break point
noun
: a situation in tennis in which the receiving player can win the game by scoring the next point
also
: the point so scored
Examples of break point in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
After heavy rain had delayed the start of the match, Sinner took the opening set 6-1, seeming utterly dominant, winning four consecutive games and facing just one break point.
—
Issy Ronald, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024
Świątek, however, failed to convert a break point to make it 5-5 and Kalinskaya served out the set to take the win.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024
Yet 22-year-old Sinner—the tournament’s fourth seed, who forced a shocking exit from Djokovic during the semis on Thursday in a decisive four sets—came roaring onto the board in the third, moving in as Medvedev’s game became more passive and fending off even a single break point.
—Vogue, 28 Jan. 2024
Medvedev also had chances to land a decisive blow, bringing up a break point with Sinner serving and the set poised at 3-3, but the Italian fired off an ace to allay any danger.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 28 Jan. 2024
The fifth game of the set, with Djokovic serving, was an astonishment: thirteen deuces, as Alcaraz earned break point after break point and Djokovic somehow saved them again and again—nearly twenty-seven minutes of tennis, all of it stressful and consequential, much of it remarkable.
—Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
There could also be decay or a wound at the break point.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
No one even had a break point until the ninth game when Krejcikova saved four, closing out the game with her 11th ace of the match.
—Jay Posner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023
Facing a break point in a critical game, Bublik hit an underarm a second serve that Thiem quickly got on top of and returned deep in the court.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 28 Aug. 2023
Issy Ronald, CNN, 17 Mar. 2024
Świątek, however, failed to convert a break point to make it 5-5 and Kalinskaya served out the set to take the win.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 24 Feb. 2024
Yet 22-year-old Sinner—the tournament’s fourth seed, who forced a shocking exit from Djokovic during the semis on Thursday in a decisive four sets—came roaring onto the board in the third, moving in as Medvedev’s game became more passive and fending off even a single break point.
—Vogue, 28 Jan. 2024
Medvedev also had chances to land a decisive blow, bringing up a break point with Sinner serving and the set poised at 3-3, but the Italian fired off an ace to allay any danger.
—Issy Ronald, CNN, 28 Jan. 2024
The fifth game of the set, with Djokovic serving, was an astonishment: thirteen deuces, as Alcaraz earned break point after break point and Djokovic somehow saved them again and again—nearly twenty-seven minutes of tennis, all of it stressful and consequential, much of it remarkable.
—Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023
There could also be decay or a wound at the break point.
—Adithi Ramakrishnan, Dallas News, 14 Sep. 2023
No one even had a break point until the ninth game when Krejcikova saved four, closing out the game with her 11th ace of the match.
—Jay Posner, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Sep. 2023
Facing a break point in a critical game, Bublik hit an underarm a second serve that Thiem quickly got on top of and returned deep in the court.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 28 Aug. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'break point.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Break point.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/break%20point. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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