The Canadian Open (finally) ends, and with a shocker: Burlington, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko snatches her first WTA title after starting the year outside the top 300, and Ben Shelton wins his first Masters event. Honestly, the longer format, the withdrawals of the top men, and the Cincinnati overlap all really hurt this tournament (the second-longest running in tennis history, btw!). We didn’t want to contribute to this Naomi speech discourse, but I guess we do in a small way. Plus: Stefano Vukov’...
Aug 10, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 391
Starting off hot with two updates in doping cases: first, Jannik Sinner has rehired one of the men responsible for the clostebol contamination. In Tara Moore’s case, CAS ruled that the actual beef was legitimate, but the figurative beef with the ITIA, sadly, was not. The DC tournament had outsized buzz this year, thanks to Venus Williams’ wild card and surprising performance, owner Mark Ein’s boosterism for DC-area tennis, Fernandez’s impressive run, and de Minaur’s late-stage heroics. Later, we...
Jul 31, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 390
Presenting part two of our interview with Courtney Nguyen, tennis podcaster, blogger, and former Senior Writer, WTA Insider! This time around, we chat about tennis commentary, the various ways the ATP encroaches upon the WTA, and Courtney's evolving approach to podcasting while also working for the tour. We had to ask about Courtney's favorite players to cover while at the WTA (and the most challenging), her favorite commentators, and the inevitable(?) day when opinion-havers like the three of u...
Jul 21, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 389
Wimbledon ends with maybe not the champions we chose but the ones we were given. Iga Swiatek honed her grass game and unleashed an almighty tempest to beat Amanda Anisimova with the loss of zero games. Jannik Sinner snapped his 5-match skid against chief rival Carlos Alcaraz by pounding his way to the title. We cover the very human and predictable limitations of electronic line calling, Sally Jenkins’ (warranted) hit piece on John McEnroe, and our lasting impressions of London. You can also expe...
Jul 14, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 388
We’re back from our first ever trip to Wimbledon with lots of stories from the grounds and our impressions of the whole British Empire of it all (it's intoxicating at the same time). We were there for the hottest opening day in Wimbledon’s history, and the heat seemed to wreak havoc on the draw, with 36 seeds out by the end of round two. We’ll take you through the draws and some notable matches we saw -- Fritz-Mpetshi Perricard, Krejcikova-Eala, Sabelanka-Branstine, plus Mboko, Baptiste, and ‘Co...
Jul 06, 2025•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 387
Presenting the first part of our interview with Courtney Nguyen, tennis blogger, podcaster, and journalist, and until recently the Senior Writer at WTA Insider. First, we chat about Courtney's exit from the WTA and what's next. You'll hear about the first time we met back in 2015 at the dearly missed Mason Applebee's. We also asked Courtney for her thoughts on the state of AI and tech in tennis, some misconceptions about the WTA, and our mutual love of mess -- not just drama, which is fun, but t...
Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 386
The Body Serve lands in London for the very first time! For our Wimbledon preview, we'll take you through some news from qualifying, discuss the players who rallied in the last week before Wimbledon, and outline the top stories of the draw. How long will the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly last? Is Aryna the favorite or will a grass court demon snatch the title? Will Marketa send the draws crashing down? Will Fritz beat that guy for the 6th consecutive time? 2:55 Qualifying news: Canadian Branstine stuck...
Jun 28, 2025•44 min•Ep. 385
The tours have begun their brief stop on grass, and here’s what we know: Marketa has risen, Bublik is dangerous, Carlos won’t stop winning, and the WTA hasn’t yet figured out Tatjana Maria’s spins. Outside of the results, we cover the end of Kyrgios’ stint with the BBC and its possible causes. Plus: Sinner and Bocelli’s camp collaboration and the US Open’s mixed doubles pairings, which appear to have been drafted by agents and some very online fans. 03:50 Grass results: Tatjana Maria stuns the b...
Jun 23, 2025•50 min•Ep. 384
Roland Garros closes with Coco Gauff’s second major title and a true classic of a men’s final, with Carlos Alcaraz defending his title after weathering three championship points and over five hours of punishing tennis from Jannik Sinner. Of course you’ll get our thoughts on Aryna Sabalenka’s less than pleasant commentary after the match, plus notes on Iga, Novak, and Musetti’s ill-conceived kick. Stay tuned for our fashion segment (Lululemon FTW this time), our impression of TNT’s coverage, and ...
Jun 08, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 383
All Round of 16 matches are set at the 2025 Roland Garros, after a number of top men crashed out early (though none of the true favorites) and most of the women’s contenders remain on a crash course toward some fiery week two matchups. We look at what’s to come and discuss our week one highlights – including Svitolina-Pera, Keys-Kenin, Draper-Monfils, and Mboko’s run. The episode’s title comes from the tournament’s refusal to schedule women during its flawed night session concept and the ensuing...
Jun 01, 2025•58 min•Ep. 382
Roland Garros is here, and it’s the first edition since Rafael Nadal’s retirement. We start with a few recollections of our favorite Nadal RG moments, then head straight into draw previews. Is Aryna the favorite? What to make of Iga’s tough draw? Will Novak take advantage and make one more stand in Paris? Is Carlos King? After talking through the draws, we recap some investigative reporting into Muller’s OnlyFans, plus we update you on some imminent retirements, the latest very typical happening...
May 24, 2025•49 min•Ep. 381
At the Italian Open, Jasmine Paolini wins in singles and doubles while Carlos Alcaraz puts on his thinking cap to stop Jannik Sinner at the finish line. We take a beat to compare Sinner’s triumphal return from a doping suspension to that of Sharapova in 2017 (for one thing, she didn’t get to meet the pope). Plus, Djokovic breaks with Murray, Barbie is back, the US Open announces a construction project, and the surprising fallibility of something called Gorillalpha Yeti Juice. 01:45 Welcoming Jan...
May 19, 2025•50 min•Ep. 380
Madrid ends with Aryna Sabalenka further extending her lead as number one, Casper Ruud grabbing his first Masters, and a lot of discourse around Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Naomi Osaka. We’ve got updates on: Jannik Sinner’s hero's welcome in Rome, Bianca Andreescu, Anastasija Sevastova, Tyra Grant, and more. We do a quick review of the strange but sometimes interesting Alcaraz Netflix documentary before wrapping the episode with a dive into the Max Purcell doping suspension, which is way more f...
May 06, 2025•55 min•Ep. 379
Clay season is underway, and we’ve seen a Runeaissance, a re-Alcarization, a Penkopalypse even. Stuttgart -- always reliable -- brought a stunning quarterfinal lineup and a surprise winner, while Holger reminded the class that there’s still tons of time to fulfill his promise. There’s much tennis business to talk about, including the first hearing in the PTPA antitrust suit and Opelka’s testimony; Lesia Tsurenko’s lawsuit against the WTA and Steve Simon; and a somewhat voyeuristic ITIA press rel...
Apr 21, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 378
Yes, it’s been a minute, but we’re back to catch up on Monte Carlo, Charleston, and sadly yes, all the way back to Miami. The top men have utterly failed to capitalize on Sinner’s mandatory vacation, while on the women’s side, Sabalenka extends her rankings lead and Pegula snatches #3 with her strong start to the year. We’ve also got: Kasatkina’s move to Australia, the top WTA and ATP players sending a letter to the Slams a few weeks after the PTPA lawsuit, a few listener questions, and more. 1:...
Apr 12, 2025•47 min•Ep. 377
This week, we’re diving into the antitrust lawsuit brought by the PTPA against the tennis ‘cartel.’ The wide-ranging complaint takes aim at prize money, scheduling, ranking points, anti-doping, and what they broadly view as anticompetitive and illegal activity by the tennis governing bodies. What does the PTPA hope to gain? Which parts make sense, and which leave us with some skepticism? Is unionization a goal, and if so, is it even possible? After spending most of the episode breaking down the ...
Mar 25, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 376
Well, well, well, what do we have here? Have we entered the Mirra era? If you know us, you know we’re not saying that, we just wanted to say Mirra era. Andreeva fashioned a Keys-esque run to the title in the desert, beating the same four players Madison did to win the AO from the fourth round onward...in the same order! We talk about Iga, we talk about Jack, and we field some more listener questions on TBS 375 02:15 The Mirra Era 12:19 The Conchita Effect 17:01 What’s up with Iga? 26:28 Jack Dra...
Mar 18, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 375
We’re back to a regular schedule, and up first it’s week one of Indian Wells: Nick and Novak struggling with injury and form, That Guy simply struggling to avoid the #1 ranking. We chat about the draw, the WTA’s new maternity leave benefits program, plus Danielle Collins’ clothing collab and the impetus behind it. Later on we get into some fun listener questions, with subjects as diverse as cricket, gospel music, the Knicks, and public transportation. 03:15 Question from @lisacrispin on Bluesky:...
Mar 11, 2025•59 min•Ep. 374
February ends with Andreeva’s arrival, players getting flewed out by Jessie Pegula, Stef’s mystery racquet saving his career, and Andrey live laugh loving in Doha (but in all seriousness, happy for him!). We’re also covering the WTA’s anti-purple rebrand alongside Billie Jean King’s “tear it all down” approach, Venus Williams’ momentary wild card to Indian Wells, and Serena coming to our town with the WNBA! 1:20 My favorite season: awards 5:25 Stef’s boat 8:35 Something rotten in the state of Gu...
Mar 04, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 373
Tennis, stop. Give us a minute, my God. The chaotic February schedule gives us a first-time 1000 title winner (Anisimova), a first-time ATP titlist (Fonseca), Ostapenko’s fifth unanswered defeat of Swiatek, and Bencic winning a big title soon after her return from maternity leave. While trying to keep track of tennis results, we also saw the resolution of the Sinner’s WADA appeal, the conclusion of the WTA’s investigation into Stefano Vukov, and Simona Halep's retirement. 01:40 Anisimova wins Do...
Feb 18, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 372
Madison Keys has been a major champion for over a week now! This episode isn’t really about that, but it bears repeating. Checking in on tennis in February, we’ve got Felix winning yet another indoor title, Mertens and Alexandrova making up for somewhat disappointing Australian Opens, and a whole heap of man drama at Davis Cup, featuring one of the only head-on collisions you’ll see in tennis and the current state of ATP umpiring. This episode covers lots of odds and ends including Petra’s immin...
Feb 04, 2025•45 min•Ep. 371
This was one of those rare finals weekends where pretty much everything we hoped for came true. A perennial fave of fans and her own coworkers, the one-time prodigy Madison Keys showed remarkable maturity and grit to win her first major title. She let go of the “need” to win a Slam, and then managed to defeat #2 Iga Swiatek and the 2-time defending champ #1 Aryna Sabalenka back-to-back. Jannik Sinner defended his title without facing a break point in the final. Tennis keeps trying to make his op...
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 370
Just past the midway point of the 2025 Australian Open, the big favorites are mostly still here; a few NextGenners made a big splash in week one, including Joao Fonseca and the episode namesake Learner Tien. We'll take you through the draw, the first week highlights, the upsets, and the reverse hex I put on Alejandro ;) As always, we spend a lot of time with all the extra stuff happening on top of the tennis: coaching pods, the Danielle Collins mini-controversy, Djokovic’s ‘boycott,’ Nick’s non-...
Jan 21, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 369
And just like that, the 2025 Australian Open is nearly underway. It’s the 40th major we’ve covered as a podcast, and our draw previews are still as prediction-free as always. We touch on a few of the themes to watch out for in Melbourne – Sinner’s emotional state, Rybakina’s coaching situation, Novak as #7 seed and poisonee – but mostly this is a lighthearted preview with draw breakdowns and our most intriguing first rounds. GoFundMe: help fund our 2025 season! 3:15 Stories to follow: heavy meta...
Jan 11, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 368
Welcome to season 11 of The Body Serve! We're catching you up on the barely existent off-season, including the most important Joaos, Max Purcell turning himself in, and Jenson Broosky’s brave statement about autism. Even though one of us rejects any “2025” tennis that occurs before January 1, 2025, we talk through the season’s early results, including the United Cup fracas, the Opelka and Nishikori comebacks, and the shifting Big 4 allegiances due to the Murravic pairing. We also take on the dec...
Jan 07, 2025•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 367
We never knew how much we’d miss “hola a todos” until it turned into an adiós. Rafael Nadal Parera ended his tennis career at this year’s Davis Cup, leaving with with 22 major singles titles, a Career Golden Slam, every clay record you can think of, and a litany of quotable moments. We’ve been Rafa fans since the early days, when they said he was a dirtballer whose body would force him into retirement in his 30s. But it turned out Rafa was nothing if not adaptable -- a rational thinker whose lov...
Dec 23, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 366
Finally our 2024 season is coming to a close! Although bonus December content is coming soon, we finish regular coverage by wrapping the ATP season: it was basically the proof that Jannik Sinner’s late-2023 rise was for real, and that he and Carlos have taken the reins of the (mostly) post-Big 4 ATP. Just like the women’s wrap, we’ll take you through the events of the 2024 season, evaluate our picks for 2024 breakout players, and choose our ATP Award winners. We finish up with your memorable/fun...
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 365
We were soooo close to wrapping this season, but we’ll always change the schedule for a doping story. The news of Iga Swiatek testing positive for a banned substance provoked shock, confusion, and even resignation among tennis watchers who are, by the day, becoming more versed on the fine details of doping cases. Our immediate questions were: Is the story plausible? Why is the suspension broken into pieces? When should news like this be made public? As always, we like to dive into the report its...
Dec 01, 2024•50 min•Ep. 364
This year in women’s tennis, the top tier took further steps to entrench themselves but the WTA retained its signature depth. Sabalenka, Swiatek, and surprise – Krejcikova – added majors to their hauls; Paolini and Zheng broke out in a big way; and Gauff managed to rewrite her season in the fall. We’ll take you through the highlights, the comebacks, the ‘remember whens,’ and moments both infuriating and hilarious. As usual, we also choose our WTA Award winners and do a self-assessment on our 202...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 363
Coco writes a new story to end her year -- beating the bad season allegations, as she said -- by taking out Swiatek, Sabalenka, and finally Zheng Qinwen to win the WTA Finals. (Barbie K tried to shake the table, as usual.) In Turin, Jannik Sinner showed that anything you can do, he can do better. He won his first year-end title and notched a 70-win season, the first since 2016. After that, we talk about the retirement of legendary umpire Carlos Bernardes, Frances Tiafoe’s big fine, Jon Wertheim’...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 362
