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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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:...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...