No Challenges Remaining
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A podcast discussing the weekly happenings in the wacky world of professional tennis.
No Challenges Remaining
2w ago
Ben and Tumaini had a lot to catch up on this week, so we are splitting this episode into two parts.
The first part, here, begins with the Court of Arbitration for Sport issuing a radical reversal of the first decision on Simona Halep's positive test, which means Halep can return to tour immediately. We don't have all the answers yet, but what does the dramatic disparity between the two decisions say about the dysfunction of the tennis anti-doping system?
In the second part of this episode, we discuss Andrey Rublev getting defaulted from his semifinal in Dubai for berating a line judge, and ho ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
2M ago
Ben and Tumaini turn to the women (and the miscellany) in this second Australian Open wrap show.
This one was more straightforward, resultswise: Aryna Sabalenka was the best player, by a lot, defending her title in emphatic fashion. What do we make of her consolidation as a champion? And where is the sport at now, geopolitically?
We also cover the strong runs of Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen, as well as early exits of Swiatek, Wozniacki, and Naomi Osaka.
We also cover some other miscellaneous stories of the tournament, including the delightful Hsieh Su-wei, the tacky trophy boxes, and new the fr ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
2M ago
Jannik Sinner is the winner of the Australian Open, dethroning the Djokovic dynasty and prevailing in a thrilling comeback final to claim his first Slam win.
We discuss Sinner's ascendance and what the defeats mean for the two men, Djokovic and Medvedev, whom he beat to clinch this title.
We also discuss other various things on the men's side of the tournament (we also recorded a women's episode which will come soon), including late finishes.
We then close with a discussion of the darkening shadow that the abuse accusations against Alexander Zverev cast over this tournament, and why they ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
2M ago
Coming full circle, NCR begins its 13th(!) season with our look at the Australian Open draws.
Ben and Tumaini start with the men. Who can meaningfully challenge Novak Djokovic?
And then we talk about the women. Have you heard that Ben wrote a book about Naomi Osaka? We really think you'll like it, and we thank you for buying it!
We'll be back with you with more shows during the tournament ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
3M ago
Ben and Tumaini have a lot to cover as they try to make sense of the year in women's tennis and explain the forces behind the stormy finish to the year, on-court and off-court, and where it leaves the sport going forward.
After a brief discussion on the last couple events of the men's calendar—including if Jannik Sinner was right to keep Novak Djokovic in contention in Turin—we dig into the year that was on court, first by running through some of the headlines off court, and then covering how that turned into headlines off-court with player criticisms roiling the final event of the year.
Are t ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
5M ago
With Ricky Dimon in town to run his sixth Marine Corps Marathon, he joins Ben for their annual wrap show on the year that was in men's tennis, which was another season of Novak Djokovic, now 36, lording over a much younger field.
Ben and Ricky get somewhat granular, going over the top seventeen men in the rankings and spending a few minutes on each, assessing their years and their prospects for next year.
In order: Dimitrov, Shelton, Tiafoe, Khachanov, de Minaur, Paul, Ruud, Hurkacz, Fritz, Rune, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rublev, Sinner, Medvedev, Alcaraz, and Djokovic
Plus a few honorable notable me ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
6M ago
Ben and Tumaini read the 126-page decision in the tribunal's decision to convict former No. 1 Simona Halep on two charges of intentional doping, and give you a deep dive into the details of the document and expound on what it all means.
In the first half of this episode we get into the details so you don't have to, explaining the reasons why the tribunal was "comfortably satisfied" of Halep's guilt, and how they arrived to those two parallel verdicts through different detection methods. We also discuss why Halep's defenses failed, and what she was trying to achieve with her focus on delays to ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
7M ago
Ben and Tumaini wrap the US Open finals in their eighth show of the tournament, starting with Coco Gauff fulfilling the years of hype and hope by winning her first grand slam title. What did this win show us about a player we first met when she was a young teenager of 13 or 15? And what are the perils of such expectations?
We then get into Djokovic's win over Medvedev, for his 24th major. Where does he go from here? And how should his relationship to the public best be characterized at this point?
You'll also get to hear TWO original songs by Dan Bern about this tournament.
And as plugged many ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
7M ago
Ben and Tumaini discuss the four semifinals that were, and all the storylines they contained, before looking ahead a bit to the fast-approaching US Open finals.
First, what do they think of the protest that lengthily interrupted Coco Gauff's win? What is the message tennis should take from that moment? And how was Madison Keys derailed from her zoning start by Aryna Sabalenka?
And what about Naomi Osaka, who dropped in on the US Open and discussed future plans (you can and should pre-order Ben's biography of Naomi as soon as you can, as many times as you want!)
We then discuss Novak Getoffmyla ..read more
No Challenges Remaining
7M ago
Ben and NCR's Youth correspondent Alex Gruskin discuss Ben Shelton's big win Tuesday night over Frances Tiafoe in the US Open quarterfinals, a big result both within the American tennis ladder and in the big picture of the ATP generations game.
Has Shelton's generation (Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, etc) already passed Tiafoe's generation (Tsitsipas, Rublev, Auger-Aliassime etc) for good? What about within the American ladder?
And when did the buzz about Shelton, who seemed to come out of nowhere, first start?
Exciting news, listeners! For the next three days members can get 25% off when they pr ..read more