Denis

According to Christian tradition, Saint Denis (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred, with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after 250 AD. Denis is said to have picked his head up after being decapitated, walked ten kilometres (six miles), while preaching a sermon of repentance the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France, and as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The medieval and modern French name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius.

Life

Gregory of Tours states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an account of his life and martyrdom, the "Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et Eleutherii" dates from c. 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet Venantius Fortunatus, and is legendary. Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out with six other missionary bishops under the direction of Pope Fabian. There Denis was appointed first Bishop of Paris. The persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia. Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left Bank, away from the river.

Denis Istomin

Denis Olegovich Istomin (born 7 September 1986, Orenburg, Russian SFSR) is an Uzbek tennis player. He has won one singles title (at the 2015 Aegon Open Nottingham) and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 33 in August 2012.

Personal

Denis Istomin was born in Orenburg to Oleg and Klaudiya Istomin. His father, an Uzbek, moved the family to Tashkent, when Denis was 3 months old. Denis is coached by his mother, who introduced him to the sport at an early age. Injuries resulting from a car crash in 2001 en route to an event kept Istomin away from tennis for 2 years, with doctors initially stating that he would never hold a racquet again. Despite this, Istomin resumed training in April 2003.

Career

2005

Istomin broke into the top–200 late in 2005 and finished the year at No. 196. He won his first Challenger tournament in Bukhara.

2006

Istomin received the Asian wildcard into the 2006 Australian Open, where he played world No. 1 Roger Federer. Federer won in straight sets. He spent much of 2006 in the top 200, reaching a career-high of No. 186 on 1 May, and finished the year at No. 200 in singles.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (German: [ˈfeːdərər] born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). His accomplishments in professional tennis cause him to be popularly regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer turned professional in 1998 and has been continuously ranked in the top 10 since October 2002.

Federer holds several records of the Open Era: holding the world No. 1 position for 302 weeks (including 237 consecutive weeks); winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles; reaching each Grand Slam final at least five times (an all-time record); and reaching the Wimbledon final ten times. He is among the seven men (and among the four in Open Era) to capture a career Grand Slam. Federer shares an Open Era record for most titles at Wimbledon with Pete Sampras (7) and at the US Open with Jimmy Connors and Sampras (5).

Federer has reached 27 men's singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 in a row from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships to the 2007 US Open, both statistics being records. He also appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon through to the 2010 Australian Open. He reached the semifinals at 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2016 Australian Open, he played in a record 65th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, reached a record 47th Grand Slam quarterfinal and a record 39th Grand Slam semifinal. Earlier at the 2015 US Open, he reached a record 27th Grand Slam final. Also earlier at the 2013 French Open, Federer reached a record 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Federer has won the most matches in Grand Slams (302) and is the first to record 65+ wins at each Grand Slam tournament.

Pablo Carreno

Pablo Carreno is an Expressionist artist who was born in 1941 and raised in Havana, Cuba. He emigrated to the United States of America in 1964.

Biography

Pablo Carreno speaks little of his childhood save for his own obsession with drawing and painting. Though his talents were recognized by the age of four, no money was available for formal training, so his early years were spent developing his art through personal experimentation. During that time he also struggled with the changes wrought by the Cuban Revolution, events which forever shaped his perspective and colored his works.

The early 1960s was an especially tumultuous time with the constant political purges of Fidel Castro, the collapse of the economy, and the involvement of the Soviet Union in Cuban affairs. Striking deep at the heart of the country's artists, the new government put superficial emphasis on supporting art, but twisted it into a propaganda tool, selecting artists to promote socialist themes while restricting all other artistic content and commerce.

Andy Murray

Andrew Barron "Andy" Murray OBE (born 15 May 1987) is a Scottish professional tennis player, currently ranked World No. 2. He started playing tennis at the age of three, entered his first competitive tournament at age five and was playing league tennis by the time he was eight. He has reached at least the quarter-finals of all Grand Slam tournaments he has participated in since 2011, with the exception of the 2015 US Open. When he was 15, he moved to Barcelona to train at the Sánchez-Casal Academy. He won the junior US Open in 2004 and turned professional the following year. Murray has been ranked as British No. 1 since 27 February 2006. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the ATP for the first time on 16 April 2007, and reached a career peak of World No. 2 on 17 August 2009.