The top women descend upon Riyadh, the photoshoot is a smash, and #1 Sabalenka sails into the semis. There are still questions around this business decision, and players have varying success in answering them. Paris, as always, suffers from late-season malaise, and the ATP Finals qualifiers start to firm up (almost), but we wonder about the value of grinding it out this late in the season. Plus, lot of et ceteras, including: Dev Patel is the next Zendaya(!), and off-court coaching is no longer a...
Nov 05, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 361
These October episodes are always all over the place. The tours are sputtering toward a finish as players are vying for the final spots in the year-end tournaments or securing their ranking for next season. We talk about the Six Kings Slam, its strange and corny happenings, and the Saudi efforts to diversify their economy with sports and entertainment. We go through some recent results -- Dasha back in the top 10! -- plus we discuss the Hall of Fame vote that inducted Sharapova, peruse the sligh...
Oct 28, 2024•58 min•Ep. 360
Autumn is supposed to be relatively quiet in tennis, no? Well, in the past week or so, Rafa announced his retirement, CAS released the full decision on Simona Halep's doping case, WADA appealed Jannik Sinner’s No Fault or Negligence ruling to CAS, and one of the most successful coaching pairings of the decade ended. We’ll take you through some key points of the Halep case, including how and why her suspension was so drastically reduced, and some learnings that might help us better understand the...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 359
Welcome to part two of our mailbag! We’re kicking things off with our review of Serena in the Arena (at long last). We can’t help but compare some of the things we’ve said about Serena’s career over the years with how Serena described those events in her own words. Like you all, we noticed a few notable omissions from the series, and a few things that were conveniently glossed over. Spoiler: we enjoyed it. We spend the rest of the episodes sifting through the remainder of your submissions. Hope ...
Oct 06, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 358
Tennis is a famously exclusive sport. So which forces and institutions determine who gets access? Who’s guarding the gates, and what’s the criteria for entry? In this episode, which is co-produced by Sheriece Matias Dick, we start to explore the barriers to entering tennis, the various paths into the sport, and how the gatekeeping institutions of tennis have jockeyed for power through the profound economic and cultural changes of the past 140 years. After exploring a few players’ journeys into p...
Sep 29, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 357
It’s the first day of fall, the players are burnt out, and instead of following Laver Cup we’re doing a mailbag. Your questions gave us enough to yap about over two separate episodes, which we’ll release over the next few weeks in addition to something else we’ve been cooking. We talk about Naomi’s surprising coaching changeup; trying to find joy in a sport after it’s presented you a tough ethical dilemma; Coco and Brad’s split; our favorite players who never really jumped off; and a lot more. 0...
Sep 22, 2024•57 min•Ep. 356
The final major of the year is over and the champions are the same as in January: Aryna Sabalenka stakes her claim as hardcourt queen while Jannik Sinner dominates mere days after being cleared in an anti-doping case. We recap some of our highlights from week two, which had a ton of potential but didn’t deliver many (any?) classics. We dig into why disliking billionaires is actually totally fine; conflicts of interest and their sometimes humorous results; online mean girl/mean boy behavior from ...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 355
Jonathan is back from New York after attending the first three days of the US Open. James quizzes him on the record crowds, the heat, where to find the frozen Honey Deuce, the tennis, and his advice for navigating the grounds. We chat about Naomi’s divisive kit, Adidas’ misstep, and of course the cornrow epidemic. Right, and there was tennis being played, too – Novak & Carlos crash out, the men’s draw could see a real breakthrough (or not), and Paolini and Gauff win for Slam consistency this...
Sep 01, 2024•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 354
The US Open is around the corner, but you know what we really want to talk about: the news of Jannik Sinner’s positive doping tests, the lifted suspensions, and the hearing that cleared his name five months later, all before we heard a single peep on the subject. We take you through the facts of the case, the questions around transparency and the perception of fairness, and the privilege of having the means to mount a case and a spokesperson like Darren Cahill on your side. We end with our US Op...
Aug 24, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 353
We asked for questions and you sent us so many great ones, many of which cover some of the major topics o’ the day, including the recent rule enforcement controversies and the groundswell of support for video replay. (Basically, video replay needs to happen and it will happen, but it won’t fix everything!) Beyond just the topical, we've got Olympics memories, favorite cake, a few great Coco questions, and the contradiction of having fewer and fewer opinions in a hot take-driven medium. Let’s hav...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 352
Since we last spoke, the entire Olympic tennis tournament and the Canadian Open came and went. Our coverage isn’t comprehensive but more of a riff on the most interesting bits to us . We devote a good chunk of time to the tennis world’s incursions into the “gender controversy” involving Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif, including ugly, often defamatory statements by tennis legends and one current player (the latter being the only one to retract). We bounce over to Canada for some disjointed th...
Aug 13, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 351
We’re celebrating our 350th episode - thanks to all of you for sticking around and pushing us forward for all these years! On this episode, we’re sharing thoughts on the Olympics opening ceremony and the spotlight on tennis royalty; the Olympics tennis draws, rocked by withdrawals and the unique Olympic qualification rules; and the post-Wimbledon clay/grass season. Rafa reached the Bastad final plus, in Hamburg, Arthur Fils matched That Guy’s energy, saved 21/22 break points, and snatched the ti...
Jul 27, 2024•55 min•Ep. 350
So rarely does a championship weekend feel this great. The widely adored Babs Krejcikova has done it again, this time winning the Wimbledon title amidst an injury-plagued year. It’s her 12th major title across all disciplines. Carlos Alcaraz is now the youngest male Channel Slam winner, sweeping past 7-time champion Djokovic in a rematch of last year’s final. In more good news, Taylor Townsend claims her first major title and Sinikova and Hsieh add to their impressive resumes. Plus, we chat abou...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 349
We made it to Middle Sunday at Wimbledon! (Well, not all of us.) The bottom half of the women’s draw is guaranteed to see a surprising finalist; in the top half, slightly more order prevails, even after the dismissals of Swiatek and Jabeur. The men’s draw is proceeding mostly as expected on the top half, while the bottom has seen the rapid rise of Perricard, the precarious state of Djokovic's repaired knee, and a slightly spicy beef between Taylor Fritz and Arthur Rinderknech. We also witnessed ...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 348
The year's third major is upon us as we face the first Williams-less Wimbledon in 28 years <sob>. Novak is back from knee surgery and sheltered from world #1 Sinner and defending champion Alcaraz, who share a balanced but tricky top half. Iga’s draw has done her no favors, but some of the grass stalwarts are questionable, including Rybakina, Vondrousova, and the injured Sabalenka. And buckle up, because early on we’ll be treated to the Your Behavior Is Terrible classic, featuring Steve Car...
Jun 29, 2024•58 min•Ep. 347
Grass season is well underway -- almost over, actually -- and we’ve got British players coming out of hibernation, a tennis power couple winning again, the new ATP #1 switching surfaces with ease, and basically all the top WTA grass contenders out with injury or illness in Berlin. Elsewhere, Carlos is unhappy with the ATP’s latest rule experiment and a commentator is unhappy with a problem he just made up. We also cover Tsitsipas’ bizarre tradwife posting and the Olympic qualifications; and fina...
Jun 24, 2024•50 min•Ep. 346
Iga Swiatek further cements her position as the highly feared queen of Roland Garros and Carlos Alcaraz completes a “Surface Slam” amid injury problems and less than ideal preparation. The years-long ordeal surrounding domestic violence allegations and criminal charges against Zverev has been resolved, at least legally, but the tennis community will continue to reckon with its comprehensive failure in their handling of it. We’ve also got doubles news, WTA CEO announcement, and more takeaways fro...
Jun 11, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 345
It’s been a rainy slog through the first week of Roland Garros. The weather has wreaked chaos on scheduling, the tournament banned alcohol on Philippe Chatrier because the fans didn’t know how to act, and the night session has no women (but who would want it anyway?). We analyze the draw as it stands and take you through the highlights and lowlights: Rafa may or may not have played his last match here, Swiatek-Osaka put on a clinic, Djokovic’s fire got lit at 2am on a Sunday, and Dimitrov comple...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 22 min•Ep. 344
Roland Garros approaches, and the women's draw has a heavy favorite in Iga Swiatek plus a few major contenders. In contrast, the men's tour seems in a temporary state of disarray, as Djokovic enters without momentum and Sinner and Alcaraz are dealing with injuries. What's worse, the 14-time champion, the (possibly) retiring Rafa Nadal, draws a man who starts his domestic violence trial days after their match. As usual, no predictions here but lots of chatter about this clay season and who's prim...
May 25, 2024•55 min•Ep. 343
Halfway through Rome and it’s all peritonsillar abscesses and water bottles knocking down GOATs and Italian stars retiring and fleeing their home country amidst myriad legal problems. You know, the usual. 0:35 Andrey does not have angina 3:25 Djokovic gets hit in the head by a falling water bottle 9:45 Camila Giorgi retired and lamming it 18:55 Rafa says there’s a tiny, tiny chance this isn’t the end 23:35 Qinwen says no to drama 25:30 More retirement talk: Dominic and Diego 31:45 So how does on...
May 14, 2024•44 min•Ep. 342
Madrid stretched nearly two weeks and few of the top men survived without injury. Felix Auger-Aliassime landed in the final after three walkovers/retirements but it was a very ill Andrey Rublev who snatched the title. Iga Swiatek won Madrid for the first time (be scared). Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur provided lots of food for thought -- in very different ways -- on women’s sports and continuing inequities. Plus, we’re bringing you our thoughts on Luca Guadagnino’s long awaited queer tennis dra...
May 06, 2024•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 341
It’s time to play catch-up with the early results of the European clay swing: Tsitsipas wins his 3rd Monte Carlo title, Casper takes revenge the following week in Barcelona, and Elena Rybakina slays Iga in Stuttgart for her third title of the year. We also talk about Rafa’s return to tennis in Barcelona and Holger Rune’s commitment to remaining messy on social media even after signing with IMG. In off-court stuff: Muguruza retires, the WTA announces their year-end championships in Saudi Arabia, ...
Apr 22, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 340
We've just returned from an amazing experience at the Credit One Charleston Open, a tournament that's been hugely important to women's tennis and continues to be a favorite among players and fans. We do our best to place Charleston in the context of its host city's complex history and explore the tournament’s role in helping to develop women's tennis. Danielle Collins was unquestionably the main attraction of the tournament -- winning her second straight title with the loss of one set. We also c...
Apr 09, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 339
Danielle Collins, you will always be famous. The 30-year-old charisma machine – she of 2 NCAA titles and an unorthodox journey through tennis – wins her biggest title in the final year of her career. On the men’s side, everybody’s fave Grigor Dimitrov beat three top 10 players but fell against the final one, the near-unbeatable Jannik Sinner. Plus, we have more tales from our time at the Miami Open, including one particularly impassioned rant and the key to why Casper Ruud is not beating the Kar...
Apr 01, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 338
For the first time, we’re coming to you from Miami Gardens, Florida! Before recapping Indian Wells, we share our first impressions of the Miami Open site and some of the tennis we got to see early on: Halep’s first match back from her suspension, Azarenka-Stearns (with an appearance by early Berry Gordy’s son RedFoo), Ostapenko lighting up Court 1, and more. Alcaraz defends his Indian Wells title -- snapping a title-less stretch going back to Wimbledon -- and Iga regains her title while losing a...
Mar 22, 2024•45 min•Ep. 337
On March 5, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rendered its decision on the Simona Halep appeal: the doping was not intentional and the suspension was reduced to 9 months, time long since served. It’s the welcome end to a saga that has dragged on and shaken trust in the sport’s anti-doping institutions. But, we’re left with ever more questions: Why were the conclusions of the ITIA and CAS so starkly different? What of the biological passport results? What took so long? Why are tennis players oft...
Mar 12, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 336
Rublev’s default from Dubai generated tons of discourse this week, and we devote quite a bit of time to it: the facts, the question of proportionality (of both Rublev’s actions and the umpire’s decision), and why player reactions aren’t the final word. We also recap the end of the lead-up to Indian Wells, with several players showing off the best tennis of their lives. Plus, Murray’s retirement talk; the ATP’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund; and the suspension of a low-ra...
Mar 05, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 335
February concludes with another first-time winner at the WTA 1000 level, Jordan Thompson winning 3 matches in one night to double in Los Cabos, and a bunch of hatchers and snatchers in Doha and Rio. We're also talking about the Coco-umpire incident in Dubai, Holger Rune rehiring Patrick Mouratoglou but retaining his reckless social media brand, and the quagmire of ethics breaches with the influx of betting companies into tennis institutions. 1:40 Jasmine Paolini wins Dubai + Kalinskaya’s fantast...
Feb 27, 2024•44 min•Ep. 334
We're catching up with the tennis tours as they wind through Transylvania, South America, the US, and the Middle East. Iga Swiatek threepeats in Doha, Rybakina racks up more wins, Pliskova surges, and Sinner wins his first tournament off becoming a Slam winner. Meanwhile, Ostapenko still hasn't lost a match to anyone but Azarenka. We've got updates on the high profile doping suspensions: Brooksby gets some clemency from the ITIA, and Halep pleads her case to the CAS and sues the supplement compa...
Feb 20, 2024•54 min•Ep. 333
The Body Serve is back with what’s become a February tradition, an off-topic mailbag/pop culture episode. Fair warning to Sw*fties to proceed with caution through a few of the early segments (timestamps below). As we all switch modes from Australian Open to the global February tennis schedule, we offer our highlights and the broader themes raised by the Grammys with a massive dose of deja vu; we answer your questions, both tennis-related and not; we take on the idea of “tarnishing” a legacy by c...
Feb 06, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 332
