The Bowdoin Orient

The Polar Bears fell 6-3 to Middlebury last Saturday, bringing an end to their seven-match win streak. The match was very close, with the No. 11-ranked Polar Bears winning two of the three doubles matches and the No. 4-ranked Panthers winning five of the six singles matches. Coach Colin Joyner asserted that the team had a winning strategy coming in to the match, which was very clear from its strong wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 doubles positions.

The men's tennis team has been out-hitting its opponents at all positions, beating Bates 9-0 on Thursday night, dismissing Colby with a 9-0 shut-out last Friday, and winning again, 8-1, the following day against Tufts. The win improves the Bears NESCAC record to 5-0, with a 9-2 overall record. Stephen Sullivan lead the way against Bates, winning at the No. 1 singles position, but the whole team had strong performanecs. The win marks the first time the Polar Bears swept the Bobcats 9-0. "Pretty much everyone stepped up in general," Matt Knise '10 said. "We're on a seven-match streak now, so it's awesome going into Middlebury this weekend."

The men's tennis team (6-2) won its first home match of the season against Connecticut College (4-4) last Sunday, sweeping all of the singles matches and winning two of the three doubles matches to set the final score at 8-1. The opening game victory puts the team at a four-win streak, a strong start to the season. "This match was a good confidence builder for the team," said Coach Colin Joyner.

The men's tennis team (5-2, No. 11 in D-III) returned from its two-week stay in San Clemente, California in good shape and on a three-match win streak. Southern California was an ideal location for the players, who were able to catch Andy Roddick, Josh Isner, and Marty Fish in action at the BNP Paribas Open and even attend a Los Angeles Lakers game. "The team was in high spirits," said Stephen Sullivan '11, who won all but one match at the No. 1 singles position.

Nadal really got to Federer's head during the Australian Open final last weekend, as he prevented Federer from equaling Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles in another five-set (7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2) thriller between the two rivals. Despite the many other epic matches played between the two, this was their first Grand Slam final meeting on a hard court.

The popular English rock band Radiohead released its seventh album, "In Rainbows," on October 10 as an MP3 download available from its official web site (www.radiohead.com). This album has taken more time (five years) to release than any other album in the band's career. The price? There isn't one.

Prominent South African writer Zakes Mda will read from his latest novel on October 10. Mda's sixth novel, "Cion," is his first book located in America instead of South Africa. However, like several of his older novels, it contains a fusion of past and present, an integrated story that takes place in modern-day Ohio and 1830s-era Virginia.