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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 an impact on...

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...

We're halfway through Roland Garros -- most of the favorites are still around plus a few clay sensations on the bottom halves of both the men's and women's draws. We're talking Sloane, Svitolina, Muchova, Iga, Carlos, Jannik, Meddy and more. We were reminded that politics and sport are, in fact, intertwined and inextricable with Djokovic's commentary on Kosovo and Sabalenka's response to questions about Lukashenko. Last week we asked for updates on Seyboth Wild's case and we got more than we...

Roland Garros will begin without Rafael Nadal in the draw, for the first time since 2004. In his stead, Alcaraz and Djokovic are favorites, but Medvedev’s Rome win and Rune’s consistency might complicate things. On the women’s side, the fabled “new big 3” have kept up their sides of the bargain through the clay season and it’s made for a fairly balanced draw. Iga remains the favorite but Rybakina, Sabalenka, Jabeur, Krejcikova, or Ostapenko could snatch (among others). Join us for our draw...

Another clay Masters, another disastrous finale. They couldn’t help the rain, but between the weird scheduling and the fumbled women’s singles trophy presentation, Rome left a bad taste in our mouths after this expanded clay experiment. Rybakina and Medvedev prevailed: Rybakina recording her third straight win over Iga Swiatek and Medvedev shakes up Roland Garros predictions with his first clay title. We dive into the proposal to move the Western & Southern Open to Charlotte, NC, plus a...

Episode 301 takes us crashing back to Earth in the wake of genuine concerns over the Madrid Open’s treatment of women players. The overlong, overcooked tournament ended in a flurry of bad press, which started with some symbolically loaded cakes and ended with a tournament terrified of letting women speak at all. Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz continue fine seasons, each winning their second titles here. To wrap up, we cover some depressing injury news, Murray-Stephens Challenger wins, and...

Episode 300 of The Body Serve is our meditation on the career of Serena Williams - an episode we’d put off, partly out of denial and partly because we wanted so badly to do it justice. In 1999, just before beating Steffi Graf at Indian Wells, Serena said: “I’m tired of losing to people I should beat. Whatever my potential is, I want to reach it. Now.” She did just that for over two decades, amassing 23 major singles titles, 14 major doubles titles with Venus, international fame and cultural...

Episode 299 (almost there!) brings us to Andrey Rublev's first Masters title with his win over young menace Holger Rune. Medvedev & Zverev fire a few shots at each other, culminating in Daniil's clear 'we are not friends and keep my wife's name out of your mouth' moment. We talk about the WTA's decision to suspend their boycott and return to China, despite the Chinese government failing to meet the WTA's demands. Plus, a very depressing injury update, a few more thoughts on 'fairness' and...

Rain across the Southern US nearly derailed a few tennis tournaments this weekend, but Ons Jabeur and Frances Tiafoe held on to win Charleston and Houston, respectively. We chat about the early clay season, Naomi's post-baby goals, and some updates on Wimbledon, Carlos, and Iga. For a good chunk of the episode, we take on Martina Navratilova's escalating takes on trans athletes, and more broadly, trans women. How did this expand past trans women's participation in sport to a more generally...

Our Miami champs – Kvitova and Medvedev – underscore how tough it is to win the Sunshine Double. Petra Kvitova completes one of her most unexpected tournament runs by winning her 30th WTA title and ninth at the 1000 level. On the men’s side, Daniil Medvedev caps an astonishing run of tournaments with title #4, and Alcaraz and Sinner’s electrifying semifinal gets widespread attention. We've also got Eubanks, Gauff/Pegula, a decision from Wimbledon, and Pouille's openness about mental...

We’re coming to you mid-Sunshine Double, which at this point is more like Sunshine Month? Sunshine Quarter? Anyway, pack your SPF. We’re seeing storylines emerge for the year: is there a WTA Big 3 emerging? Who else will join that top tier? Is Carlos poised to dominate? Will the racquet talk? Beyond the tennis being played, we’re covering two continuing stories: the attempts by the WTA to protect players from abuse and exploitation, and the CVC/WTA deal and what that means for revenue. We...

It’s a little bit of everything this week -- first, some thoughts on the first week of Indian Wells, whose courts are slower than Daniil Medvedev’s bathroom breaks (his words). We chat about Murray, Medvedev, Raducanu, Muchová, and the undeniable Ben Shelton. In business news, we talk about the WTA’s official partnership with CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has just promised a $150m in new and better revenue streams for women’s tennis. Plus, Denis Shapovalov goes all in on...

It’s been a rough week in the Body Serve household, as we said goodbye to our beautiful 16-year-old beagle Vince. He’s felt like a third co-host over the years, a presence who was always just off-mic (and sometimes on it when he snored). In tennis, Barbora Krejcikova did the thing – taking out #1-2-3, saving match points, serving and getting served bagels, and pummeling Iga’s second serve to win Dubai. On the men’s side, Medvedev won three titles in three weeks, getting back into the top 10...

February in tennis: four continents, three Iga bagels, two male US Open champs winning titles, and one white woman wearing racially inappropriate hairstyles. This month is nothing if not eclectic. We also chat about Hsieh dropping in then dropping out of Dubai, what the hell is going with Schwartzman and Muguruza, and the breakout star who will change tennis in his country forever.     0:45 Iga generously doles out bagels; Sakkari Semifinal Segment 13:45 Wu Yibing becomes first Chinese man to...