anticipated match-ups of the 2023 grass season: a tantalizing standoff
between the nation's two best teams who began the season tied for the
top ranking and now come together to settle their differences. Having
climbed into the semifinals or better in every national tennis event,
Boardwalk 1-seeds Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead have ascended from a
Jungle championship now into their second consecutive final clearly
intent on illustrating that theirs is only the start of what could be
the greatest career in national tennis. The sole doubles numbers 1
claimed that top spot with poise and grace, far exceeding the
expectations of fans and analysts by continuously looming large as one
of the most unbeatable teams on tour. Both proud English Coasters from
Sunshores have, in this Brightsands surf, tacked on the likes of last
grass specialists standing Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon in a
quarterfinal chopping, introductory qualifiers Izzy Reid/Klem Žitnik in a
round of 32 walkout and now a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 stabilizing of dark horses
Olivia May/Ædan Morris in a semifinal stalling. But akin to singles
number 2 Hull, the powerhouse Dunn/Whitehead duo have yet to face any
seeded Boardwalk entrant in this doubly crucial tennis chapter; however,
they soon will, meeting in fact the next-closest seeded juggernauts in
the mightiest test of their decorated careers. Having themselves held
firm onto their half of the number 1 ranking tie until they were
uprooted in the Jungle semifinals, Boardwalk 2-seeds Dane Strong/Dorothy
Booth are consistently keeping their heads above tennis waters as they
come swinging back for their greatest chance at solely reclaiming the
top ranking. The former 1st Independex qualifiers have dispelled
criticism as 'the forgotten numbers 1' or 'the best second-bests' with
their ability to outlast the most grueling duels and pressing
situations, amassing a reputation as one of the most physically and
mentally resilient teams. Case in Brightsands point, the
ever-strengthening incredibles from Innerforth have trailblazed a
blistering Boardwalk path which smoldered the likes of 1st Independex
champions Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha in a quarterfinal overthrow,
durable qualifier carpet specialists Noah Knox/Dustin Stone in a round
of 32 nailbiter and recently a liberating 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 retribution over
3-seeds Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson to rectify their previous
semifinal sparring. Yet in the course of their run, the backbreaking
Strong/Booth pair have coughed up a set in every round, and though they
clamored back each time no matter how far they fell back, here now is
the one team who may not let them go anywhere but down as they all
prepare to wrestle upon the apex of the doubles mountaintop. With the
inaugural D2 doubles title and number 1 ranking up for grabs between the
nation's two best and brightest gladiators, will the incumbent queens
once again head straight to getting it done by the nation's sunniest
shores, or might the rankings instead board up a stronger booth alone at
the top? Doubles athletes kindly offered their bravest and most
brilliant predictions: Armani P. Edwards: Dunn/Whitehead in 2, winning both sets with at least seven games Serenity Petersen: Strong/Booth in 3, with one set being a ‘breadstick’ or 6-1 Penelope Vincent: Dunn/Whitehead in 3, though no set will exceed 10 total games Outside of these heavyweight Boardwalk finalists, more than 64 singles and 32 doubles athletes valiantly and in many ways successfully vied to stamp their place in the record books through this second 2023 grass tournament, from whom much can be learned, gleaned or understood. To put a neat little bow on the nation's first-ever Division II event as we prepare to batten down the hatches for the impending first-ever national slam, Dextennis looks back on what Beagles unearthed in this latest and greatest sports spelunking: • Grass specialists appeared to fare better in the Boardwalk than they did in the Jungle, with one reaching the singles semifinals (West IV) and one reaching the doubles quarterfinals (Arias Jr./Leon). As for clay specialists, they seemed to regress, with one reaching the singles quarterfinals (Fletcher) and one reaching the doubles quarterfinals (Waukesha/Waukesha). In the league's first official carpet specialist appearance, Knox/Stone won their qualifying round but fell in the round of 32, setting a useful control for future carpet tennis experimentation; it is rumored that both singles carpet specialists (Efrain Harmon and Seth Burr) will appear in the upcoming national slam, along with an introductory athlete (J.T. Jackson). • International delegates may have much national catching up to do, with wildcards Jaime Green Jr., Macie Goodwin III and Serenity Petersen collectively going 2-3 across singles and doubles in their first appearances since called up to represent Dexterra on the global stage. • Brightsands' hometowners did about the same or a little worse as that of Costa Esmeralda's, with Serrano going as far as the Boardwalk quarterfinals compared to Jiménez's run to the Jungle semifinals. With word that the upcoming national slam will be hosted in Beagalia, there will likely be more hometowners present than in any other tournament past, present or future. • The Boardwalk singles seeds performed remarkably well, with 14 out of 16 surviving the round of 64 with few surprising upsets like there were in the Jungle opener, although there were some significant defeats in later rounds (Molina over Love, Frederick over Yates and Serrano); the doubles seeds also performed well outside of a handful of surprising upsets in the earlier rounds (Bowman/Craig over Edwards/Jiménez, Carr/Carr over Powell Jr./Lowery). • Qualifiers were absolutely destroyed when they entered the main draw, collectively going 0-12 versus seeded entrants in the Boardwalk opening rounds. Only one of the eight singles qualifiers won a set (Kirby), as did one of the four doubles qualifiers (Knox/Stone). • Three doubles teams launched in Brightsands (Carr/Carr, Conor/Wieczorek and Reid/Žitnik), and altogether seemed to outpace expectations by winning their initial match and then faltering in their next. This may at least help them escape the qualifying rounds and sneak into the upcoming national slam as unseeded entrants. With national tennis taking a bow from live on Center Pourt, roofs are closed after Tropical Storm Fontus rolled through to give Mother Nature a front row seat to witness back-to-back historic championships at The Brightsands Boardwalk. A new singles number 1 and potentially new doubles number 1 shall soon surface hooked to such a mythical title, and they will immediately endure trial by fire as they take that top ranking into the next tournament: an inaugural Division I and national slam event held in Beagalia called The Fall of Dexterra. Though that next test may surely be their mightiest, the Boardwalk champions at least won't be forgotten. Because this summer's national tennis journey from Costa Esmeralda to Brightsands resembles the extent of the Meara Trail, a statue commemorating the event is slated to go on display at Polaris Cabin in Mount Nightcoat National Park - but only after Boardwalk champions sign it in a special ceremony on Sunday, 10 September. Yet as Dexters begin returning to school or work following a long break, there is only one place any of the finalists want to go after two colossal championships, and it isn't Polaris Cabin: it's the top of the rankings. Between wunderkind Ulysses Bliss and overlord Julian Hull, captains Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead and mutineers Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth, who will take national tennis by championship storm and flood this final test of true tennis colors before we Fall into an explosive national slam? Live coverage of The Brightsands Boardwalk will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. OOC: Tropical Storm Fontus is based on Tropical Storm Franklin, which passed through where Dexterra is located |
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Championships1 Year AgoSingles championship (8) Ulysses Bliss 5 3 (2) Julian Hull 7 6 Doubles championship (1) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead 6 4 (2) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth 7 6 |
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The Fall of Dexterra1 Year Ago The
people of Dexterra and the Tennis Assembly are thunderstruck in
announcing The Fall of Dexterra, an inaugural Division I and national
slam tennis tournament that will conclude the 2023 grass court season.
This event will consist of 128 singles and 64 doubles main draw
entrants, which includes 16 singles and 8 doubles qualification round
winners; all qualifying and doubles matches are best-of-three sets with a
final set tiebreak, while singles main draw matches are best-of-five
sets with a final set tiebreak. It will be hosted in Beagalia, Bay
Dexter. Schedule and draws results posted in the afternoon or evening Beagle Standard Time (EST) 11 September 2023: qualifiers and (singles only) round of 128 13 September: round of 64 15 September: round of 32 17 September: round of 16 19 September: quarterfinals 21 September: semifinals 23 September: championships Singles seeds and entrants (1) Julian Hull (2) Camille Fletcher (3) Ulysses Bliss (4) Wendy Yates (5) Laila Love (6) Abram Benson (7) Esmeralda Serrano (8) Curtis West IV (9) Viola Frederick (10) Michelle Keller (11) Carter Allen (12) Kyle Norris (13) DeMarcus Shannon Jr. (14) Derek Rich VIII (15) DeAngelo Barr (16) Joanne Ramos (17) Sabrina Craig (18) Gracelyn Matthews (19) Gisselle Orr (20) Alexis Keith (21) Noah Booker (22) Francesca Burns (23) Caiden Molina (24) Connor Rivas (25) Lane Bird (26) Jabari Cervantes (27) Keira Gay (28) Mikayla R.B. Lee (29) Dwayne North (30) Nicholas Blevins (31) Reese Bradley (32) Ross Cisneros Aspen Collier Alyssa Dillon Nyla Gibson Efrain Harmon Jo Hughes Jaquan Knight Genaro McCoy Jr. Alanna Jesenia Ochoa Colt Patel Lainey Porter Gael Randall A.J. Sánchez Jolie Shelton Matteo Tafte Nick O'Wiggins Grayson Banks Demetrius Barron Luis Bond Maverick Casey Aarav Cisneros Isaías Fuentes Fidela Kirkpatrick Kingston Lewis Branson McClain Ashlyn Mills-Myrto Sheryl Moses Enrique Solomon Tamika Morton Jeanine Burgess Lydia Bush Adrián Calderón Aylin Davidson Bráulio Escobar Laura Fields Marley Floyd Laila Franco Tracie Franco Casey Frey-Danica DeShawn Gaines Emily Gallegos Lucille Ha Vickie Hickman Alvin Hicks Anthony Hoffman Jennifer Kirby DeAngelo Lucas Cassandra Luna Mario Mathis Keshawn McNeil Anika Pugh Aidan Reeves Calvin Rush Kendall Salinas Angelo Short Dario Stewart Chris Stokes Estella Y. Kirby Aurelia Williamson Alonzo Hurley Elisha Kaufman Crystal Key Ian Villegas Monique Mayer Ayaan McFarland Jaeden McIntyre Elliott Nichols Kelly Randall Sid Ross Oswaldo Wilcox Justice Barnes Taylor Barnett Amir Bennett Amani D. Berry Brodie Bradford Seth Burr Elliot Cowan (WC) Macie Goodwin III (WC) Serenity Petersen (WC) Tristan Armstrong (WC) Michael Loy Q1: Simeon David vs. Socorro Zavala Q2: Adrián Gómez vs. Wayne Weeks Jr. Q3: Marcus Haas vs. Mark Warwick IV Q4: Vance Harrington vs. Thaddeus Waller Q5: Colby Houston vs. Víctor Vélez Q6: Tianna Marks vs. Autumn Roma Q7: Quincy Martin vs. Aurelio Prince Q8: Jaiden Meléndez vs. Dominique Powers Q9: Zane Peña vs. Quentin Pierce Q10: Journey Ross vs. G. Julius Kennedy Q11: Clarence Snow vs. J.T. Jackson Q12: María Suarez vs. Kendrick Ingram Q13: Donovan Swanson vs. Elijah Hightower Sr. Q14: Arlene Wyatt vs. Cori Cherry Q15: Enrique Walters vs. Hunter Best Q16: Bryce Wilson vs. Aparna Apollinaris Singles main draw: challonge.com/fallsingles2023 Doubles seeds and entrants (1) Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth (2) Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson (4) Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez (5) Demetrius Barron/Penelope Vincent (6) Jonathan Powell Jr./Lyndon Lowery (7) Olivia May/Ædan Morris (8) May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton (9) Albert Q. Davis/Jazlene Chang (10) Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig (11) Ayden Fuller/Juliana Méndez (12) Lillian Burch/Miles Wilson Blanchard (13) Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha (14) Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon (15) Delaney Snyder/Sheldon Camacho (16) Gracelyn Matthews/Catherine Rubio Calvin Rush/Colt Patel Tanisha Davies/Dewitt Simpson Kerry Hammond/Harrison Baldwin Avery Bentley/Jeffrey Ramos Chance Ellis/Broderick Pratt Clay Acosta/Alma Faulkner Bella McCoy/Amani D. Berry Allison Carr/Jamari Carr Jason Franklin/Emmanuel Grant IV Bruno McKnight/Yaritza García Bridger Holder/Yasmin Giles Billy Holloway/Tiara Goodwin-Githa Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya Kali Pittman/Emilee Archer Mya Benton/Clark McFarland Luke Carney/Eugenia Malone Jamie Cochran/Jazlene Reed Conor Conner/Cveta Wieczorek Matthew Fitzpatrick/Lauryn Santos Maximus Rice/Sammy Gilbert Noah Knox/Dustin Stone Journey Ross/Branson McClain Sergio Salazar/Alejandra Murphy Adyson Odom/Anderson Whitehead Eliza Ramsey/Keon Rock Izzy Reid/Klem Žitnik Kendall Farrell/Cameron Sean Corey Terry/Kristie Holden John Miles/Colton Ú. Vance Amy Woodward/Timothy Church Angelina Simpson/Savanah Vázquez Thomas Atkins/Kayden Santiago Rolando Black/Maribel Hendrix Nicholas Blevins/Jeanine Burgess Jayden Zamora/Mitchell Caldwell Rocco Cameron/Samantha Lester Zaniyah Rubio/Lucy Cooke Ayaan Decker/Rubi Olsen (WC) Harper Villarreal/Gwen Daniel (WC) Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. Q1: Jaliyah Love/Jeremías Jiménez vs. Andre Rivers/Marcellus Wade Q2: Nate Rasmussen/Parker Hayes-McCauley vs. Barrett Steele/Johnny Price Q3: Cristina Ellison/Margarito Acevedo vs. Trent Wolf/Dominique Powers Q4: Edward Moody/Francis Paul III vs. Guadalupe Mejía/Eusébio Montoya Q5: Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby vs. Kurt F. Kerry/Tara Shields Q6: Leigh Trujillo/Mikayla R.B. Lee vs. Sebastián Márquez/Edmundo Figueroa Q7: Judah Merritt/Iyana López vs. Hunter Best/Selina Quickley Q8: Blaine Washington/Chelsea Moss vs. Josie R. Thornton/Ray Barker Doubles main draw: challonge.com/falldoubles2023 National tennis rankings: tiny.cc/lho8vz (OOC) Scorination All
matches will be scorinated with Xkoranate 0.3.3, with entrants
allocated logarithmic points according to ranking and a cumulative,
non-decaying bonus with any primary, secondary and/or tertiary
appearance in a writing. As was the case with previous grass court
tournaments, court specialist log points have been increased or
decreased by 5.521% according to their specialty. Introductory athletes
and wildcards with zero ranking points are all allocated log points
equivalent to the lowest-ranked entrant(s). Venue The
city of Beagalia [commonly pronounced Bee-gale-e-uh, historically
pronounced Bee-gal-e-uh] is thrilled to host The Fall of Dexterra at
Citizen's Arena, the largest and most comprehensive athletics center in
the nation with luxurious facilities for nearly every major sporting
event, including a baseball diamond, gridiron field, football pitch,
basketball stadium and tennis courts - plus a sports theme park, a
public infinity pool, a sprawling laser tag coliseum and other blasts of
entertainment for all ages. The city's professional sports teams play
here, fielding teams in baseball, basketball, football, gridiron and
hockey all named the Beagles. Truly enshrining Citizen's Arena is its
legacy in hosting the 1st Independex Championships, the first national
tennis tournament and proto-national slam. It is believed that these
hallowed grounds will one day be home to the Dexter Tennis Hall of Fame,
but plans are yet to be announced. Citizen's Arena has three main
tennis courts: Peoples Court, capacity 15,500; Union Court, cap. 10,000;
and Peace Court, cap. 5,000; there are also 25 auxiliary or practice
courts. All courts have retractable roofs in case of inclement weather,
with initial forecasts calling for heavy rain and high winds from
Hurricane Leviathan* plus daily average temperatures of 20-25° C
(~70-80° F) and moderate relative humidity. Important:
the city and the nation are vulnerable to the peak of hurricane season
this time of year. The Nature Council has a detailed plan of action in
the case of Leviathan and other emergencies, including evacuations,
shelters and other effective disaster preparedness. Please visit
nature.dex/prepare for full information. Famously revered as the heart of the Dexter people, the city of Beagalia is the national capital of Dexterra, and the nation's largest city by area and population. It was the first modern settlement in what is today Bay Dexter, founded in 1805 by English explorers who named it after the wild beagle packs patrolling the wilderness. Because of its central mainland position by the Bay and the Strait of Discovery, Beagalia quickly populated into a thriving trade hub, becoming known as 'the Gate of the Bay' as populations spread eastward into new Bay cities. By the time Beagalia became the quaking epicenter of the Independex Revolutions in 2021, the city was already a national mountaintop of political, cultural and economic activity, so it served as a natural choice for national capital when revolutionary Dexters established a free and fair Dexterra. Today, the city welcomes all to witness national and municipal legislators debate federal or local bills, to tour the headquarters of the eight National Councils and to visit fascinating subnational projects like the Icarus II Planetarium or the Baytower Federal Peace Maintainer. Perhaps relatedly, Beagalia is a renowned hub of free national history museums, from generalized galleries to specialized centers like the defunct pre-socialism stock exchange trading floor, preserved ruins of the first settlements or a locomotive tour of iconic Independex landmarks. The city is also venerated for its many national monuments, including the very city center: Independex Square is a booming park plaza where much of the Revolution occurred; today a reflecting pool and statues consecrate these sacred grounds, although it contends with other national monuments throughout the city like the Worker's Obelisk, Remembrance Grounds and the National Rotunda. Beagalia is still like other major Dexter cities through its ample other fun and entertainment for a wide range of ages and maturity, from exciting playgrounds to mythical auditoriums and hazy casinos, not to mention plenty of animal rescue shelters and dog parks. As Dexterra's largest city and national capital, Beagalia has long been the political, cultural and economic apex of Dexter life. One especial characteristic which makes Beagalia emblematic of major Dexter cities is its geographic balance between the earth and the sea. By the city's northernmost suburbs, a flourishing subtropical coniferous wilderness comprises Houndhouse National Park, one of the nation's largest parks by size and wild beagle population. Beautiful camping grounds, scenic hiking trails and unique species await those who adventure out of Beagalia and into the Houndhouse woods, although visitors hoping to eventually see vibrant autumn glory should this time of year prepare instead for howling, blurry-tailed guests. On the opposite side of the Greater Beagalia Area, the city's southern coastline features a number of relaxing postcardesque beaches that bathe visitors in golden sand, refreshing ocean mist and warm sun. With a towel, sunscreen, an umbrella and other important accessories, there on Beagalia beaches simmer an excellent last-minute summer vacation before temperatures start to cool down for the season - that is, of course, if there isn't a hurricane bearing down upon the city. Off city shores are also a number of exhilarating aquatic activities, including snorkeling, scuba diving, spelunking, sailing, jet skiing and more. This broad, contrasting spectrum of attractions in opposing environments makes Beagalia a perfect blend of nearly all major Dexter cities. Lodging, transportation and other accommodations for entrants and traveling workers (ETW) at The Fall of Dexterra are arranged thanks to the Travel Bureau. ETW will be housed at The Dogged Den, a stately and ornate beachside bed-and-breakfast that long served as official lodging for diplomats, located near low-income housing where most legislators live and a generic office building home to the national legislature called Progress, with chambers historically named Citizen’s Hall. Many ambassadors, dignitaries and even presidents, prime ministers or other democratically-elected leaders stayed at the Den from its 19th century founding until the Diplomacy Council established larger official accommodations in 2022. The hotel's gorgeous view of Bay waters and the bustling downtown Beagalia skyline still make it one of the city's most highly sought-after destinations, for which reservations are booked years in advance. Those fortunate to stay at the Den may find themselves in a historic room previously occupied by a celebrity guest, with items encased, placards posted and other museum-like yet cozy amenities, although these rooms tend to be booked the furthest out. The Den is only a ten minute walk from Independex Square, and there are a number of delicious restaurants, quaint shops and history-themed mini golf within that distance, as well as plenty of entrances to the beach. Most Beagalia residents, who voted to call themselves Beagaliens, walk, bicycle or use public transportation, with electric self-driving vehicles often a fourth option; visitor's main transportation options include pedestrianism, free rental(s) of a bicycle, a free bus pass and/or free rental(s) of an electric self-driving car. The most common national points of entry for Beagalia are the National Highway (eastbound out of Allsgoode and westbound out of Port Dexter), the National Airport (NABE) and the National Seaport (NSBE), each a 10 to 20 minute walk from the Den, Citizen's Arena and Independex Square. ETW preparing for the Fall may contact the Travel Bureau for any further lodging, transportation or additional accommodations.    Welcome to Beagalia, Bay Dexter *OOC: Hurricane Leviathan is based on Hurricane Lee: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lee_(2023), which is currently forecasted to pass through where Dexterra is located |
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Event XXVI Round I1 Year Ago11 September 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ CHAAAAARGE! Explosions
rock the air. Hordes of boisterous hollers rumble a crackling ground
amidst wispy plumes of smoke. Is this the end of Dexter civilization, or
the start of sports fans celebrating something grand? After national tennis' first-ever grass season sprouted in Costa Esmeralda through The Swing of the Jungle and resurfaced in Brightsands with The Brightsands Boardwalk, Dexter sports history has all come down to this: a groundbreaking first-ever national slam in our national capital called The Fall of Dexterra. While the capital city of Beagalia is nicknamed ‘the Gate of Bay Dexter,’ today the gates of national tennis come crashing down as more than 200 tennis stars swarm the mythical coliseum Citizen’s Arena to conclude the 2023 grass season in a sensational Fall classic. Indeed, set to wrap on the autumn equinox (Saturday 23 September this year), the Fall is destined to etch an ecliptic, colorful exclamation mark on the end of summer: the winners - with their names forever inscribed on the wall of slam champions installed on the grounds of Peoples Court, Citizen Arena's main tennis court - will go down as the first Dexters to win a national Major title, and likely carry the number 1 ranking with them after a breathtaking series of lead changes at the tumultuous top. Through an exhilarating 2023 tour already churning out resilient 2nd Independex demonstrators, lofty Jungle explorers and stormy Boardwalk beacons, who will prevail now amongst more than 128 singles and 64 doubles Fall wildlife? "It is an honor for us to welcome national tennis back to Beagalia, and to bring together our Dexter family for our finest display of Beagle athletics yet," announced Jacqueline S. Mason, the 1st Commoner of the United Peoples, in a keynote speech yesterday on Peoples Court during an opening day ceremony with Tennis Caretaker Rebecca Margareta, chief Fall organizer Rudyard Tyrrell and Beagalia Representative Claudia Quijano-Bermúdez. "We last came together here for our first-ever national tournament in the 1st Independex Championships, and after a long journey through sunny shores, jungly green and beachy brightness, Dexter tennis can now proudly return home to where it all began. We'll set a new standard for Beagle athletics, raise the bar for greatness and imprint further history into the record books, before bringing everyone home again next year and outmatching that which we establish today." The Fall of Dexterra 2023 will offer far more thrilling yet daunting challenges as compared to prior tennis events, more so than increasing singles main draw matches from best-of-three sets to best-of-five as Major events normally do - all Fall matches will also feature one particularly groundbreaking change. While Dexter tennis tradition has long held that the final set must proceed until an athlete or team wins by two games, registered members of the Tennis Assembly recently voted to implement final set tiebreaks, which function the same as standard tiebreaks: occurring when the total score of the final set reaches twelve games (6-6) and ending when an athlete or team has won the tiebreak with at least seven points and are at least two points ahead of their opponent(s). While fans have certainly enjoyed gritty final set staredowns that have ended 8 games to 6, 9-7, 10-8 or an even lengthier score, the nation has long debated such a tradition that agitates injuries and disrupts schedules. More than 60 percent of Tennis members voted in favor of change, making Fall '23 the first national tournament to include final set tiebreaks. This year's edition of the autumn slam was already set to raise the stakes for singles entrants by moving from best-of-three sets to best-of-five, but the bar will be much loftier for all athletes now through significant adjustments to potential deciding sets. As Fall ball prepares to ask intrepid heavy-hitters of their Beagle best, there is much to pick up from where the 2023 tour has left off. Most recently at The Brightsands Boardwalk, three new champions shored up an historic number 1 ranking: in a peculiar twist of fate, the singles and doubles 2-seeds both won this Division II title in two sets, all of whom are former co numbers-1 who solely took back the top spot. Having sailed into the '23 grass season tied for the singles number 1 ranking only to wash up in the Jungle quarterfinals down a peg as singles number 2, Julian Hull entered the Boardwalk under critical pressure. But while dedicating his grass performance to his late Great Uncle Penny, he appeared well within his element as he cruised to his first national championship over University of Beagalia freshman and former 2nd Independex wildcard Ulysses Bliss, becoming the first Black Dexter to win a singles title in an echo of history made by Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha at the 1st Independex Championships doubles and Tristan Armstrong in international singles - all of whom will join him this Fall. Hull now has a commanding lead on the number 1 singles ranking at nearly 700 points more than current number 2 and Jungle champion Camille Fletcher, although with the Fall offering winners 2,000 points, it could very well once again slip from his grasp. Meanwhile, the doubles rankings are in a much more precarious position. When Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth entered the grass season tied for the number 1 ranking with Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead, the top spot ultimately slipped away from them in the Jungle semifinals while Dunn/Whitehead went on to champion the sole top ranking. But Strong/Booth were far from done: picking up where they left off, the former 1st Independex qualifiers went on to right the ship in Brightsands, overcoming the very team who defeated their Jungle bid in a thrilling Boardwalk semifinal rematch - and then vanquished queens Dunn/Whitehead in the Boardwalk championship to clinch their first professional title and solely retake the top ranking. The oldest-ever sole doubles numbers 1 at 32 and 34 years old (respectively), Strong/Booth are budding their dynasty with but a 125 point lead on numbers 2 Dunn/Whitehead, so might their dicey position quickly crumble with many more points up for grabs in the Fall? Heading into Dexterra's inaugural Division I and national slam event, there is much to continue from previous Division II and III tournaments which witnessed colossal achievements by leading stars. There is one unfortunate slice of sports history which occurred in Brightsands that is already repeating in Beagalia, and it centers around a much greater force of nature than any Beagle. With abnormally warm ocean waters continuing to boil through this summer and into recent days, the 2023 hurricane season is set to exceed the Nature Council's warnings of increased risk as the season reaches its annual peak between August and October. During the final days of Boardwalk tennis, Hurricane Fontus - initially a tropical storm until eventually strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane - brought torrential rain and gale-force winds to the nation, drenching the D2 host city mere hours before the championships. Scores of injuries and destruction as well as delays in reopening schools from summer vacation were reported nationwide, all things considered totaling upwards of $150 million in damages, though many residents claim to owe their lives to recent infrastructure upgrades that feature futuristic hurricane-proofing such as self-restoring levees, durable civil engineering and sophisticated storm tracking. But there is a newer, greater storm already testing the nation’s imperatively advanced weather-resistance as the Fall gets underway: Hurricane Leviathan - named for the Biblical sea serpent - slammed into the Spanish Coast as a Category 3 major storm early Sunday morning and now looms over much of mainland Dexterra even where torn by jagged, towering Gracierra Mountains. Life-threatening swells & rip currents, sustained winds up to 200 km/h and near-zero visibility from heavy rainfall are currently being reported nearly nationwide; millions evacuated or took shelter even before official orders, though dozens are already reported injured or missing. With the storm expected to veer west-northwest, the Fall '23 host city of Beagalia is under an Evacuate-or-Shelter Order (EOSO) until Thursday, 14 September, in which everybody in the Greater Beagalia Area must leave or seek immediate refuge in a private or public hurricane shelter (check for local shelters at weather.dex/shelters; hotels must legally function as one and rooms should already be converted). Citing a decision by the Mason Administration to encourage federal officials to work on matters of non-national security in Beagalia public shelters - which most Mason officials, members of Progress and federal employees chose to accept - Fall event organizers offered a similar choice to entrants regarding play during the storm, all of whom also willingly accepted and consented to the risks. From Monday 11 September to Thursday 14 September, Citizen’s Arena will itself partially function as a public shelter with full refunds available to Fall ticketholders, while athletes will be transported to and from closed-roof matches in special armored vehicles. Visitors stranded in Citizen's Arena as a result of the storm can choose to shelter on the grounds until the all-clear, or take special armored transport to the next-closest public shelter. While it is regrettable that national tennis is beginning its first official Major tournament by bearing the brunt of a major storm, there could be more positive history awaiting fans and entrants when the skies finally clear. The Fall of Dexterra 2023 will be launched with a two-part opening salvo despite the epitome of inclement weather. 16 singles and 8 doubles qualifiers were decided on 10 September, of which the singles qualifiers are currently enduring rapid trial by fire as they stampede into the singles-only round of 128 today, 11 September. Doubles qualifiers will join the main draw when it begins with the round of 64 from 12 to 13 September. As forewarned, many of these matches may be delayed by Hurricane Leviathan, but official word is still forthcoming from event organizers. Despite the oncoming major storm, the first-ever national Major is all set to proceed with caution through the opening qualifying rounds, singles-only round of 128 and round of 64. There are many Beagles to keep an eye on in this slamming summer finale, perhaps far too many for analysts or fans to fully track: • Half of the Fall '23 singles and doubles qualifying participants are launching their national careers, while the other half are established athletes bouncing back from previous qualifying or early main draw defeats. In singles, Aparna Apollinaris, Hunter Best, Cori Cherry, Elijah Hightower Sr., Kendrick Ingram, J.T. Jackson, G. Julius Kennedy, Quentin Pierce, Dominique Powers, Aurelio Prince, Autumn Roma, Víctor Vélez, Thaddeus Waller, Mark Warwick IV, Wayne Weeks Jr. and Socorro Zavala all either won play-in matches or accepted a lucky loser position into the qualifiers. Likewise, in doubles, Josie R. Thornton/Ray Barker, Hunter Best/Selina Quickley, Sebastián Márquez/Edmundo Figueroa, Kurt F. Kerry/Tara Shields, Guadalupe Mejía/Eusébio Montoya, Trent Wolf/Dominique Powers, Barrett Steele/Johnny Price and Andre Rivers/Marcellus Wade also won play-in matches or were lucky losers. Lastly, Nate Rasmussen/Parker Hayes-McCauley are partially marking their career start in the Fall qualifiers, with Rasmussen the former partner of Allison Carr until she formed a new doubles team with her brother Jamari, and Hayes-McCauley his on-and-off semipro partner before meeting Carr. Can any of these brave beginners withstand those weathered by Independex, Jungle and/or Boardwalk experience? •• Of these introductory qualifiers, three are new surface specialists: grass specialist Cori Cherry, clay specialists Guadalupe Mejía/Eusébio Montoya and carpet specialist Jonathan Tutt 'J.T.' Jackson. The qualifying rounds also feature active surface specialists: carpet specialists Judah Merritt/Iyana López, and grass specialists Simeon David, Colby Houston, Clarence Snow and Leigh Trujillo/Mikayla R.B. Lee. Every other active surface specialist will also appear in the rounds of 128 or 64. •• Inspired by the success of wheelchair stars Derek Rich VIII and Estella Y. Kirby, the qualifying rounds feature a strapping new singles wheelchair athlete and the nation's first-ever all wheelchair-doubles team: Kendrick Ingram will become the third Dexter singles wheelchair athlete, while Kurt F. Kerry/Tara Shields will also make history as the first all-wheelchair doubles team. All three are former semiprofessional and amateur athletes who form a growing wealth of differently-capable tennis stars, and have continuously expressed to reporters their excitement to join the likes of Rich VIII and E. Kirby. •• Amidst the immense pressure of resurfacing as the Fall singles 1-seed anchored by a mythical Boardwalk title, Julian Hull will also try to keep his head above doubles qualifying waters with longtime partner and Fall unseeded singles entrant Jennifer Kirby. Crestfallen in back-to-back Independex qualifying rounds, the Hull/Kirby duo are reportedly in a make-or-break Fall '23 qualifying situation versus wheelchair upstarts Kerry/Shields, as the two are evidently struggling to click in part because of widening discrepancies in their singles success that at least siphons time and effort from doubles training. With rumors that Hull may retire from doubles competition to focus on singles no matter his Fall results, will this be the last time the Hull/Kirby team are seen on court, even if they finally experience a Major breakthrough? • Hosted in Dexterra's national capital and largest city, Fall '23 will likely include more hometown entrants than any other tournament. Beagalia is the proud home of singles athletes Abram Benson, Luis Bond, Kendrick Ingram, DeAngelo Lucas, Tamika Morton, Gisselle Orr, Autumn Roma and Mark Warwick IV, plus doubles teams Thomas Atkins/Kayden Santiago, Sebastián Márquez/Edmundo Figueroa, Billy Holloway/Tiara Goodwin-Githa and Olivia May/Ædan Morris. Two qualifying participants, Aparna Apollinaris and Víctor Vélez, were born in the city but raised elsewhere. Additionally, Boardwalk finalist Ulysses Bliss recently began his freshman year at the University of Beagalia, joining alumni across both draws. Of these proud Beagaliens, several are seeded at the Fall: Bliss at singles 3rd, Benson at singles 6th, May/Morris at doubles 7th and Orr at singles 19th. The nation's capital and largest city may bring more hometown entrants than ever before, but whether seeded, unseeded or a qualifier, they have much tennis work to do. • Many tennis stars are recording their first-ever tournament seeding at the Fall '23, earned by illustrious deep runs thwarted perhaps all too soon. In singles, Viola Frederick debuts at 9th, Carter Allen at 11th, Derek Rich VIII at 14th, Joanne Ramos at 16th, Jabari Cervantes at 26th, Keira Gay at 27th, Dwayne North at 29th and Nicholas Blevins at 30th - fully one quarter of all seeded entrants. Two doubles teams are joining them in this milestone: May Lee Thorsen/Kellen Hamilton at 8th, and Lillian Burch/Miles Wilson Blanchard at 12th. Can the likes of grass specialist Cervantes, former quarterfinalists Rich VIII and Thorsen/Hamilton and former semifinalists Allen, Frederick and May/Morris all now hold off quaking qualifiers and unsavory unseeded challengers, as they take their careers to the next level with their first-ever tournament seeding? • A number of Dexterra's international tennis athletes are returning to national action as Fall '23 wildcards. In singles, grass specialists Macie Goodwin III and Serenity Petersen are hoping to improve upon early Boardwalk exits that suggests they may have much catching up to do, after Goodwin III reached the 2nd Independex quarterfinals and Petersen the 1st Independex finals. They will be joined by clay specialist Tristan Armstrong, the first Black Dexter to win an international title though also stunned in the 1st Independex round of 128, and generalist Michael Loy, the 1st Independex champion and the only Dexter to ever win an international grand slam let alone reach a slam final. Facing a quintessential quadrilogy of seeded challengers in the Fall round of 128, can any of these stars outshine their Beagle brethren, or might they have to pick up the national pieces? "It's a huge honor for us to get back to our roots and come back to Citizen's Arena and national tennis where a lot of our careers took off," summarized Loy, the international squad's Tier 1-captain, on behalf of his fellow wildcards in an exclusive interview with Dextennis. "It's been fun watching these home tournaments and I hope we each get a good chance to shape them now." In doubles, Petersen will regroup with longtime partner Jaime Green Jr. as Fall wildcards after a brief Boardwalk bid, looking again to outdo their run to the 2nd Independex finals. The grass specialists will march in lockstep with 2nd Independex champions and clay specialists Harper Villarreal/Gwen Daniel, who also return as Fall wildcards. Much like their singles counterparts, can the global Dexter doubles duopoly extend their reach over home turf, or will two rising seeded stars slam the door on them? As several international Dexterra Beagles try to claw back into national contention, they surely have their tennis work cut out for them as Fall wildcards set to collide with skillful seeded entrants in the opening round. • Fall '23 features a total of fifteen entrants contending both singles and doubles, a demanding challenge because of the difference in best-of-five set matches versus best-of-three. Doubles teammates Nicholas Blevins/Jeanine Burgess, Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby (as mentioned), Branson McClain/Journey Ross and 1st Independex finalists Calvin Rush/Colt Patel are all appearing in Fall singles, while Demetrius Barron, Amani D. Berry, Hunter Best, Gracelyn Matthews, Mikayla R.B. Lee, Serenity Petersen and Dominique Powers will attempt Fall singles absent their doubles partners. Though a complex web of interconnected Fall entrants is understandably confusing, the picture may become clearer in the opening rounds as fifteen courageous Beagles make a name for themselves in both singles and doubles at this inaugural national slam. • Each of the 2023 grass singles finalists may be worth watching through the Fall '23 round of 128, as they attempt to take their careers to the last and greatest stage they have yet to reach. While Fall 3-seed Ulysses Bliss was noted as having started at the University of Beagalia two days after sinking in the Boardwalk finals, his career-high ranking also highlights his meteoric ascension mere months after debuting as a 2nd Independex wildcard; can he continue to go above and beyond in only his fourth-ever professional tournament, or will the freshman finally crash back to Earth in a crucial tennis life lesson? Fall 5-seed Laila Love may hold a clue to his fate: after going down swinging in the Jungle finals, she netted only one victory until broken up in a 7-9 final set epic in the Boardwalk round of 32. Though Love may be relieved that the Fall and future tournaments now feature final set tiebreaks, she has confided to the press that she would feel the most relief finally crossing the championship finish line - so will she right career missteps while tracing blueprints for other present and future finalists? Both lionhearted grass finalists have great strides to take in summiting the top of the tennis grassland, especially in the initial Fall footsteps outlining the round of 128. • Multiple clay specialist ex-singles numbers 1 will attempt to climb back to the top ranking during the Fall '23 round of 128. After igniting the grass season with a statement Jungle championship only to collapse in a Boardwalk quarterfinal classic, Fall 2-seed Camille Fletcher will once again look to prove that her talents aren't just limited to clay - she can continue to handle her weakest surface as well, despite the rebuttal of her most recent results. But in a draw overrun by behemoth grass specialists, starry seeded entrants and magical unseeded miracle workers that will take up to five sets to defeat rather than three, La Matadora may have to put on the performance of a lifetime if she wants to resume her reign as queen of the singles rankings. She at least has a championship to back up her divine mandate: another former number 1 is yet to claim such a milestone. Having begun the grass season tied for the top singles ranking with Julian Hull, Fall 4-seed Wendy Yates has fought valiantly to keep up with this grass bane of her clay existence, shocked in the Jungle opener and then the Boardwalk round of 16 on her 26th birthday. Undeterred by a similarly daunting draw and the increasing possibility of being a forgotten number 1, Yates may at least have an advantage in her ability to skillfully transition to best-of-five matches from best-of-three, having staked her former half of the number 1 ranking by reaching the 2nd Independex semifinals. Of course, the singles landscape is vastly different during Fall '23 as compared to previous attempts at a national slam, and there is no telling what awaits any entrant this time around. Two former singles numbers 1 have a truly lofty goal to face through the nation's first official Major event, as clay specialists looking to outpace grass hindrances that stand athwart their hopeful return to the top of the rankings. • Fall '23 may pit together more families than likely ever before. Across singles and doubles, the Beagle house knits together the likes of siblings Allison and Jamari Carr; brothers Aarav and Ross Cisneros; twins Tracie and Laila Franco; cousins Jeremías and Yandel Jiménez; sisters Jaliyah and Laila Love; cousins Ayaan and Clark McFarland; cousins Gael and Kelly Randall; siblings Sid and Journey Ross; sisters Rebecca and Shirley Waukesha; and siblings Anderson and Ellen Whitehead. While some of these illustrious families form powerhouse doubles squads that could ultimately cross Fall paths, others are on a potential collision course in singles should they endure a fearsome draw. Dexterra's initial national slam is sure to highlight a number of matches and athletes of note, some of which are Dexter relatives joining familial forces or perhaps destined to challenge their own sibling or cousin. • Each of the former 2nd Independex wildcards are continuing their young careers as they become more established athletes. While Ulysses Bliss’ career has already blasted off with meteoric runs to the Jungle semifinals and Boardwalk finals, fellow former singles wildcard Fidela Kirkpatrick has yet to win any professional match despite solid performances in the 2nd Independex, Jungle and Boardwalk openers. Similar to Bliss, the 18-year-old recently began her freshman year at Deep Confluence University, and this semester is taking her first 18 credits towards a Bachelor’s of Science in Athletics degree with a Concentration in Generalist Tennis, for which she earns further credit by playing national tennis. Might she too crack the blissful code to a sudden career liftoff in the Fall round of 128? In doubles, Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya had notched at least one win in their 2nd Independex wildcard debut, though they later sunk in the Boardwalk opener. As the 18- and 19-year-old sophomores at the University of Treaty Point now tack on Fall credit to their individual Bachelor's of Arts in Athletics with a Concentration in Doubles Tennis degree programs, they too are burning the midnight oil before putting their tennis experience back to the test. Like Bliss and Kirkpatrick, how will McClendon/Natalya fare in an increasingly sturdy field that seems to always meet or exceed their initial career steps? After all four 2nd Independex wildcards were invited to substitute international athletes, they have each initiated fascinatingly different careers which will soon turn an exciting new page as they return to a slam-level event. With national tennis decisively coming to a head in the Fall of Dexterra 2023, Beagle athletes and followers alike may soon be awestruck by a sensational conclusion to this inaugural grass season. However, the nation's first-ever national slam is also proceeding with caution through the opening qualifying rounds and singles-only round of 128, as Hurricane Leviathan hammers dangerous weather and extreme risk upon much of the nation - including the Fall '23 host city of Beagalia. After the storm passes, there will still be many Fall sights to behold: the addition of final set tiebreaks, numerous champions & finalists grappling for a further place in history, introductory singles athletes & doubles teams which includes new surface specialists as well as new wheelchair athletes, brave entrants vying both singles & doubles, proud Beagaliens representing their hometown, an array of first-time tournament seedings, the return of international competitors via national wildcards, former numbers 1 looking to clamor back to the top, several related entrants, developing former wildcards and perhaps more athletes and teams of note for which there are simply far too many for Dexter sports media to properly track. In sizing up this volatile successor to The Brightsands Boardwalk and The Swing of the Jungle, who will rise above the grueling challenges of Major tennis so as to literally and figuratively etch their names into legend? The first inklings of national slam history will soon be revealed in a gripping series of Fall '23 qualifying rounds immediately followed by the singles round of 128. Live coverage of The Fall of Dexterra will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Fall qualifiers and singles round of 1281 Year AgoSingles qualifiers Qualifier 1 Simeon David 4 6 6 Socorro Zavala 6 2 3 Qualifier 2 Adrián Gómez 6 6 Wayne Weeks Jr. 4 4 Qualifier 3 Marcus Haas 6 6 Mark Warwick IV 2 3 Qualifier 4 Vance Harrington 2 6 7 Thaddeus Waller 6 4 5 Qualifier 5 Colby Houston 7 3 1 Víctor Vélez 5 6 6 Qualifier 6 Tianna Marks 3 2 Autumn Roma 6 6 Qualifier 7 Quincy Martin 7 3 6 Aurelio Prince 5 6 4 Qualifier 8 Jaiden Meléndez 6 4 1 Dominique Powers 4 6 6 Qualifier 9 Zane Peña 6 5 3 Quentin Pierce 2 7 6 Qualifier 10 Journey Ross 7 4 1 G. Julius Kennedy 6 6 6 Qualifier 11 Clarence Snow 3 2 J.T. Jackson 6 6 Qualifier 12 María Suarez 2 4 Kendrick Ingram 6 6 Qualifier 13 Donovan Swanson 3 5 Elijah Hightower Sr. 6 7 Qualifier 14 Arlene Wyatt 3 1 Cori Cherry 6 6 Qualifier 15 Enrique Walters 6 4 6 Hunter Best 2 6 1 Qualifier 16 Bryce Wilson 3 6 0 Aparna Apollinaris 6 2 6 Doubles qualifiers Qualifier 1 Jaliyah Love/Jeremías Jiménez 4 7 6 Andre Rivers/Marcellus Wade 6 6 3 Qualifier 2 Nate Rasmussen/Parker Hayes-McCauley 7 7 Barrett Steele/Johnny Price 5 6 Qualifier 3 Cristina Ellison/Margarito Acevedo 6 4 Trent Wolf/Dominique Powers 7 6 Qualifier 4 Edward Moody/Francis Paul III 7 1 2 Guadalupe Mejía/Eusébio Montoya 6 6 6 Qualifier 5 Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby 7 6 Kurt F. Kerry/Tara Shields 5 3 Qualifier 6 Leigh Trujillo/Mikayla R.B. Lee 6 2 4 Sebastián Márquez/Edmundo Figueroa 4 6 6 Qualifier 7 Judah Merritt/Iyana López 6 6 Hunter Best/Selina Quickley 1 3 Qualifier 8 Blaine Washington/Chelsea Moss 6 3 7 Josie R. Thornton/Ray Barker 2 6 6 Singles-only round of 128 (1) Julian Hull 6 6 6 (Q16) Aparna Apollinaris 1 3 4 Aylin Davidson 6 2 3 6 6 Bráulio Escobar 2 6 6 4 7 (32) Ross Cisneros 6 3 6 2 5 Jaeden McIntyre 4 6 2 6 7 Aspen Collier 3 6 3 5 Ayaan McFarland 6 3 6 7 (16) Joanne Ramos 6 2 3 6 6 (Q1) Simeon David 4 6 6 2 1 Demetrius Barron 2 6 7 6 Mario Mathis 6 3 5 2 (17) Sabrina Craig 6 3 6 7 (WC) Michael Loy 4 6 4 6 Grayson Banks 7 3 6 6 Keshawn McNeil 6 6 3 4 (8) Curtis West IV 6 1 4 7 7 (Q9) Quentin Pierce 4 6 6 5 5 Ashlyn Mills-Myrto 6 6 4 2 6 Emily Gallegos 4 3 6 6 2 (25) Lane Bird 6 5 5 6 0 Amir Bennett 4 7 7 1 6 Alanna Jesenia Ochoa 2 6 6 Estella Y. Kirby 6 7 7 (9) Viola Frederick 0 2 6 6 6 (Q8) Dominique Powers 6 6 4 4 4 Branson McClain 6 6 6 Lucille Ha 2 0 3 (24) Connor Rivas 5 6 3 0 Amani D. Berry 7 4 6 6 Colt Patel 1 6 6 7 6 Chris Stokes 6 2 7 6 4 (4) Wendy Yates 7 6 6 (Q13) Elijah Hightower Sr. 5 3 4 Jeanine Burgess 7 6 6 6 Laila Franco 5 7 4 3 (29) Dwayne North 4 6 6 2 6 Sid Ross 6 2 3 6 3 Efrain Harmon 4 6 5 Crystal Key 6 7 7 (13) DeMarcus Shannon Jr. 4 5 7 2 (Q4) Vance Harrington 6 7 5 6 Aarav Cisneros 5 4 6 7 6 Jennifer Kirby 7 6 2 5 1 (20) Alexis Keith 6 2 4 3 (WC) Macie Goodwin III 4 6 6 6 Jolie Shelton 5 7 4 6 6 Calvin Rush 7 6 6 4 7 (5) Laila Love 5 7 6 1 6 (Q12) Kendrick Ingram 7 6 3 6 3 Tamika Morton 6 5 3 4 Tracie Franco 3 7 6 6 (28) Mikayla R.B. Lee 6 6 4 6 4 Oswaldo Wilcox 2 4 6 7 6 Jo Hughes 6 6 2 4 6 Elisha Kaufman 2 4 6 6 1 (12) Kyle Norris 3 3 7 2 (Q5) Víctor Vélez 6 6 6 6 Isaías Fuentes 4 3 7 6 3 Anthony Hoffman 6 6 6 3 6 (21) Noah Booker 6 5 6 7 Elliot Cowan 3 7 1 5 A.J. Sánchez 6 3 6 6 6 Kendall Salinas 1 6 3 7 1 (2) Camille Fletcher 7 7 3 6 (Q15) Enrique Walters 5 6 6 3 Adrián Calderón 3 6 3 7 3 Laura Fields 6 2 6 6 6 (31) Reese Bradley 7 0 7 4 6 Elliott Nichols 6 6 5 6 3 Alyssa Dillon 6 6 6 Monique Mayer 3 1 2 (15) DeAngelo Barr 4 4 6 2 (Q2) Adrián Gómez 6 6 0 6 Luis Bond 6 4 6 7 Cassandra Luna 4 6 3 5 (18) Gracelyn Matthews 6 2 6 4 1 (WC) Tristan Armstrong 3 6 1 6 6 Nick O'Wiggins 6 3 3 6 Anika Pugh 3 6 6 7 (7) Esmeralda Serrano 4 6 6 6 (Q10) G. Julius Kennedy 6 4 4 4 Sheryl Moses 4 6 7 6 DeShawn Gaines 6 0 5 3 (26) Jabari Cervantes 6 6 6 Taylor Barnett 2 4 3 Genaro McCoy Jr. 2 6 7 2 2 Aurelia Williamson 6 4 6 6 6 (10) Michelle Keller 4 7 6 6 (Q7) Quincy Martin 6 5 4 1 Kingston Lewis 3 5 6 6 6 Vickie Hickman 6 7 4 4 4 (23) Caiden Molina 6 6 6 5 6 Brodie Bradford 3 4 7 7 7 Lainey Porter 6 7 4 0 2 Dario Stewart 1 5 6 6 6 (3) Ulysses Bliss 6 6 6 (Q14) Cori Cherry 0 3 4 Lydia Bush 6 6 6 Marley Floyd 4 2 4 (30) Nicholas Blevins 7 6 6 5 6 Kelly Randall 5 2 7 7 4 Nyla Gibson 6 6 4 6 3 Ian Villegas 7 4 6 3 6 (14) Derek Rich VIII 6 6 6 (Q3) Marcus Haas 1 2 4 Maverick Casey 2 6 1 7 5 DeAngelo Lucas 6 3 6 5 7 (19) Gisselle Orr 6 4 6 6 5 (WC) Serenity Petersen 7 6 3 3 7 Matteo Tafte 6 6 3 7 Aidan Reeves 1 4 6 5 (6) Abram Benson 6 4 6 6 (Q11) J.T. Jackson 3 6 2 3 Enrique Solomon 6 6 3 2 6 Casey Frey-Danica 2 1 6 6 4 (27) Keira Gay 2 2 6 6 6 Justice Barnes 6 6 3 3 3 Jaquan Knight 3 7 6 6 Alonzo Hurley 6 6 4 1 (11) Carter Allen 1 6 6 4 6 (Q6) Autumn Roma 6 3 3 6 4 Fidela Kirkpatrick 6 6 7 6 Alvin Hicks 7 3 6 0 (22) Francesca Burns 4 6 6 6 Seth Burr 6 2 3 4 Gael Randall 6 6 6 Angelo Short 4 4 3 |
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Event XXVI Round II1 Year Ago13 September 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ State of the arts / Arts of the state Editor's note: while Dextennis have
been pleased to provide extensive coverage of The Fall of Dexterra 2023
opening rounds even while sheltering through Hurricane Leviathan, we
are also thrilled to present an essay written by 3-seed Ulysses Bliss
for one of his classes at the University of Beagalia, which loosely ties
into the recent Fall round of 128 and upcoming round of 64. 12 September 2023 Ulysses Bliss Prof. [name withheld for privacy] ENGL 105 Introducing Myself and My Career Ambitions My
name is Ulysses Bliss and I am excited to introduce myself and my
career ambitions by discussing my studies, my experiences and my goals
for our Command of the Dexter English Language course this Fall 2023. I
am a freshman here at the University of Beagalia pursuing a degree in
Athletics with a Concentration in Generalist Tennis, and I am taking our
class because it is a required course for humanities students, but I am
excited to read interesting literature and refine my writing skills. I
am 18 years old, born 2 January 2005, and I am a proud Tristan born and
raised in Upperlight. I became a student at Beagalia because I wanted to
join one of the best and most famous Athletics programs in the country.
Ever since I was a kid I have dreamt of being a professional tennis
player, which I am lucky to be doing already as a member of the national
tennis tour, and I have had a lot of success by reaching a semifinals
and finals. It is surreal just to play in any national tennis
tournament, let alone be a seeded player or reach the later rounds. I
hope to become a great tennis player, the greatest of all time, but I
just want to at least win one national slam and become singles number 1.
I also hope to inspire a new generation of tennis players and leave a
legacy of increased interest in the sport nationwide. Today I am
fortunate to focus on our Command of Dexter English class this Fall, and
introduce myself by discussing my Athletics studies, my tennis
experiences and my career goals. It is a very special opportunity to study Athletics here in our nation's capital as part of my tennis journey. Dexterra is one of the only countries in the world that offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs in Athletics, where prospective athletes or coaches study a sport while turning professional, and the University of Beagalia is one of the largest and most comprehensive Dexter centers for sports education. A lot of professional athletes, famous tennis players and other personal heroes of mine are alumni, such as Michael Loy, Tristan Armstrong and Derek Rich VIII. It was a huge honor to be accepted into this prestigious institution as much as it was tough to turn down other top schools like my hometown's Upperlight University or the University of Treaty Point. Before I became a Beagalia Beagle, I played high school tennis and won the national championship this year right before graduating, which started my professional career by leading to a wildcard into the 2nd Independex Championships. By then I had already been accepted into university, so I decided to balance school and tennis by attending classes virtually when I play a tournament. Usually, Athletics students earn credit by playing professionally, in fact many are required to be playing or coaching full-time by their senior year or final semester. At Beagalia, students must become either a professional athlete or a coach by their final semester, and since I already have a professional career, I just need to complete my tennis classes plus a handful of required courses, such as our Dexter English course and some science, history and personal finance classes, before I can finish my degree program. I must also complete a certain number of electives, and I am considering taking different languages so I can communicate fluently in each tournament host city. This semester, I am taking four classes worth sixteen credits total, two of which are tennis classes while the other two are required courses. One of the most interesting things about my career studies is that I am pursuing a Bachelor's of Arts, whereas most professional athletes graduate with a Bachelor's of Science. There is a lot of debate as to which is better for prospective athletes, but the difference in a B.A. in Athletics versus a B.S. essentially boils down to performance versus technique. I hope to prove that B.A. athletes can be just as successful if not more so, and ultimately go on to have longer, healthier careers. I am also considering eventually pursuing a Master's or even a PhD in Athletics, but the intensive nature of those programs makes them more for prospective coaches and I am not sure if I want to be a coach some day. While it does seem like a lot of hard work just to study an undergraduate degree in Athletics here at the largest Dexter university, it is a blessing to study my favorite sport in one of my dream schools, because the lessons I learn could prove invaluable to my professional tennis career. I have had a lot of incredible and exciting experiences in my brief career on the national tennis tour. While a lot of Dexter athletes turn professional in their early 20s (usually around their junior or senior year if they're an Athletics student), I am lucky to have started my career before university, and become one of the youngest pro athletes in the country. It was an honor to be invited to the 2nd Independex Championships as a wildcard to replace some of my biggest sports heroes who sadly had to withdraw from the tournament, but it was an amazing opportunity to make my tennis dreams come true at a time when I thought it would take years to turn pro. In my first career match, I played in front of more people, cameras and microphones than ever before, and found that pro tennis is a lot harder than high school and college, because while I did hit some good shots I also got pulverized in straight sets. It was much harder to fill the shoes of my idols than I thought. After graduating high school a few weeks later, I decided to spend my last summer vacation before college by training for tennis eight hours a day, every day. I feel like if I want to be the best, I should strive for it. I know it sounds crazy but I think it paid off quickly. In the next tournament, The Swing of the Jungle, I not only got my first pro win, but I went all the way to the semifinals. I beat grass specialist Tamika Morton 9-7 in a final set, I beat hometown grass specialist Esmeralda Serrano in straight sets but then I got crushed by a clay specialist, Camille Fletcher, who was better than all of them and went on to win the tournament. I definitely made progress in a short amount of time but of course still had further to go. At the next tournament, The Brightsands Boardwalk, I had my first tournament seeding ever at number 8, which is a crucial milestone for any pro tennis player. I took down former international player Michelle Keller in primetime, I got revenge on Camille Fletcher in what a lot of pundits called the match of the tournament and then I beat grass specialist Curtis West IV to win my first semifinals. It was absolutely crazy to think that I had just reached a pro tennis finals where I would become singles number 1 if I won, but I also knew that I had to play Julian Hull, who is one of the best and most competitive Dexter tennis players on tour with the coolest-looking trident racquets. I pushed him in the first set but he was just way too skilled in how he seemed to answer everything. He hit some of the most perfect shots and impeccable defense I have ever seen, and as he got better at breaking my serve and holding his own, he steadily took control of the championship. While it was hard to be so close yet so far from winning a title and becoming the number 1-ranked player, I do think losing the finals was an important experience which I can improve upon, that also gave me an immense amount of respect for my opponent. After the match, my idol Michael Loy texted me and offered support because he has had a lot of similar career experiences, and he helped me recognize that I debuted only months ago and have already reached tournament stages that longtime athletes still dream of seeing. My career would not be what it is today without his backing and the support of my head coach, Esperanza Castillo, and all my coaches, trainers and fans. As if I am not already lucky to play pro tennis, I am also fortunate to have experienced early success, which I believe I can expand upon as I further my career. There are many goals I hope to achieve throughout my tennis career, such as winning a tournament, winning a national slam and attaining the number 1 ranking and more. While it may be cliché for a pro athlete to list these things as their career goals, I have already come close to accomplishing at least two of these goals. I wouldn't say there is any one tournament I hope to win most except maybe The Brightsands Boardwalk after my experiences in reaching the finals, but if I ever do become a champion I hope it happens in my hometown of Upperlight or another Tristan city. I have heard that the Tennis Assembly plans to host a national slam in Tristerra, so I am already training rigorously to at least get to the semifinals there. Right now, I am playing the current national slam, The Fall of Dexterra, right down the street from my Beagalia classrooms. This is an important career test because we are playing best-of-five set matches, and the tournaments in which I reached the semifinals and finals were best-of-three. I have not played best-of-five tennis since I debuted at the 2nd Independex Championships, but in the recent first Fall round, I managed a straight set win over Cori Cherry, an introductory grass specialist much like me from a few months ago. With a lot of amazingly talented athletes like her in the Fall singles draw, I am still not sure if I will achieve my goal of winning a national slam this time around, but I at least might learn enough to win it all next year or at another slam. It is at least a monumental milestone to be the 3-seed at this tournament and 3rd in the singles rankings, which are incredibly high positions I had not considered possible when I turned pro. Of course, there are still a ways to go from 3rd, whether up or down. I hope that one day I can climb all the way up to singles number 1, which might be possible with a lot of ranking points available and the chance for upsets at the top, but I also need to stay healthy and lucky to become number 1. I will also probably have to play the best players in order to take the top ranking, which I have already seen is a daunting challenge. If I stay fully healthy throughout my career, I could probably retire in my early to mid-40s like many of the best Dexter athletes, so I have a lot of time to make each of my career goals a reality. During that time, if I don't achieve my goals, I would at least like to inspire future athletes to pick up a racquet. Tennis can be a fun and rewarding sport for everyone, and I believe there are a lot of future stars who just need the right spark. Throughout my tennis career, I hope to achieve a number of important career goals like becoming a tournament champion, becoming a slam champion and becoming singles number 1, but in the end I would still be satisfied if all I achieved through my efforts was inspiring just one future professional athlete. My name is Ulysses Bliss, and it has been a pleasure to introduce myself by discussing my Athletics studies, tennis experiences and career goals for our Command of the Dexter English Language course this Fall 2023. It is as exciting as it is fortunate for me to begin my freshman year here at the University of Beagalia, where I am pursuing a Bachelor's of Arts in Athletics with a Concentration in Generalist Tennis. I am taking this Command of Dexter English course because it is required for my degree program, but I am looking forward to enjoying Dexter literature and honing my writing abilities for the good it will do for both myself and my career. I am 18 years old and was born and raised in Upperlight, along with two sisters, a brother and two beagles. I chose to study here at Beagalia so my tennis career could benefit from one of the best and most well-known athletics programs in the country. Many professional athletes and other personal heroes of mine are alumni or even faculty. Currently, I am taking sixteen credit hours while also a member of the national tennis tour, both of which were part of my lifelong dreams. I believe that I have already experienced success in my brief professional career by reaching a semifinals and a finals, but I could not have made any progress whatsoever without my coaches, supporters and fans. If I stay healthy and prosperous, I could enjoy a long and fruitful career, in which I hope to win at least one tournament, a national slam and the number 1 ranking. I also hope to inspire others to become a professional athlete or at least pick up a racquet. At this moment, I am just grateful to begin our Dexter English course this Fall by outlining my sports education, tennis highlights and career ambitions, and I look forwards to further opportunities to introduce myself. Dextennis hopes you've enjoyed this latest lesson in tennis academics. Stay tuned for more national sports action as Bliss plus other singles and doubles stars weather The Fall of Dexterra 2023 round of 64. Live coverage of The Fall of Dexterra will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Round of 641 Year AgoSingles round of 64      Doubles round of 64     |
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Event XXVI Round III1 Year Ago15 September 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ March in September A boat sits wrecked on your neighbor's roof. The tree in the front yard is now down the street, in a car that wasn't a convertible last night. A creek swirls around your ankles where there’s normally sidewalks and roads. The next bus is still on time, but the tennis livestream has a ticker listing conditions and alerts. This isn’t a scene from a disaster movie like The Day Before Yesterday or 1999 - this is Beagalia, 2023. Amidst the onslaught of a Category 3 major storm named Hurricane Leviathan, the nation's first-ever official Major tennis tournament is continuing to power through its opening rounds. The Fall of Dexterra 2023 launched both the singles and doubles main draws through the round of 64 into the round of 32, even as Leviathan battered the host city of Beagalia and much of the Dexter mainland with torrential rains and fierce winds, appearing to rattle many athletes from the Spanish Coast whose hometowns were hit the hardest. Local officials in Beagalia formally gave the all-clear yesterday, 14 September, lifting an Evacuate-or-Shelter Order (EOSO) that had been in place since 10 September, which caused Citizen's Arena to function as a partial public hurricane shelter through the Fall '23 opening rounds, among other safety precautions taken by local officials and event organizers. However, a national state of emergency declared by United Peoples Commoner Jacqueline Mason last Friday, 8 September, is still in effect until 23:59 today, Friday 15 September, as the storm trails away from the northwestern English Coast. While many Dexters are eager to resume their normal lives now that the storm has finally passed, there is much clean up to do in its wake, with damaged infrastructure, downed trees, scattered debris and other hazards littering the streets as officials and volunteers work at a bristling pace to restore the nation to a pristine condition. Neither any of the Fall entrants nor any of the attendants were ever in any danger by playing through the storm, officials and organizers agree, though many entrants were unable to see family and friends during this time. With hopefully sunnier, calmer weather on the way, the first official national slam can now truly go supernova in this decisive conclusion to the 2023 grass court season, even with Leviathan raising climate alarms ahead of the Fall sweet sixteen. "While Leviathan wasn't the storm of the century, it was definitely one of the strongest this hurricane season, and the Nature Council for one hopes that we look back at it as the worst of this season's annual peak. The storm made landfall along the Península Zafiro around the early morning hours of the 10th or the 11th, and lingered around the mainland for a couple days while veering west-northwest up through the Peninsula Westfields. As much as twenty-five centimeters of rain were reported in some places, and the highest confirmed wind gust was approximately 230 kph off the coast of Caminos. Some 40 to 65 Dexters are feared dead, and many more are injured or missing, with damages currently estimated to total about $2-5 billion. Of course Nature are doing everything we can to prepare everyone for such destructive storms, but I personally believe that Leviathan should be a global wake-up call to take further action on climate change," forewarned Parker Windsor-Hawkins, Caretaker of the Nature Council, in an interview on DBC Evening News. "Dexterra may be one of the most hurricane-fortified nations in the world, but there is only so much we can do when ocean waters turn unseasonably warm and allow for major storms, which will keep happening as climate change causes temperatures and sea levels to rise. And while us Dexters have made great green strides by maintaining sole reliance on clean energy, phasing out all gas-powered vehicles and enforcing strict emissions standards, the green fight must still go on with every major storm that strikes. The impact we, as human beings, are having on this planet must be addressed if it's not too late." As organizers at The Fall of Dexterra 2023 prepare to hand out ample sunscreen for the round of 32, Hurricane Leviathan will surely continue to stir debate through a tournament already aglow with monumental revelations. An increasing swell of climate activists and supporters attended Fall opening rounds, sporting blue and green face-paint resembling Earth - with a prominent white swirl on their right cheek for Leviathan. Some even briefly handed out t-shirts and posters before the round of 64 that placed satellite imagery of Leviathan overtop the nation between a caption which read 'No Ice Caps, No Tennis.' Numerous Fall classics were challenged for top trending on Dexter social media by images of the destruction wrought by the storm, such as flooded national parks, ransacked suburbs and flattened buildings that were not yet converted to withstand Category 5 systems according to hurricane building codes. Some of these images and videos were taken in Beagalia proper, including that of a sailboat once docked in a marina until the storm dropped it outside Beagle Court V. But nevertheless able to put Leviathan behind us as a great climate change crusade foments, the nation is also in awe of some of the wreckage left by the onset of its first Major tennis tournament. A number of groundbreaking upsets and nailbiting matches rocked the Fall '23 round of 64 and upcoming round of 32, not to mention connections to preceding tournaments: • The Boardwalk may have had the last laugh on the Jungle in this grass season finale with one of the most significant upsets in recent memory. Brightsands grass specialist Laura Fields quietly entered the Fall singles main draw as an unseeded entrant, recently dashed in the opening round of her home tournament - but the former 1st Independex quarterfinalist has now resurfaced in Beagalia clearly ready for a more colossal challenger than ever before: Fall 2-seed and Jungle champion Camille Fletcher. The singles number 2, while a clay specialist, initially appeared solid on her weakest surface, following up a sensational Jungle title with a mighty run to the Boardwalk quarterfinals. But the specter of a supercharged grass specialist plus the havoc wreaked by Leviathan in Beagalia and along her Costa Español homeland clearly cast a pall upon the reign of Fletcher, and in the most poetic fashion possible, the nation's first grass champion was dispatched by Fields in a 6-4, 3-6, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 uprooting. After overthrowing the Jungle queen in the round of 64 despite being down two sets and a break, can a Boardwalk hometowner continue to patch together further shocking Fall landslides? • A pivotal turning point in the Fall doubles main draw is owed in part to one of the leading singles athletes. Teaming back up after a long hiatus spurred by their focus on singles, Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby entered the qualifying rounds with the impression that herein may be their last career appearance before disbanding to permanently focus on singles, which pundits sense could still be the case even after they seemed to finally click versus their loftiest doubles opponents yet. Fall doubles 4-seeds Armani P. Edwards/Yandel Jiménez have had what many would consider an excellent grass season, climbing to the Jungle semifinals in Jiménez's hometown and then to the Boardwalk round of 16 - but neither experts nor casual fans knew what to expect when the numbers 4 opened the Fall main draw with a team that included the singles number 1. Soon blasting a gritty 7-6, 6-4 potential upset of the tournament, the Hull/Kirby duo have not only eclipsed most expectations by clinching the fifth qualifying spot, but also by claiming the Fall 4-seeds in a major shake-up to the main draw. If they still want to in some way ride off into the doubles sunset, experts and fans agree that the two may have to continue putting together their finest career hour against many of the toughest Fall challengers, like former 2nd Independex wildcards now on deck. •• Dual efforts across singles and doubles may be costing Julian Hull, escapee of a five set showdown, and Jennifer Kirby, ousted in the singles round of 128. Having entered this national slam already under enormous pressure as the recent Boardwalk champion, Fall singles 1-seed Hull wrapped his doubles match and then dived headlong into a 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 brawl with Bráulio Escobar, formerly known as Brittney until he came out as transgender and underwent gender transition. With a Category 3 hurricane audibly hammering the roof of Peoples Court all throughout the match, the King of the Deep was expected to recreate his straight set shellacking in the round of 128, but the new and improved Escobar proved nigh impossible to capsize. Pundits are beginning to believe that as Hull's singles opponents strengthen, he may also be drained by further doubles dives - so might he plunder any of the deepest Fall reaches, or could there be a breach lurking in the round of 32? • Some of Dexterra's international athletes are trucking through the Fall '23 opener, while others have already stalled in this return to slam tennis. In singles, Fall wildcard and grass specialist Serenity Petersen has endured consecutive five set epics in a gripping threequel to her run to the 1st Independex finals - though she must now see out Fall 14-seed and Boardwalk quarterfinalist Derek Rich VIII, the first wheelchair athlete ever to be seeded after becoming the first-ever wheelchair athlete to reach an elite eight. The only other wildcarded international athlete that persevered into the round of 32 was clay specialist Tristan Armstrong, outshining his 1st Independex round of 128 shocker with two world-class Fall performances, though he must now neutralize fellow clay specialist and Beagalia native Luis Bond. Wildcard and grass specialist Macie Goodwin III was not so fortunate: mowed down in the Fall round of 64 by 1st Independex doubles finalist Calvin Rush, and perhaps his chronic back injuries, he joins wildcard and 1st Independex champion Michael Loy who was rubbled in the round of 128. Of Dexterra's international doubles teams turned Fall wildcards, only grass specialists and 2nd Independex finalists Serenity Petersen/Jaime Green Jr. persist into the round of 32, with clay specialists and 2nd Independex champions Harper Villarreal/Gwen Daniel dismissed from the round of 64 by 10-seeds Angeline Bowman/Kyler Craig, who have reached back-to-back quarterfinals this grass season. As they mark their first national slam event since Independex uproar, how will international Beagles continue to fare digging into the Fall round of 32? • Former 2nd Independex introductory wildcards seem to be keeping it together in their return to slam-level tennis - for now. Fall 3-seed Ulysses Bliss was nearly swept off his freshman feet with Leviathan cancelling class at the University of Beagalia early this week, as the Boardwalk finalist clamored from two sets down to book a round of 32 rematch with Fall 30-seed Nicholas Blevins, a fellow Athletics student who pushed him to a tiebreak in the Boardwalk round of 32. Meanwhile, Fall unseeded entrant Fidela Kirkpatrick has not only notched her first career win, but also a gargantuan first career upset. In a round of 64 match that featured likely the widest age discrepancy between opponents, 18-year-old Kirkpatrick crumbled 40-year-old former Jungle semifinalist and 11-seed Carter Allen in straight sets - but can she keep the magic going versus 22-seed and Brightsands native Francesca Burns? Of these two 2nd Independex singles wildcards, they may have yet to hold a torch to doubles wildcards Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya, who as Fall unseeded entrants ignited their campaign with a 6-1, 6-0 eruption - but they must now put an end to a sudden meteoric rise by qualifiers Hull/Kirby in a dicey round of 32 collision. While all four former 2nd Independex wildcards appear to have made notable progress in their second attempt at slam tennis, the Fall challenges they continue to face far outpace that which grounded their career liftoffs nearly five months ago. • Though all Boardwalk qualifiers were vanquished in the opening rounds, one Fall singles and four doubles qualifiers are presently still alive. After the sophomore grass tournament witnessed a 0-12 thrashing of its entire qualifying crew, those brave enough to tread the conclusive grass qualifiers clearly trained to avoid another cataclysm. In singles, Vance Harrington is the only Fall singles qualifier out of sixteen to have reached the round of 32, though two others (Gómez and Vélez) had also reached the round of 64. In doubles, Nate Rasmussen/Parker Hayes-McCauley, Jaliyah Love/Jeremías Jiménez, Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby and introductory clay specialists Guadalupe Mejía/Eusébio Montoya - half of the Fall doubles qualifiers - are still pushing to replicate qualifier-to-quarterfinal Independex history once made by Fall 1-seed Dane Strong/Dorothy Booth and 3-seed Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson, who bloomed into Boardwalk champions and Jungle finalists (respectively). Having already outdone their Boardwalk qualifying predecessors famously sunken in one fell swoop, can surviving Fall qualifiers now take it even further and quantify a truly sweet sixteen? • Former Boardwalk semifinalists are fighting to stay alive through this grass finale. Fall 8-seed and grass specialist Curtis West IV has sprouted back-to-back five set classics, crawling back from two sets down in his most recent. But can he continue to remain supernaturally clutch through a round of 32 showdown with wheelchair powerhouse Estella Y. Kirby, a former Jungle qualifier fresh off a five set battle of her own? Right nearby in the singles draw, Fall 9-seed and former 2nd Independex qualifier Viola Frederick is also working feverishly to prove that her miracle run to the Boardwalk semifinals was far from a fluke, surviving five set clashes and a final set tiebreak in echoes of her Independex downfall. Might she still get the job done and continue on her mission over former 1st Independex doubles finalist Colt Patel, straddling the singles and doubles main draws with poise and grace? While the two former Boardwalk semifinalists could potentially cross paths during the Fall sweet sixteen, they must first go above and beyond a wide range of tennis capabilities to prolong their tennis quests past the round of 32. • Already, Fall '23 will marquee a tantalizing grass specialist staredown. Unearthed in both the Jungle and the Boardwalk quarterfinals, Fall 7-seed and Brightsands native Esmeralda Serrano has spent this grass season wrestling to become the nation's single best grass specialist, though often unable to handle nerves at match point or claim the opening set even during her home tournament. But into the Fall round of 32, the worthiest answer to her divine specialist mandate continues to be other specialists - including, if not especially, 26-seed Jabari Cervantes. Wielding his first-ever tournament seeding in the wake of grasping the Boardwalk round of 16, Cervantes has yet to drop a set during this Fall endeavor, leading the singles field in aces and forced errors on a path that seems destined to trim at least one or two sets off Serrano in a round of 32 all-grass duel. As Dexters center around a green-fueled debate over the impact of climate change on hurricane season, national tennis will pit together two of its greenest racquets as Fall seeded grass specialists go toe-to-toe in the round of 32. • A former singles number 1 will face off against a Costa Esmeralda native already responsible for one legendary slam-level upset. For Fall 4-seed and clay specialist Wendy Yates, the grass season has illustrated numerous shortfalls in her tennis arsenal, beginning tied for the number 1 ranking only to befall a series of calamitous upsets as she struggled to adapt to her weakest surface. Though the former 2nd Independex semifinalist appears to be holding strong into the Fall round of 32 with back-to-back straight set victories, Yates now encounters what could be her muddiest opposition yet. 29-seed and Jungle hometowner Dwayne North launched his career with a remarkable upset in the 1st Independex round of 128 over then 2-seed Tristan Armstrong, and now with his first-ever tournament seeding looms large over yet another top five singles star. Will slam tennis once again chart a stunning twist in the direction of slam-level singles, or could an emerging colossus hatch further career building blocks near the Fall midpoint? In the wake of Hurricane Leviathan ravaging much of the Dexter mainland and inspiring calls for global climate change action, the nation's first official Major tennis event is also churning out its own mystical wonders. Amidst pummeling rain and otherworldly winds throughout the host city of Beagalia and beyond, The Fall of Dexterra 2023 muscled through its opening rounds to move closer to the halfway mark of both its singles and doubles main draws, in a wild event drawing the attention of climate activists and supporters especially. Despite match delays, scattered debris and emergency protocols, the Fall round of 64 formed a blustery segue into the round of 32 and subsequent round of 16: with shocking upsets and potential for more, the resurgence of international athletes as wildcards, career progress by former introductory wildcards, qualifiers & former semifinalists continuing to prevail, an all-grass specialist marquee and a former number 1 locking horns with an upset extraordinaire, there is simply no telling what awaits through a revolutionary Fall round of 32 or slamming sweet sixteen. As most Dexters return to their normal lives in the aftermath of a Category 3 hurricane with detailed plans to continue advancing green causes, the chase for an historic slam title also goes on for myriad mystifying Beagles in our nation's capital city. "While it is important that we not politicize a natural disaster, or let it become below-the-fold news to a Major tennis tournament, it is also crucial that we recognize the signs Earth is giving us on how we are impacting the planet," continued Nature Caretaker Windsor-Hawkins in her evening news interview. "Everyone should do their part by learning more about climate change and getting involved before it's too late. Earth will be fine, but earthly life won't be, and that's why we need to act today." Live coverage of The Fall of Dexterra will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Round of 321 Year AgoSingles round of 32   Doubles round of 32   |
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Event XXVI Round IV1 Year Ago17 September 2023 Est. 19 November 2021 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ A bittersweet sixteen on the seventeenth In the wake of a major storm, the only debris still accumulating are fallen autumn leaves. With radars no longer tracking the fury of Hurricane Leviathan, the nation's inaugural Major tennis tournament continues to condense its singles and doubles draws into a thunderous 2023 grass season finale. Temperatures are cooling while humidity is dropping to a two-week low across Beagalia, giving Citizen's Arena a distinctly autumnal feel as attendants at The Fall of Dexterra 2023 crunch leaves underfoot heading in to witness colossal round of 16 showdowns. But the impacts of the Category 3 storm won't be forgotten as national tennis tallies up a phenomenal slam quarterfinals: donations for those affected by Leviathan are continuing to pour in nationwide, for which ways to contribute or request aid can be found by visiting wellness.dex/leviathan. A renewed focus on climate change inspired by the storm is now drifting away from Fall primetime and into local town halls, the United Peoples Progress and the Mason Administration, with key Progressional figures and Mason officials - including Commoner Mason herself - having voiced support for action. As The Fall of Dexterra enters its second week and effectively passes its halfway point, the focus will recenter to a series of explosive round of 16 clashes as the nation's top athletes face each other for a monumental place in a Major elite eight. “I believe Fall ‘23 should ultimately be dedicated to the victims of Leviathan and their families, and I have suggested to Beagalia city councilors that we construct a memorial in their honor on the grounds of Citizen’s Arena,” stated Rudyard Tyrrell, chief tournament organizer as Chair of The Fall of Dexterra® and a retired semiprofessional singles athlete, in an event presser today. "We cannot thank entrants and attendants enough for being willing to brave the storm, though we assure everyone that nobody here was ever in danger. The actions of entrants and attendants tell us just how much this title and this event really means to them." The destruction wrought by Leviathan indeed casts a solemn shadow on the early stages of this grass slam, with no right way to pay proper respect to those and all else lost except perhaps by pushing forwards in their memory. In honor of those attending Fall '23 in spirit, there are five key matches to watch in transcending from the round of 32 to the round of 16 now: • (8) Curtis West IV vs. (9) Viola Frederick: perhaps all too early in the tournament, two Boardwalk semifinalists will converge now to decide a place in the Fall quarterfinals. Crestfallen though they may have been across opposite Brightsands draws, grass specialist Curtis West IV and generalist Viola Frederick have dusted themselves off in their Beagalia campaigns, clamoring through back-to-back five set epics followed by straight set sweeps out of the round of 32. Now, they lock horns in a truly sweet sixteen staredown that features two of the highest seeded entrants to bump heads thus far at the autumn slam, leaving analysts and casual fans alike baffled as to who may ultimately prevail. With the only downside likely being that they met much too soon, 8-seed West IV and 9-seed Frederick will grapple the match of a lifetime as the two Boardwalk semifinalists now brawl for a place in the Fall quarterfinals. • Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya vs. (13) Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha: former 2nd Independex wildcards will take on former 1st Independex champions in a curious entanglement of national tennis timelines. After their debut only months ago as part of their call-up to replace withdrawn international giants, Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya have in many ways sputtered through their doubles career ignition, going 1-1 in their Independex wildcard premiere before cleanly brushed away in the Boardwalk opener. But after baking a breadstick and a bagel in the round of 64 and conquering the Julian Hull/Jennifer Kirby qualifying upset aces 6-3, 5-7, 6-0 in the round of 32, the unseeded McClendon/Natalya collegiate duo must now keep clicking and net the biggest catch of their young careers. Already looming large in the annals of Dexter sports history as the 1st Independex doubles champions and doubles numbers 1, the sisterhood of Fall 13-seeds and clay specialists Rebecca Waukesha/Shirley Waukesha has been especially hard at work ever since a shocking upset in the 2nd Independex opener which nearly left their careers in a tailspin. The former international competitors have nevertheless had a fascinating comeback grass season, rumbling out of the Jungle qualifiers and eventually reaching the Boardwalk quarterfinals - falling in both times to the eventual champions and doubles numbers 1. Having already outdone their 2nd Independex dethroning as they now claw into the Fall round of 16, can the Waukesha sisters further extend their resilient streak even closer to reclaiming their purportedly rightful throne? Through a curious intertwining of past and present in the Fall round of 16, the first two Independex champions will be ensnarled with two of the first-ever wildcards in an integral turning point in tennis history. • (3) Ulysses Bliss vs. (WC) Serenity Petersen: the Athletics freshman will meet a graduate from the tennis school of hard knocks in this decisive Fall intersection. By this point settled into his first semester at the University of Beagalia, Fall 3-seed Ulysses Bliss appears to have a grip on the difficulties of balancing school and tennis under immense scrutiny as one of the youngest sports professionals in the nation, and overwhelming hype as a Boardwalk finalist and Jungle semifinalist already. But the boy wonder, back in session after classes were cancelled by Leviathan and enduring a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 round of 32 rematch with 30-seed Nicholas Blevins, now examines a Fall round of 16 highlight with one person who fully understands his finalist plight: international athlete and wildcard Serenity Petersen. As the only Dexter athlete to have reached both the singles and doubles Independex finals - let alone both such finals at any one tournament - Queen Serene is slamming back to the same round in which she fell as the 2nd Independex 1-seed, most recently halting Fall 14-seed Derek Rich VIII 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in the round of 32 as he reeled off a historic season for wheelchair athletes. She is also the only Fall entrant still vying both singles and doubles. But though ever perched high upon the grass specialist mountaintop despite an early Boardwalk exit, Petersen likely hasn't faced any opponent as lofty as her next since the 1st Independex finals. In a match that yins and yangs a blissful meteoric freshman with a serene grass veteran, the final days of summer '23 will spotlight a Fall sweet sixteen that could have the longest-lasting impact of any match on national tennis. • (3) Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson vs. (14) Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon: the nation’s first grass doubles finalists must dispatch two outstanding grass specialists to take root in their third consecutive quarterfinals. Once the 2nd Independex qualifying protagonists of a fairy tale run to the elite eight, Fall 3-seeds Dorian Trevino/Viviana Stevenson can already look back at their major breakthrough as the springboard to the Jungle finals and the Boardwalk semifinals. But they are far from transcending what would be their third straight quarterfinals now in this Major grass conclusion, and by repeating their 2nd Independex feat effectively gain ironclad proof of their belonging in the top three. In their second grass sweet sixteen this season, however, Fall 14-seeds and grass specialists Giovani Arias Jr./Marcus Leon are also looking to return to the elite eight, resurfacing from a three set duel in the Boardwalk quarters with then-reigning doubles queens. The son of a retired semiprofessional grass specialist and his longtime partner seem to have started off this grass slam on the right racquets, dropping only one set and narrowly escaping one tiebreak so far. Yet here in the sweet sixteen awaits likely their tallest tennis maze since that recent quarterfinal banishing. Between the first-ever doubles grass finalists and the first grass specialists to reach a doubles quarterfinals, who will thicken another tournament plot with their return to the elite eight? • (7) Esmeralda Serrano vs. (10) Michelle Keller: the allure of three consecutive quarterfinals is especially appealing to one singles grass specialist, though she faces a storied athlete determined to claim her second overall. Regenerating after a wildfire 2-6, 7-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 round of 32 all-grass specialist showdown with Jabari Cervantes, Fall 7-seed and Brightsands hometowner Esmeralda Serrano is now but three sets away from becoming the only grass specialist to have reached all three grass quarterfinals, though she ultimately fell short of becoming the first to reach a grass semifinals as achieved by West IV in her home tournament. Recently blooming some of the Fall's scrappiest victories by climbing back from one set down as well as fiercely resisting opposing set and break points, Serrano now steps into the same round in which she fell as a 2nd Independex qualifier and faces the highest seeded opponent of her career. Herself returning to the same round in which she collapsed as the 2nd Independex 2-seed and the Boardwalk 9-seed, former international competitor and Fall 10-seed Michelle Keller has had a long, rocky grass adventure in clamoring to recapture the glory of her 1st Independex semifinals run. Beginning this grass season by slipping in the Jungle opener though regrouping enough to harmonize the Boardwalk sweet sixteen, the nation's only Deaf tennis star appears to be back in top-five form with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 silencing of Dario Stewart in the Fall round of 32, though she clawed out of one set deficits in the previous rounds. But now set to encounter one of the highest-ranked, most highly-specialized contenders of her career, Keller will have to truly roar if she wants to prevail through her second consecutive sweet sixteen. With two towering Fall seeded entrants interlocking at a pivotal fork in the tournament road, either a leading grass specialist will clinch her third straight grass quarterfinals or a long dogged Beagle will fetch her most Major accomplishment in more than a year. With five crucial matches in addition to numerous other must-see showdowns, The Fall of Dexterra 2023 is now rounding its halfway mark in a pressing and weighty slam successor to its Independex ancestors, though partly overshadowed by the devastating effects of Hurricane Leviathan. Nearly all of the small or medium-sized debris littering the streets of Beagalia because of the Category 3 storm - including a boat dropped on the grounds of Citizen's Arena - have been cleared by officials and volunteers, leaving a light dusting of autumn crunch as the only obstruction to ticketholders attending Fall round of 16 clashes, many of whom plan to attend with a black swirl painted on their right cheek in memory of those lost to Leviathan. There are many reasons to bring our Dexter family together in these final days of summer, and despite apparent input from a changing climate caused by human activity, one especially valid reason is to witness a slamming sweet sixteen and upcoming quarterfinals at the autumn slam. A number of top singles and doubles athletes will soon cross Fall paths in the round of 16: two Boardwalk semifinalists, the nation's first doubles wildcards & first doubles champions, a Boardwalk finalist & Independex multi-finalist, the nation's first grass doubles finalists & first grass specialist quarterfinalists, the only grass specialist to reach consecutive grass quarterfinals & the only former international singles athlete. Considering these key Fall highlights and other brawls to feature the number 1-ranked stars, former numbers 1 and previous champions or finalists, who will now anoint an even greater claim to fame by ascending into a Major quarterfinals? "The victims of Leviathan, in my opinion, should ultimately be remembered just as much as our nation's first official slam champions, and I would like to see to it that the Fall makes a sizable donation to them and their families," continued Chair Tyrrell in the event presser. "I'm also working on getting the event to offer free tickets to survivors and their families, if not at remaining matches this year, then maybe some next year. Point is, though three slam champions will stand alone in the end, we are all one people." Live coverage of The Fall of Dexterra will be provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau. |
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Round of 161 Year AgoSingles round of 16  Doubles round of 16  |
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