The Body Serve

At long last, our ATP “hot list,” in our signature TBS style. Our mission: have fun, be sex-positive, not put anyone down, and marvel at how subjective and silly all this is. We talk about the ethics of objectifying men, the male gaze and male gays, and the “structures of looking” from Laura Mulvey on into the 21st century. After that bit of (hopefully interesting) table-setting, we get right into our categories of hotness (brains, aura, and ass are a few key examples). Finally, each of us share our hot lists of both active and retired players. Stay tuned for a fe...

For many, the 2025 ATP season has been about one heated rivalry and, well … not much else. We’re not necessarily here to contradict that narrative. But, there were five first-time Masters 1000 winners, and that’s not nothing! We’ll take you through the year’s highlights, month by month; question some tennis conventional wisdom; and go through your most memorable and funniest moments (math is hard!). Also, find out how our breakout picks fared and which ATP Awards need a rethink.  

4:30 How we finished 2024

10:00 Themes of this season: duopoly, futility

15:00 The season’s notable moment...

It’s time to wrap the 2025 WTA season! We saw 5 different players split the Slams and the WTA Finals to form a season with a clear top tier but no outright dominance, allowing for surprises (Mboko, Andreeva, Swiatek at Wimbledon) and steady reliables (Sabalenka). As always, we’ll take you through the season chronologically while highlighting some key themes of the year both on- and off-court. We’ll survey the WTA Awards candidates, discuss our listeners’ most memorable and funniest moments of the season, and hold our own feet to the fire by seeing how our 2025 breakout picks performed. Thanks f...

Jannik Sinner defends at the ATP Finals, again without losing a set, beating his chief rival #1 Carlos Alcaraz. The final was fine, even quite good at times, albeit a bit momentum-less; but hey, they can’t all be classics. Novak makes some valid points about Sinner’s doping case – yes, well-tread territory to be fair – and gets subtweeted by Darren Cahill for his troubles. Plus, Aryna is displeased with Nike (which itself seems indifferent to tennis), and we take a quick tangent into health care and politics. 

1:55 Jannik repeats at the ATP Finals 

7:05 The Big 3 broke tenn...

It’s our 400th episode! Elena Rybakina makes a stunning run through the WTA Finals field, but the ending is overshadowed by an awkward non-photo with the WTA CEO. Novak Djokovic is a stunt queen til the end, winning Athens and then telling Musetti at the net that he won’t be playing Turin anyway, so thanks for playing! Meanwhile, newcomers Learner Tien and Victoria Mboko cap their breakout seasons with titles, Ons Jabeur is having a baby, and we reflect on our Toronto Blue Jays and our 400th.

2:15 Rybakina dominates the WTA Finals field

6:35 The...

Almost there … Elena Rybakina booked her spot in the WTA Finals and dipped immediately (extremely injured). Basel saw three of its four quarterfinals end with a retirement. Naturally, the ATP decided this was the perfect time to announce an imminent 10th Masters 1000 tournament, in Saudi Arabia, which will require the shuttering of five current ATP tournaments. Elsewhere, Marta Kostyuk decides it’s not sour grapes, it’s testosterone; and Jannik Sinner gets torched by the Italian consumer protection agency for taking un pisolino after leading his country to two straight Davis Cup titles.

2:50 À propos of nothing, Kostyuk dabbles...

It’s late in the season but great stories are still being written: the world #204 Valentin Vacherot slips into the Shanghai qualifying draw and then wins it all, Coco Gauff rights the ship in Asia for the second year in a row, and two Canadians win titles in the same week. We also talk about Holger Rune’s Achilles injury, Finals qualification storylines, and the ongoing debates on scheduling and exhibitions in Timbuktu. Plus, a foray into pop culture featuring David Archuleta and the late great Diane Keaton.

01:30 The cousin final

07:35 Coco doing what she does...

Late in the season, the tennis tour is winding itself through the great cities of China. Anisimova wins Beijing, the women put together a banner lineup in Wuhan, while the men in Shanghai limp (literally) toward the season's end. We've still got so many great listener questions to answer, which cover topical stuff like the length of the tennis season and the Hall of Fame nominees; and less relevant but no less fun subjects like our work nemeses and the retirement of sprint queen and TBS all-time fave, Kingston native Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 

02:45 Marquee matchups in Wuhan

The men’s season ticks on, same as it ever was, as Alcaraz and Sinner snag twin 500s in different countries. We talk a little (very little) about recent results and people being consistently weird in and about Asia. Then, we move into our listener mailbag segment, where we cover everything from how to address the late-season malaise to dealing with workplace narcissists. We finish with an extended review of Mariah’s new album Here For It All, her first studio album since 2018. By the way, the episode title does not refer to our feelings on the album! 

2:5...

The post-US Open stretch is always a little strange. Case in point, Lleyton Hewitt was suspended for two weeks because he pushed an anti-doping official last year(?!). Taylor Townsend squandered a lot of good will after she mocked Chinese cuisine (though she swiftly apologized). The Italian dynasty captures their 6th BJK Cup title via Paolini, Cocciaretto, and Errani heroics. Plus, we issue a … clarification(?) of our comments on the USTA last episode, discuss the Canada-Israel tie, and tackle the allegedly imminent Kyrgios-Sabalenka “battle of the sexes.” 

1:50 A retraction/clarification on our USTA crashout 

6:20 We read the Lley...

Thanks for your patience as we finished up our US Open wrap! One of our birthdays coincided with Rolex inviting a certain president to the tournament, and we conscientiously objected. Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are your winners (for the first time together). The tournament was a barnburner on the women’s side, a fantastic cap to a year which saw four different Slam winners and a few players rewriting their own stories. On the men’s side, Alcaraz faced only 10 break points (a record) and pushed a dominant Sinner into rethinking his own game. As is our wont, we t...

We've just returned from the US Open, excited to share some stories from the site. We cover our night session with Venus, the debut of Carlos' buzz cut, Felix vs some fake fans, and the luck of seeing Barbie K's opening match at two consecutive Slams. This has been something of a whiny US Open, though -- kicked off by Medvedev’s calculated tantrum, then followed by Ostapenko’s shameful display against Townsend (which Jonathan witnessed in person!). Later, we chat about the experience of a stretched out schedule, Serena inducting Maria into the Hall of Fame, the draws as t...

We're kind of winging it for this US Open preview. It's a bit too late for a Cincy recap, so we're talking about major themes -- like Coco’s coaching overhaul, Iga’s mid-season surge, the guys not named Carlos or Jannik -- and sprinkling in some results. We talk about what worked and what didn't in the mixed doubles exhib-- I mean the prestigious and successful mixed doubles tournament featuring the world's best players. Plus we settle some scores and probably create a few new beefs, but what the hell, this is the last major of 2025 and literally our...

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’s suspension has been overturned, That Guy is delulu (but in a very intentional PR type of way...

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 touch on the Canadian Open, coaching drama, some big local retirements, and answer a few fun listener q...

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 us simply run out of opinions.

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 expect us to discuss the embarrassing display of billionaire worship that occurred when “activist investor” Bill Ackman...

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 ‘Cos’ Giron. Plus, if you’re curious about the various ways to get Wimbledo...

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 the deeply human imperfection of this sport, how it's played, and how...

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 playing #1s everywhere she goes

5:55 Major stories: the Sinner-Alcaraz chokehold and a...

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 big hitters at Queen’s

11:05 Marketa has awok...

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 the scheduling nightmare that got even worse. 

3:30 Coco Gauff is a two-time major champ!<...

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 controversy, with a fight led by Ons Jabeur and much of the tennis press. Plus...

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 happenings in Camila Giorgi’s life, and That Guy’s 37 trips to -- well, you can just...

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 Jannik back from a unexplained absence

12:30 When a delusional era lasts forever

...

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 fascinating than he first let on. 

Theme music courtesy of Oleg Fedak from Pixabay

01...

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 release. Plus, Dart’s out of left field comment, Shelly Ann clearing the field, and wondering what happened in...

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. 

1:10 Monte Carlo updates: why, Grigor...

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 major issues in the lawsuit, we hop over to Miami, where all 4 male Indian Wells semifinalists have crashe...

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...

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: how long does it take to produce each episode?

08:35 Nick’s wrist injury

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 Guerrero

15:35 Other results: Navarro, Djere, and Peggy’s private plane

...

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 Doha, Penko turns her year around

5:35 Fonseca’s first title, Schwartzman’s swan song, and will the South A...

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 imminent return(!), more from the AO men’s final protestor, Ymer’s unretireme...

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 opponent happen, alas to no avail. Plus, we got cracker women's doubles matchups, Nova...

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-event, and a few notes on commentary.

1:55 The first week upsets (aka James was...

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 metals, jumping ants

13:50 Comebacks and withdrawals

18:50 Women’s draw analysis...

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 decidedly more serious situation with Elena Rybakina’s former and would-be current coach, Stefano Vukov, who is currently under investigation by the WTA...

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 love for the game made him a...

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/funny/enraging moments (“do you want to change the lady?,” Indian Wells bee attack) an...

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 itself, making sure we’ve got the facts straight before offering any hot take...

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 2024 WTA breakout picks. Thanks for a great WTA season!

0:55 Launching our crowdfunding campaign!

3:00 T...

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’s hot mic incident, and more.

0:30 Housekeeping: a tran...

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 trial but still a tribulation (heh). 

0:30 And another thing about Sinner

2:55 S...

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 slightly confusing WTA ranking rules, and honor Dominic Thiem’s great career. 

1:00 Doe...

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 Sinner case. We cover the wave of cranky baby behavior in Shanghai, incl...

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 y’all enjoy! 

00:52 Serena in the Aren...

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 pro tennis, we look into the founding ethos of the sport -- “gentlemanly amateurism” -- and how that obsession...

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.

01:55 Naomi's coaching change

08:40 ‘C...

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 some famous commentators; and more observations from the site. We finish up with a lo...

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 year.   

1:50 The crowds: eased by free movement during matches

11:10...

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 Open draw previews: Sabalenka in great position, Os...

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 have some fun before the US Open gets underway next week!

01:30 Which non-Sl...

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 thoughts on the National Bank Open and finally touch on the end of an era, the diss...

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 title in front of a hostile crowd (and opponent).

0:30 A milestone!

3:15 Back on clay: Shnaid...

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 about some extraneous stuff, as usual, like Medvedev’s near-default, Djokovic’s lecture to the crowd, and the...

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 the last of Andy Murray at Wimbledon, featuring a moving tribute, a si...

The year's third major is upon us as we face the first Williams-less Wimbledon in 28 years . 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 Carell and Lil’ Wayne’s favorite tennis player.

0:35 The end of the Williams Wimbledon Era

3:20 T...

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 finally, it wouldn’t be a Slam without wild card drama.

1:55 Grass titlists: Draper, tennis’...

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 from the tournament like umpire headcams (did they get headcam premium pay?).  

2:50 Alcaraz wins his first French title, that other guy loses an...

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 completed his collection of Slam quarterfinals. 

1:55...

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 primed to show out. And what's a major without a little wild card drama? 

0:50 Wild c...

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 one qualify for the Olympic...

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 drama Challengers (aka the crowning of Zendaya as a true movie star), and we answer...

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, Keith Lee comes to Toronto (yes, there are one or two sneaks). We finish the ep...

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 chat about watching TBS faves Dasha Kasatkina and Taylor Townsend, Vika Azarenka, Jessie Pegula, and Sl...

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 Karen allegations.

03:30 Danielle Collins, the woman you are

09:48 She’s still ret...

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 mere handful of games. Later on, we talk about the competing proposals that a...

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 often so successful at CAS? Aside from the Halep news, we talk about...

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-ranked player for cannabis and how WADA decides to ban a substance.<...

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 fantastic run

7:40 Thompson wins Los Cabos singles and doubles

12:05 Hatching and snatching in South America

17:50 Andy Mur...

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 company (hey, Scarborough!). Plus: the last one-hander in the top 10 goes out, and major coaching shakeups at...

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 continuing to play past your prime; and chat randomly about the Naomi memoir...

The 2024 Australian Open wrapped with Aryna Sabalenka defending her title and Jannik Sinner snapping both Djokovic’s dominance and Medvedev’s almost inexhaustible energy to win his first major title. Amidst increasing coverage of the abuse charges against him, Zverev comes dangerously close to reaching a Djokovic-less final but Daniil says ‘calma.’ In good news, Zheng Qinwen breaks out even earlier than expected, Hsieh Su-Wei wins the third and fourth Slam titles of her return to tennis, and Rohan Bopanna reaches #1 at age 43.   

01:25 Sabalenka defends her Australian title without much trouble

13:50 Shakey shake! Coco’s run

19...

We’ve reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where the women’s draw has swallowed up all but 4 seeded players. Amidst the chaos, we’ve still got the defending champion, the US Open champion, and a number of players who’ve been expected to break out for a while. On the men's side, only seeded players have made the quarters. We chat a bit about the surprises (Borges, Cazaux) and whether anyone will stop Novak from getting his 11th title. We also talk about the kits we liked (Coco and Grigor ftw); the Sports Illustrated layoffs; and, in light of...

Six days into the Australian Open and most of the comeback kids are gone (except for Anisimova). On day five, chaos reigned down in Melbourne: Rybakina is gone after losing the longest tiebreak in Slam history, Medvedev scrapes through at 3:30 am, Swiatek survives a tussle with Danielle Collins, and seeds Pegula, Rune, and Kasatkina exit. The news of Zverev’s trial date and his election to the Players Council converge to dominate coverage during week one; players flail in press conferences and the ATP appears inert. Finally, we take a look at Nadal's surprising(?) new role as ambassador to Sa...

The 2024 Australian Open is coming whether you're ready or not, this time a day early. The top 4 women are in fine form; Iga’s quarter is cracking, Sabalenka's is less tricky, but the women's draw promises a wild fortnight. We ask whether there's a man who can stop Djokovic's 11th title run (can vs. will is a big distinction). Time is spent on the prevailing sleaziness of the following: the ATP electing Zverev to Players Council, the clueless promotion of Break Point, and Kyrgios' new Osaka-produced podcast and rebrand. We've got a full draw analysis, plus we submit our 2024 br...

Happy new year and welcome to The Body Serve’s 10th season! The first week of the 2024 tennis season – which actually began in 2023 – started with high-profile comebacks and ended with the WTA’s top 4 setting the standard early. It was a great weekend for TBS faves Gauff, Rybakina, Rublev, and Dimitrov, but the good news was quickly followed by Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from the Australian Open and that team winning the United Cup. Eh, you win some, you lose some. Overall, the comeback kids performed well enough to inspire a lot of optimism, the United Cup presented a much bette...

To round out our 9th season, we’re leaving you with one more bonus episode for the holidays. You sent us thoughtful questions and we answer them with probably more light-heartedness than usual. You challenged us to identify our guilty tennis pleasures, our take on the Simona-Patrick blame game, Steve Simon’s shift away from CEO, our favorite tennis era and would-be rivalries, and much more. Happy holidays and see you in 2024!   

4:15 Are you excited for next season?

8:30 Simona’s doping case: the shift toward blaming Patrick

15:10 Why do men … (I swear this isn’t going...

Hana Mandlíková was, according to Bud Collins, “the least understood player of her generation.” A 4-time major champion, Hana was “some whimsical genius,” the presumed successor to the Evert-Navratilova reign, and at times she sure did make their lives difficult. But let’s dispense with the “next” whoever and the what ifs – Hana on her own is a fascinating figure, an explosive talent with a creative, athletic, and captivating serve-and-volley game. With the help of Hana’s memoir and contemporary accounts, we learn what it was like to be an internationally recognized athlete playing for a strict Communist government shaken by...

The ATP season: it wasn’t always fun, but it’s over and that’s what matters! 2023 saw Novak Djokovic manage his schedule wisely and dominate players 15 years younger than him, even as Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Daniil Medvedev attempted to wrest men’s tennis away from him. On this episode, we’ll take you through the season’s highlights and big winners, discuss off-court stuff, and evaluate our breakout picks and your own hopes and dreams for the season that was. All that plus a pop quiz!

03:45 Where were we at the start of 2023?

The 2023 season started and ended with Iga Swiatek as the player to beat, but it wasn’t a repeat of her utterly dominant 2022. A new elite separated itself from the field, as Sabalenka won her first Slam and achieved the #1 ranking, Coco Gauff won the US Open, Marketa Vondrousova shocked Wimbledon, and Rybakina scored three wins over Iga. Off the court, it was an unusually busy year in terms of WTA business news and rising player discontent over scheduling, finances, and plain respect. We’ll do a chronological recap of the season and talk about the overarching trends and bigg...

The 2023 tennis season is barreling toward the finish line. First up: the Canadian women win their first ever BJK/Fed Cup behind huge performances by Leylah Fernandez, Marina Stakusic, and Gaby Dabrowski. Novak Djokovic distances himself even farther from the field by dominating Alcaraz and Sinner to win the ATP Finals. There was a ton of discussion about throwing a round robin match to remove the #1 player – and plenty of good reasons for and against – but in the end it was moot, as Jannik Sinner went undefeated in round robin only to be overpowered by Djokovic in the final. Else...

It’s hard to know where to start with the WTA Finals in Cancun, where the poor conditions and seemingly shoddy preparation overshadowed much of the actual play. The WTA is suffering a reputational crisis and a player rebellion, with players complaining publicly and demanding better conditions, scheduling, income, and leave policies. Amidst all this noise, Iga Swiatek stomps through the field and regains the #1 ranking. Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev was issued a penalty order in the domestic abuse case brought by his ex-partner Brenda Patea. Of special interest to us is the ATP’s continued mishandling of the Zverev prob...

TBS 320 arrives as the tours (mercifully) make their final few stops of the season. We recap the results of the past week: Sinner, Auger-Aliassime, and Haddad Maia all score big wins for their respective careers. As you know, James is the resident tennis-player-catches-a-doping-case enthusiast (?) and he’s back to provide updates about Brooksby and Halep. There’s WTA Finals talk as well as a few things we’ve HAD IT with.

02:49 Jannik’s red wig isn’t budging

06:20 Felix says he’s back!

07:15 Haddad Maia doubles up in Zhuhai

12:47 In-depth look...

Admittedly, this hasn’t been our most productive October ever, but we’re here! First, we’re recapping two weeks of results, including a 12th title for Monfils, a first for Shelton, Mertens remaining the only ever winner of Monastir, and Zheng Qinwen triumphing shortly after coach Fissette dipped. Also: Holger Rune hires Boris Becker, recently released from prison and deported from the UK; the Cincinnati Masters will stay put; Craig Tiley promises something he can’t promise; and Naomi sells her likeness to Mark Zuckerberg. And what’s the deal with the lack of women on Tennis Channel and the WT...

Tennis returns to China after four years away, as Iga Swiatek reminds us who's boss and Jannik Sinner takes a huge step forward by beating Alcaraz and Medvedev for the Beijing title. Meanwhile, the Cancun organizers are building their Field of Dreams in less than a month and several top players are already bowing out of BJK Cup. We also cover the growing chorus of abuse survivors who are taking aim at the USTA, and why this is far from the last time we'll hear about it. Plus, a few diversions about Zheng, "athleticism," Safarova's extremely brief non-return, and...

Hiiiiiii, we’re back to discuss the fallout from the Simona Halep verdict and the tennis results since the U.S. Open. Now that Simona has been officially handed a four year suspension, we have a bit more clarity as to what’s been going on in actuality, not just on social media. Spoiler: it doesn’t look good for the former world #1 and two-time Slam champ. Maria Sakkari did what needed to be done (at long last) in Guadalajara, it’s just too little too late for Félix at Laver Cup, and we weigh in on Elena’s performan...

Welcome to Part II of our US Open wrap, this time focusing on the men’s draw. Djokovic wins #24 and the challengers (aside from Alcaraz) have gotten no closer to cracking him mentally or physically … they’ve perhaps gotten even farther away. We talk about the semis, including the straight boy shade fest over PhoneGate and Medvedev’s 12 out of 10 performance against Alcaraz. The other major story of the week is Simona Halep’s 4-year ban for doping, handed down by an independent tribunal. It doesn’t look good, folks. We finish up with the Williams-Ohanian tweets, some trophy size compari...

Coco Gauff -- a child prodigy who built her career step by step -- grabs her first major title at 19 to cap a stunning turnaround this summer. She slays every question, embraces gratitude, thanks her haters, and will leave New York a superstar. Aryna Sabalenka ascends to world no. 1 for the first time, reaching the semifinals in every Slam this year, but couldn't stop Gauff in the final. The US Open leaves women's tennis in a truly exciting place, with a clear top tier and a number of women with diverse playing styles always a threat to win. We're...

We're fresh off our second visit to the US Open (and James' first!) and sharing our observations of the grounds, the big stadiums, the Honey Deuces, and the record crowds. James tells the story of night one on Ashe, something he's wanted to experience for a long time. Coco Gauff wrested control of the match but Laura Siegemund and her antics spurred *discourse* that crossed into the mainstream. We discuss the matches we saw, the big breakthroughs, and where we are in the draw. We're also covering the mysterious "respiratory [and apparently gastro] illness" ripping its way through the...

It’s The Body Serve’s second visit to the US Open (James’ first!). We recorded part of this episode in Toronto, minutes before leaving for the airport, and then broke down the draws after arriving in Queens. There was a lot of news to get through, namely the ATP’s financial security pilot program and the rumors of the WTA Finals taking place in Saudi Arabia. Our draw analysis focuses on first round matches to watch, the Americans’ chances, the fourth consecutive Iga-Coco quarter, and the contenders hoping to spoil another coronation.

1:05 Where are the WTA Fin...

Cincinnati was starting to feel like a hangover from the Canadian tournaments but finals Sunday turned that all around. Coco Gauff grabbed her first 1000 title -- going 11-1 since her loss at Wimbledon -- and Djokovic beat Alcaraz over 4 hours in one of the more dramatic three-set matches you'll see. Are we seeing a May-December rivalry in the vein of Martina-Steffi? We've also got the bee story and the return of The Rant, with each of us giving it a go.

1:05 The blazing women’s 100m final because this is a Jamaican track and field stan podcast 

Tennis returned to Canada as weather wreaked bedlam on the women's draw in Montréal. Jessie Pegula won her second 1000 title and scored a great win over #1 Iga Swiatek, but we need to talk about some horrendous scheduling decisions that impacted Rybakina and runner-up Samsonova. Jannik Sinner wins his first Masters title on the men's side, while de Minaur and Paul record massive wins of their own. We've also got Casper Ruud's tour of Canadian Content, the weird rules revelation in the Raonic-Tiafoe match, and the strange persistence of American high school line dance standard "Cotton Eye Joe." Most i...

Welcome to the brief, post-Wimbledon grass-clay-hardcourt-Euro-American-Hopman Cup season, with players fighting for money and points across various countries on all surfaces. We start with the news of Mikael Ymer’s 18-month suspension for missing doping tests (the ITF didn’t like the first ruling so they went back to the well). Then we move on to the news that Alexander Zverev’s ex-partner has pressed criminal charges for bodily harm, which are currently winding their way through German courts. We talk newcomers Akugue and Michelsen, Ruud’s bagels, and what’s next for the summer hard court swing. 

1:00 Mika...

Well well well, what has Wimbledon wrought?! Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova are your singles champions, defeating Novak Djokovic and Ons Jabeur respectively. We try to get to the bottom of how both results happened, while touching on some of the other happenings from the final stretch of the tournament. Many congratulations to Naomi Osaka and Ash Barty on the births of their babies, and a closing rant by James on Novak hagiography

01:12 Carlos Alcaraz did WHAT?

14:00 Does this shift the best men's player narrative?

17:00 Will Alcaraz’s win signal that the field ha...

Wimbledon’s first week is in the books (almost), dominated by talk of rain, curfews, scheduling, and the queue. We highlight the big stories and top performers of the week – Svitolina, Eubanks, Berrettini, Vondrousova, etc. – and a few of the stumbles, including ADF’s shocking mental wobble against Rune and an unnamed reporter’s gaffe toward an unflappable Paula Badosa. We spend a good chunk of time on Wimbledon’s stubborn peculiarities and finish with a quick rant on Cirstea’s odious presence on social media.

0:35 Big stories in the first few days: Venus, Elina, Eubanks, Berrettini

14:35 “C...

We’re back from Europe just in time to recap the brief grass season, share our experiences at the bett1open in Berlin, preview the Wimbledon draw, give our takes on Break Point part two, chat about the ATP/WTA overtures to Saudi Arabia … anything else?! Buckle up because we’re covering a lot of ground – get it? 'Cuz it’s on grass – on this episode. Feel free to join our Wimbledon bracket challenge on the TNNS app using the code laver-ace-9494. 

0:30 Our experience at the German Open in Berlin!

18:20 The other grass results: Frances & Carlos, Penko...

We’re on the road, so we have a mailbag episode to tide you over until we get back on our thrones up North. So much tennis stuff has happened already since we’ve been away, and we’ll be back next time to recap all of that alongside our Wimbledon preview. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our yappa yappa yappa on a whole host of subjects as we dive into as many of your questions as possible.

Here are some of the major questions and themes:

1:30 Does the LIV-PGA merger have a...

Roland Garros 2023 is in the books, as Iga Swiatek extends her dominance and Novak Djokovic beats a field that offered very little resistance to the new major singles title leader. All respect and admiration goes to Karolina Muchová, so far the toughest challenger to Iga in a Slam final. We talk the science of cramping and answer listener questions about Sabalenka's approach to press and what we expect of athletes speaking on politics. Finally we tackle the doubles default controversy -- a strict rule that should be strict -- and praise the wheelchair winners and everyone's favorite doubles pairing (o...