The calendar is ratcheting up - March brings the Sunshine Double, with all its excesses, star power, and crackling match-ups. Our IW ambivalence aside, this week has already given us the Vika-Serena reunion, Petra & Venus, and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime achieving yet another first. We also cover the ATP governance drama, Martina's wheel-and-come-again on the trans athlete argument, and Osaka's strikingly perceptive words in The Undefeated. 2:30 The star power of Nick Kyrgios, when he wan...
Mar 10, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 151
On the occasion of our Sesquicentennial, we thank all our listeners, both old and now, who have been along for the ride. We recap all the tennis news from the past two weeks and the winners on both tours: Bencic, Monfils, Opelka, Mertens, Cecchinato, Albot, Djere, Tstitsipas, and Van Uytvanck. We chat about the Osaka-Tsitsipas social media mess, as well as Naomi's words on her split with Sascha Bajin. Finally, we try to grapple with the mess that Martina Navratilova has gotten herself into. 03:2...
Feb 27, 2019•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 150
February can be a moment for tennis to catch its breath. But Fed Cup brought us some cracking match-ups, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga re-entered the top 200, and everyone's favorite maybe-catfish started and suspended a GoFundMe. Naomi Osaka stopped the world (momentarily) when she announced that her winning partnership with Sascha Bajin has ended. Plus, we finally catch up with the shakeups and infighting in the ATP Players' Council and Board of Directors. 1:20 Tsonga is back and he's spectacular (or; I ...
Feb 13, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 149
We're here to wrap the 2019 Australian Open: crowning a new WTA number 1 and watching Novak make history with his 15th major. Petra Kvitova came close to her first major off grass, Rafa Nadal stunned until he didn't, and the ATP Next Gen inched forward; while one member of the WTA Next Gen won 2 straight majors and took over the sport entirely. Stick around for a critique of "race science," the minefield of Naomi's racial identity, and why the locker room needs to remain private (oh hi, John McE...
Jan 29, 2019•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 148
We're checking in midway through this Australian Open, marked by a few welcome breakouts but high quality match-ups on the horizon. This episode's title borrows from Frances Tiafoe's impromptu description of Amanda Anisimova's decimation of Aryna Sabalenka. We recap the matches, the controversies, the fashion, and the issue that won't die: mid-match coaching. 1:00 Andy Murray says goodbye ... for now ... maybe 5:30 Tsitsipas takes down 2-time defending champ Federer 8:40 Frances Tiafoe, an Ameri...
Jan 21, 2019•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 147
It's not easy to say goodbye to Andrew Murray -- and we're not saying goodbye yet. But, we begin our Australian Open preview with a tribute to the authentic, generous, straight-to-the-point Scot who has changed our sport forever. It's not all doom and gloom: we also talk through this week's results and the Australian Open Heat Stress Scale, followed by an analysis of both the men's and women's draws. We conclude with an update on the ever-tempestuous ATP leadership battles; this time, the Board ...
Jan 12, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 146
Welcome to our Season FIVE opener. Our brief offseason is over and week one of the 2019 season caught us off guard with SO MUCH action right off the bat. We recap the seven titlists who emerged from the first week of play before tackling some of the offseason happenings while we were away. We have a message for the fandoms, a few things we're keeping our eyes on for the season, as well as a few predictions. The episode wraps with a dip into our listener mailbag as we attempt to tackle your quest...
Jan 07, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 145
As our fourth cycle comes to a close, we recap the men's tour with its continued Big 3 dominance, Djokovic's herculean comeback, and NextGen banging on the door (well, more like politely ringing the doorbell). We look at the latest Gimelstob debacle as a mess that tennis governing bodies made for themselves, one that echoes MeToo stories across every industry, and which the sport continued to ignore and pave over until things blew up spectacularly. Finally, we finish with some levity: our TBSMom...
Dec 10, 2018•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 144
We consider a WTA season that was by turns tumultuous and gratifying, full of tedious controversies and long-awaited breakouts. This episode takes on the major themes of 2018, the title winners, the comebacks and retirements, a few surprising events that almost faded from memory, and our #TBSMoments. Oh, and as if 2018 wasn't annoying enough, take our WTA Quiz alongside James. 02:00 Who won what? Parity was the name of the game 13:10 How'd we do on predictions? Well, there's a reason we don't us...
Dec 04, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 143
Y'all know by now we're a pair of Mariah stans, and we are HERE for her new album. We chat briefly about her tightly spun new effort at the top of the show, before segueing into the tennis action. Zverev and Tsitsipas won the ATP & Next Gen Finals respectively, two banner results for the future of the ATP. The meat and potatoes of this episode is a convo about conflicts of interests in tennis, precipitated by an interview given by Julien Benneteau. We finish with a new segment called, "Yes o...
Nov 21, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 142
It seems like we've been talking about the next generation of ATP players a lot recently, and Karen Khachanov keeps that trend going with a massive first Masters 1000 title in Paris. Elsewhere, the WTA officially ends its season with Ash Barty hoisting the trophy in Zhuhai. Although he was unable to keep his win streak going, Djokovic leaves Paris with the #1 ranking secured into 2019. We talk a bit about the upcoming ATP & #NextGen Finals, before finishing the episode with more news in the ...
Nov 06, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 141
Elina Svitolina ran the table in Singapore to secure the biggest title of her career. Meanwhile, Sloane Stephens has shown -- to us and herself -- that her standing in the game cannot be denied. Other topics on offer this episode: Wozniacki reveals her arthritis diagnosis, Grigor's alarming hairline, the absurd Sampras "boring" debate, and the growing calls for Rafole to abandon their Saudi exhibition. Thanks as always for listening! 03:10 Svitolina reverses course, goes undefeated to win Singap...
Oct 30, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 140
The 2018 tennis season is getting ready to pull into its final station, and we've got tales from a few of its last few stops. Nole's purple patch and Borna's full package headline the action in Shanghai. We also assess the state of the ATP's burgeoning #NextGen stars and posit who is poised to emerge as the real deals. It was a very successful Asian swing for some of the game's top Asian players; perhaps we are seeing tennis' heavy investment in Asia pay some dividends? Finally, enjoy a few TV r...
Oct 17, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 139
We've recharged our batteries after the draining U.S. Open just in time to catch up with the tennis happenings on the Asian Swing. Aryna Sabalenka continues her march to the top of women's tennis with her big win in Wuhan. We ruminate on what people mean when talking about being "the next Serena," before finally wading into the Davis Cup changes. Hopefully you'll find a bit of levity towards the end of the episode as we stick up for Sloane, torch Verdasco, and speculate on what makes Indian Well...
Oct 02, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 138
There are so many things to talk about from the U.S. Open women's final, but chief among these is that Naomi Osaka bossed her way to a maiden Grand Slam title. We talk about just how awesome Naomi and her game were this past fortnight, before wading into the mess that was the drama in the championship match. We implore listeners to consider multiple things we think are true of this situation, instead of painting this as a black and white issue. We belatedly finish with Novak's 14th - and oh so i...
Sep 10, 2018•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 137
The late, great Aretha Franklin -- a huge tennis fan -- provides the theme for our episode today, as we tackle the unusually wild first week of the US Open. First, we talk about the actual tennis, the upsets, and the 30th Williams-Williams showdown. Then, we tackle the mountain of extracurricular storylines: Alize Cornet's accidental (pending?) revolution, the fashions, Serena's tutu; and an extended meditation on Kyrgios, our expectations of athletes, and how Nick's personality seems to compel ...
Sep 01, 2018•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 136
We sat down with the coaches of last year's US Open finalists, David Taylor (Keys) and Kamau Murray (Stephens). These very different coaches share their thoughts on navigating player personalities and what they see as the most important roles of a tennis coach. But first, we analyze the US Open draws: the stacked women's first quarter, which could see a Venus-Serena third round and a Simona-Serena fourth, but with much uncertainty for all. On the men's side, Nadal gets an easy-ish one, while Djo...
Aug 25, 2018•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 135
The bad news: our time in Cincinnati has come to an end. The good news: we're back with another episode to recap an event that produced a stellar title run by Kiki Bertens and a full-circle performance from Novak Djokovic. After recapping the finals, we rehash some of the notable matches we saw over the past week and regale you with some stories/observations from around the grounds. We also pondered a few questions: is Stan back? Is Milos being usurped and replaced in Canadian media? Do fans rea...
Aug 20, 2018•56 min•Ep. 134
You might have read what Roger Federer had to say about why there hasn't been an openly gay male tennis player in on the ATP Tour. Now, hear his words, along with those of Kevin Anderson, as both speak on what can be a tricky and challenging issue. Plus, our chat with Nick McCarvel about the upcoming event he's hosting (in partnership with No Challenges Remaining) to kick-start the conversation of "being queer and out in pro tennis," featuring the out retired player Brian Vahaly. 1:00 Talking ab...
Aug 16, 2018•40 min•Ep. 133
Here in Cincinnati, we had the chance to sit down with Sascha Bajin, Naomi Osaka's coach and the former long-time hitting partner of Serena Williams. Sascha talks about his playful relationship with Naomi, his approach to coaching, and his recent social media tribulations. We're also recapping the Rogers Cup, which was highlighted by an incredible giant-killing run by Stefanos Tsitsipas and a superb women's final between Simona Halep and Sloane Stephens. 2:00 Catching up with Rogers Cup results:...
Aug 13, 2018•40 min•Ep. 132
We are tackling listener questions little by little; you've given us so many great ones that we will have to space them out. But first, we try to provide some context into Serena Williams' repeated statements about doping tests: we look at the structure of the anti-doping system in tennis, Therapeutic Use Exemptions, and the uphill battle to arm everyone with comprehensive knowledge on the system. We also talk Andy Murray's emotional return, Kuznetsova and Vekic's accidental profundity, and Sere...
Aug 06, 2018•57 min•Ep. 131
Wimbledon is (mercifully) over, and we've got two players making their returns to the winner's circle after rather tumultuous 2017 campaigns. Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal in a much-talked-about semifinal before taking out Kevin Anderson in the final. Meanwhile, Angelique Kerber became the second ever player (Venus) to beat Serena Williams twice in a Grand Slam final. We then parse through the major stories of week two at the All England Club, including Dominika Cibulkova's appearance in this...
Jul 17, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 130
Maybe you've heard that Wimbledon 2018 has been full of shocking upsets, but just how shocking are they? Most of the early-round vanquishers have backed up their results with trips to the second week. In the words of tennis' poet laureate, Venus Williams, their places in the draw are not accidental, but "an opportunity earned." We comb through the draw, look at Federer's decision to leave Nike for Uniqlo, and take a look at Marion Bartoli and Nick Kyrgios' tiff. 0:30 Week 1 summary: Everybody lo...
Jul 08, 2018•58 min•Ep. 129
We're back to regularly scheduled programming with our Wimbledon preview. First, we go over the grass court news: the seeding question that dominated the news cycle, Kyrgios' water bottle explosion, Petra's excellence, and Boris Becker's heretofore unknown career in diplomacy. Then we break down the gentlemen's and ladies' draws. 3:15 Nick Kyrgios pleasures a water bottle, owes 15,000 Euro; or: why we should stop criminalizing Nick 10:20 Odds and ends - Andy is back, Fed and Rafa trade no. 1, Pe...
Jun 30, 2018•53 min•Ep. 128
We are proud to bring you our Pride Special, a partial and selective history of the LGBTQ people across tennis history who changed our sport forever. Some of the stories you'll know, others were news to us, but all of them challenged our view of history and opened our eyes to so many forms of resistance. Listen for stories about Baron Gottfried von Cramm, Helen Jacobs, Billie and Martina, Renee Richards, and many more. Happy Pride! 03:45 The early modern era: Big Bill Tilden 8:00 Helen Jacobs, s...
Jun 23, 2018•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 127
Simona Halep and Rafael Nadal are your French Open champions. For Simona, it was her first time as last woman standing at a Slam, while Nadal hoisted the Coupe des Mousquetaires for an 11th time. After recapping both finals and notable matches since the quarterfinals, we tackle some of the outside-the-lines etceteras that popped up since our last episode. On tap: Nadal's alleged equal pay remarks, the ubiquity of flossing, the laughable punishment meted out in the James Blake case, and using Mar...
Jun 11, 2018•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 126
The quarterfinals of the 2018 French Open are set, and we are back with episode 125 to recap how we got here. Serena Williams dominated week one discussion with her catsuit, and her play, before having to withdraw ahead of a fourth round meeting with Maria Sharapova. Some folks had stuff to say about her attire, and we've got something to say about that. We cover the usual mid-slam topics: upsets, genuine surprises, feel-good stories, amusements, and various atrocities. 02:02 Mother is back, cau...
Jun 05, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 125
The denouement of the clay season is upon us with the dawning of the French Open. We're back to preview the year's second major with the help of some of our listeners. We solicited questions specific to Roland Garros, and you all came through big time; we structure our draw analysis through your thoughtful offerings. After parsing through the draws, we finish with a few thoughts on the protected seeding drama that erupted again this week. 02:26 Women's draw dark horses 09:34 Muguruza or Ostapenk...
May 25, 2018•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 124
Rafa Nadal rights the ship on clay with a gritty win over Sascha Zverev, and Svitolina defends her Rome title with far less drama. We also cover Francoise Abanda's charges of racial discrimination, Sascha Zverev's stunning hot streak, Djokovic's resurgence, and we spend a good while on our See What Had Happened Was: Karolina Pliskova's shocking tantrum in Rome. 1:40 Il Re della terra battuta: Rafa wins 8th Rome title 4:45 Sascha Zverev's game is steadily improving (except the volley) - expect hi...
May 21, 2018•52 min•Ep. 123
The show is back from a two-week hiatus to discuss more clay court tennis! Rafa Nadal got to a record 50 consecutive sets won before bowing out to Dominic Thiem, who in turn bowed out to Zverev two matches later in the Madrid final. Petra Kvitova continued her awe-inspiring run with a third title in Madrid, this after taking the title in Prague the week before. We rag on Shapovalov and Patrick Mouratoglou, take a deep dive into Cornet's ITF ruling, then finish up with a few tennis etceteras. 01:...
May 16, 2018•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 122
