It’s the hottest part of the summer and the post-Wimbledon haze is the perfect time to outsource our agenda planning by asking our readers for questions. Fortunately, your questions were well in sync with important topics of the day and what we wanted to cover. We discuss the documentary/vlog featuring Dasha Kasatkina and Andrey Rublev; the intimacy of the format; and the considerable fallout caused by Dasha’s coming out and their tough words on their home country. We spend a little time chattin...
Jul 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 271
Let's start with the good news: Elena Rybakina powered her way to a major title, and Ons Jabeur reached another career milestone while winning hearts and eyeballs around the world. The men's side was, uh, less appealing. Nick Kyrgios reached his first major final on the heels of an assault accusation (that's 4 ATP players currently accused of domestic violence if you're keeping count); a cursed bromance emerges; Rafa pulls out with an abdominal tear; and the younger generations fail again to cap...
Jul 12, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 270
Wimbledon week one saw a GOAT come and go, her sister light up the doubles court, the two male legends anchor their sides of the draw, and the loquacious Cornet end Swiatek's 37-match win streak. Saturday lit up the tournament for reasons good and bad; after Anisimova notched an impressive win over Gauff, Kyrgios and Tsitsipas gave an absolute shit show of code violations, toxic behavior, and occasionally compelling tennis. All the while, COVID reared its ugly head despite the tournament's deter...
Jul 03, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 269
2022 Wimbledon prep had been dominated by the ban of Russian and Belarusian players, and then Serena Williams stopped the world by announcing her return to competitive tennis, first in Eastbourne doubles (OnsRena 4ever) and ultimately the Wimbledon singles draw. She joins a crowded field with no clear favorite, with Iga, Ons, Angie, Coco, a few Karolinas, and Petra all in with a shot. The men’s side sees Rafa and Djokovic on opposite sides, with Rafa attempting to continue his 14-match Slam win ...
Jun 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 268
Cuthbert Collingwood "Ted" Tinling was a man whose unlikely story threads throughout the eras of twentieth century tennis like no one else's. A product of a patrician English family who moved to the French Riviera, Ted found himself umpiring for Suzanne Lenglen at 13 years old. He would grow to become a successful London couturier in the interwar period, and in the late 1940s found tennis pulling him back, this time as a designer of tennis fashion. Tinling wed ultra-feminine design with function...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 267
Iga Swiatek and Rafael Nadal are joint winners at Roland Garros for the second time, with Iga extending her dominance over women’s tennis and Rafa entering truly uncharted territory as a 14-time RG winner and extending his lead in the all-time Grand Slam count. In keeping with the episode title, we’re trying to understand how Nadal did that in the face of a tough draw, poor preparation, and a career-threatening foot condition. Twenty-one-year-old Iga, on the other hand, is making it look easy. W...
Jun 07, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 266
The Roland Garros quarterfinals are set, and despite a brief scare, Iga Swiatek continues her stunning win streak as the lone remaining top 10 seed in the women’s draw. But fear not, the quarterfinal match-ups are cracker (RIP Derry Girls). On the men’s side, we still have the promised Djokovic-Nadal quarterfinal, Alcaraz is still winning, and the once-presumptive finalist Tsitsipas has crashed out. We get serious about an issu important to us: Martina’s appearance on Piers Morgan’s show, the on...
May 31, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 265
Not more than four short months ago, we were reveling in Rafa and Ash’s Australian Open glory. Now that we’ve been abandoned by Ash, and Rafa’s foot has set alarm bells ringing, we enter the year’s second Slam with that familiar feeling of dread. Iga has taken the baton from Ash and sped through the Spring season; who can catch her? On the men’s side, things are a bit more focused…on one very concentrated half of the draw. Join us for our 2022 Roland Garros preview where we parse through the dra...
May 22, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 264
Two drop shots to rule them all: Ons Jabeur wins her first WTA 1000 title and Carlos Alcaraz slices through two GOATs and a [redacted] to win his fourth title of the year. In a shorter episode than usual, we chat about Madrid, the ongoing comebacks and retirements, Shapo Music’s spectacular unraveling in Rome, and more. 3:50 Ons Jabeur wins Madrid! 10:00 What were we saying about the WTA top 10 a few months ago? Well … 17:10 The final weekend scheduling in Madrid makes the women an afterthought,...
May 10, 2022•46 min•Ep. 263
As we get older, we get more comfortable existing in the “I don’t know” space, which might be a strange thing to say while also producing a podcast where we share our opinions. But as the debate about Wimbledon rages on, as Boris Becker is sentenced to prison, and in light of your great but tough questions, we’re comfortable remaining equivocal on some things lately. We catch up with the tennis in Europe, check in on some woeful but on-brand missteps, and discuss the Ukrainian players’ response ...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 262
Thank you all for your patience while we’ve been away! We’re back to recap all the tournaments we’ve missed – almost three weeks of them. Iga Swiatek wins her 23rd straight match by beating repeat runner-up Sabalenka in Stuttgart, while Carlos Alcaraz wins his 23rd match of the year, taking the Barcelona title from PCB. The biggest off-court story has been Wimbledon’s decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players, and the fallout from players, the WTA and ATP, and the larger political stakehold...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 261
It's been barely two weeks since Ash Barty's retirement and already Iga Swiatek is answering our questions about what's next for the WTA. Riding a 17-match win streak, she knocks out fellow heiress apparent Naomi Osaka to win her third straight WTA 1000 title. Carlos Alcaraz generated a truly astonishing level of buzz on the men's side with his Miami title -- and while we always caution against too much hype, tennis is truly in a fascinating spot right now. 1:15 Iga fills in the blanks after Ash...
Apr 07, 2022•56 min•Ep. 260
Ash Barty shocked the tennis world this week by announcing her departure from the game as a 25-year-old dominant #1. After the shock wore off, though, it started to make sense based on what we know about Ash, as a player who’s planned her career intentionally and who was upfront about how she approached the sport. What were her greatest moments? What does Ash’s retirement teach us? What is her legacy? 0:40 Getting over the initial shock 8:30 Ash’s early career and first break from tennis 14:00 A...
Mar 26, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 259
The finals may not have lived up to their billing, but Indian Wells advanced a number of the season's major storylines: the continued growth of Iga Swiatek, the battle to stick out from the WTA pack, Rafa's hardcourt win streak, Alcaraz's series of firsts, and the Netflix effect. We cover the tennis, plus a discussion on the Nick rinse-and-repeat, the tennis world's response to Naomi Osaka's response (again, rinse, repeat), and the parallels to Jane Campion's flippant 'joke.' 0:40 Welcome to Ten...
Mar 22, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 258
Starting off on a difficult subject - the invasion of Ukraine and the response from tennis authorities and the players affected by it. As always, it’s fair to ask who sets the moral standards and what’s the right thing to do, even if we don't have easy answers. On to more positive news, the WTA gets a new title sponsor at a critical time, going from cigarettes to a women’s health company in 50 years. The ATP has some rhetorical fun with the Zverev non-decision and leaves umpires out to dry. Plus...
Mar 10, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 257
It’s not exactly your average February on the ATP: we’ve got a new #1; a recent #1 and GOAT doing (dubious) damage control as he struggles to find tournaments that will have him; a different 35-year-old GOAT starting the year on a 15-match win streak; and a top player defaulted for a gross display of rage at an umpire. Acapulco said don’t let la puerta hit you on the way out, and further penalties from the ATP could be looming for Zverev. Meanwhile on the women’s side, it’s Jelena Ostapenko’s wo...
Feb 27, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 256
Welcome back for the second part of our mailbag episode, made possible by February boredom and listeners like you. This time around we’re talking about the changes to tennis during pandemic times and whether we’d like to see them stay; our thoughts on Bravo, Drag Race, and TV in general; our Tennis Housewives dream cast; and a bunch of other thought provoking tennis questions. 02:00 Our thoughts on the changes to tennis (Covid-related or not) - electronic line calling, towels, no-ad, etc. 13:35 ...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 255
We asked for your questions, and wow, did you deliver. So much so that we’ve decided to stretch this mailbag into a two-part super episode. The post-Australian Open hangover is real, so we’ve got some light-hearted and non-tennis subject matter here, but we also tackle your tennis questions on commentators, our Grand Slam wish list, Delpo, and dream tennis apparel designers. 3:30 Which designer or brand do you want to see try tennis apparel? 5:50 If the Slams did anthems, which artist would you ...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 254
Ash Barty and Rafa Nadal are your 2022 Australian Open champions -- Barty winning her third Slam and further cementing her #1 status, and Nadal notching an unlikely victory from a two-sets-to-love hole against a much younger opponent, leading the Grand Slam tally for the first time. Danielle Collins leaves Melbourne with many new fans while Daniil Medvedev leaves a bit shattered. We'll take you through the final rounds of the tournament and what it means for the players and the state of the tour...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 253
Week one of the Australian Open is in the books, with Barty carving her way through the draw, Sam Stosur retiring from singles, and most of the men's contenders surviving. Although many feared the tournament would be overshadowed by the Djokovic visa saga, once play started the tennis began to speak for itself. We've gotten blockbuster match-ups that live up to the hype (Osaka-Anisimova), veterans rediscovering their magic (Monfils, Keys), and recent Slam champs Krejcikova & Medvedev remindi...
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 252
The 2022 Australian Open is around the corner and guess what is still dominating headlines: visa cancellation 2.0, appeal 2.0, and the various foibles and f- er, muck-ups of Djokovic and co. After discussing that for a moment, we focus on some of the excellent stories coming out of the Australian lead-up tourneys: Ash’s domination, Kokkinakis’ brilliant stretch, and statement wins from Andy, Madison, Amanda, Simona, and Elena R. We finish up with perhaps our most equivocal draw analysis ever, as...
Jan 15, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 251
The Australia v. Djokovic saga has dominated new cycles for the past week in and outside of the tennis world; it highlighted many of the anxieties and political squabbles of the COVID-19 pandemic, spurred infighting between various levels of Australian government, and most importantly, was completely avoidable. There is plenty of blame to go around here: to Djokovic, to his family’s increasingly bizarre statements, to the Prime Minister's cynical political maneuvers, and to the head of Tennis Au...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 250
Many of us look back at 1999 as the dawning of the modern golden age of women’s tennis, a season that saw four different Slam champs, the abrupt exit of one GOAT, and the breakthrough of a new one. Lindsay, Martina, Venus, Serena, and Steffi battled for the biggest titles and crafted historic, enduring storylines at every major event of the year. There was a changing of the guard, sure, but the shift from one era to the next is never quite as cut-and-dry as it seems. Plus, of course, the memes -...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 249
In our season seven finale, we’re recapping this odd and transitional year on the ATP Tour, a year in which Novak Djokovic came very close to winning the first Grand Slam since 1969 and a bunch of youngsters shook the table of Big 3 hegemony. We take an honest look at our breakout predictions – not great, Bob – and reminisce about some truly wild (and some depressing) Remember When moments. Although there’s much levity, you know us – we’re not going to recap the ATP season without talking about ...
Dec 12, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 248
Friends, we’re finally at the end of our WTA season. So much of what we recapped didn’t even feel like it happened in 2021. Kenin signing with Motorola but tweeting about it from her iPhone? 2021, really? Badosa and Kostyuk broadcasting from their Fox News bunker in Australia? Feels like forever ago. Nonetheless, we try to make sense of a truly unique year in tennis, in which the sport learned to live with the pandemic to varying degrees of success. We asked for help with our “Remember When” seg...
Dec 03, 2021•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 247
First things first: we are officially announcing the launch of our GoFundMe campaign ! Thank you to our listeners for the past 7 amazing years, and we’re looking forward to great stuff to come. Since our last episode, the Peng Shuai story has received widespread coverage in US media, with Chinese state media offering some video clips as “proof” of Peng’s well-being. The WTA has done a great job pushing the issue, but we wonder what's next if the WTA's demands are not met. We also celebrate the s...
Nov 21, 2021•47 min•Ep. 246
Episode 245 features a potpourri of tennis happenings. We begin with a discussion of the harrowing Peng Shuai news and the response from tennis' governing bodies. After getting caught up on ALL the tennis since our last episode, we end with a bit of levity -- thanks to our generous listener, Kaitlyn -- our first ever live taste test on The Body Serve! Oh, and we've also got the soft launch for our second ever GoFundMe for the podcast. Thanks to all of you for supporting us as we finish up season...
Nov 16, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 245
We are well and truly in the final stretch of the 2021 season, rounding third and heading for home. The field for the WTA Finals in Guadalajara is set after Anett Kontaveit blitzed through Moscow and Transylvania. We chat extensively about Frances Tiafoe's great run in Vienna, but must wade into unholy waters filled with Jannik Sinner salt. Later, we've got updates but not really on the vaccine saga for the Australian Open, before finishing with a few detours into our own personal interests. 0:5...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 244
October’s Very Own Indian Wells has concluded and we’ve got a surprising men’s winner in Cam Norrie and a surprising-but-not-really-surprising women’s champ in Paula Badosa. We take a ride on Reilly and Novak’s Straight Talk Express, where truth (or some version of it) reigns. Some quick thoughts on the current role of the press, one holdover question from our mailbag, thoughts on TT’s annual Hall of Fame nominations news cycle, and finally, the brief return of our Dramatic Reading segment. 2:25...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 243
Indian Wells is underway, in autumn, after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, but the big story this week is the ATP’s revelation that they’ve begun an investigation into the abuse allegations against Alexander Zverev. It’s a year or so too late, but it’s a big step nonetheless. That’s the theme of this episode -- steps, mostly in the right direction, as small and plodding as they might be. We also talk about some recent results, persistent vaccine hesitancy among tennis players, the WTA’s race to it...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 242
