Carl and I recap the podcast's first book club selection, Gordon Forbes's well-regarded 1978 memoir of 1950s and 1960s amateur tennis. We talk about what we learned about pre-Open Era tennis, what set Rod Laver apart from his peers, how Forbes stacked up as a player, and whether the lifestyles of amateur and pro players were really so different. We also address the tricky subject of how to read a memoir with very of-the-time attitudes toward women, barely an acknowledgement of apartheid, and...

Jeff and Carl welcome guest Johsua Robinson of the Wall Street Journal, co-author of The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports. We run the gamut of Covid-in-sports topics, including the fate of the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics, the outlook for athletes who want to jump the vaccine queue, the miraculously completed Tour de France, how Wimbledon's response to the pandemic might have been the best of all, and what to expect in international...

Carl flips the script and interviews Jeff this week on his recent efforts to add pre-Open Era women's tennis data to Tennis Abstract. High-level tennis did not begin in 1968 with the introduction of Open tennis, but official statistical records often give the mistaken impression that it did. We talk about the existing state of the data, the players whose reputations rest heavily on pre-Open Era accomplishments, and the value of simply getting historical records into an accessible format. We...

Jeff interviews guest David Berry, veteran documentarian and author of A People's History of Tennis. The conversation, like his book, spans the entire history of tennis, with a particular focus on the ways in which the sport isn't conservative at all. As Berry explains, women were a crucial part of lawn tennis from the very beginning, and a key decision in the game's first decade ensured that the men's and women's games would remain intertwined. We also discuss the role of the local tennis...

Jeff welcomes guest Sasha Abramsky, author of the book Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World�s First Female Sports Superstar. Our wide-ranging conversation covers many aspects of the life and times of this 19th century superstar, from her global legions of fans, to her "Battle of the Sexes"-style challenges 80 years before King-Rings, to her unprecedented and varied string of sporting successes. We also touch on the relative dearth of tennis historiography, the...

Jeff and Carl report back after watching the new Netflix documentary, Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score. The Argentine star was a multi-slam winner in the 1970s, yet he never reached the top of the ranking list ... or did he? The film covers one journalist's quest to prove that Vilas deserved to be #1. We discuss the importance of the top ranking, the vagaries of the ranking algorithm, how Elo rates Vilas's peak years, and the ATP's response to Vilas's case for the top spot. We didn't love...

Jeff welcomes guest Steven Blush, author of the recent book Bustin' Balls: World Team Tennis 1974-78: Pro Sports, Pop Culture, and Progressive Politics. We talk about how drastically WTT has changed from the early days, the crucial importance of Billie Jean King and the 1973 Battle of the Sexes, and how WTT fit into the 1970s cultural milieu. As Steven tells it, the original WTT was revolutionary, even "proto-woke," with a place for everyone, setting men and women on equal footing, and...

Jeff and Carl celebrate the final match of the ATP season, the Tour Finals championship match between Daniil Medvedev and Dominic Thiem. We discuss Medvedev's tactical savvy and physical versaility, along with over- and under-rated parts of Thiem's game. Also on the agenda: Are Medvedev and Thiem a clear "second group" behind Djokovic and Nadal but ahead of the rest of the pack? Will Medvedev have a better career than Alexander Zverev or Andrey Rublev? What constitutes tactical perfection?...

Jeff is joined by Carl Bialik and Jeff McFarland, dipping our collective toe into a debate in the tennis coaching world. With rallies short and aggressive, should players be using practice time differently? What types of skills can still be improved, once a player has reached the top? What tactics can a coach teach their charges, and which ones are too deeply ingrained in the physical nature of hitting the shots? Is a 3- or 4-shot rally qualitatively different from a 5- or more-shot rally?...

Jeff is joined by Carl Bialik and Jeff McFarland, trying out a new format for a new year. We dig into the new ATP Cup, considering whether the format is appealing to players and fans, how we should feel about odd matchups between players hundreds of ranking places apart, and--most importantly--what captains should be doing with the stats available to them. We also look at the top of the WTA ranking table, considering whether Ashleigh Barty will continue her reign for another twelve months, or...

Jeff welcomes guest Joshua Robinson (@joshrobinson23), European sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal and co-author of the book The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports. We hear from Josh in between his trips to the Gulf, just back from the boxing prize-fight at Diriyah Arena, where the first professional tennis tournament was played in Saudi Arabia. We talk about why oil-rich states use athletic spectacles to "sportswash"...

Jeff chats with Martin Ingram (@xenophar), a PhD student in statistics and author of a recent academic paper presenting a new approach to predicting tennis match outcomes. We talk about his model, what makes it different from other common approaches to match prediction such as Elo, and the simplifying assumptions that make it possible. Martin explains the benefits of a technique that allows to incorporate the effects of surface and even specific tournaments, while considering what data we...

Jeff talks with Paul Timmons (@PaulT_Tennis), author of the My Tennis Adventures blog, about the failures of the ITF to provide a logical structure for up-and-coming players. We cover the gender inequality that makes it much more difficult for women to make a living at the equivalent of the ATP Challenger level, the federations that centralize when they should be localizing, and the inevitability of match-fixing when live data provides so much of the sport's revenue. We also touch on several...

Jeff is joined by Peter Wetz, making his third appearance on the show. Peter and Jeff take a deep dive into the first edition of the new Davis Cup Finals, talking about Rafael Nadal's dominance in both singles and doubles, the surprise heroics of Vasek Pospisil, and why the #2 singles players may be the key to a side's success. We also take a close look at the format, which despite some obvious flaws, gave us a week of gripping tennis.

Jeff chats with guest Erik Jonsson (@erktennis), of Tennisportalen and Sourcepodden, about last week's ATP NextGen Finals, which included up-and-coming Swedish star Mikael Ymer. We talk about the stunning rise of Jannik Sinner, the progress shown by Alex De Minaur, and we consider the advantages and disadvantages of a whole slew of the rule innovations that are employed at the NextGen event in Milan. We also delve into Mikael Ymer's potential, whether older brother Elias could still become a...

Jeff and Carl review the memorable US Open men's final, featuring a resurgent Daniil Medvedev and a resilient Rafael Nadal, both of whom emptied their tactical toolboxes in Sunday's five-hour marathon. We cover Nadal's path to the all-time grand slam lead, whether Medvedev can become the tallest #1 of all time, and whether fellow first-time semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini is in the same league as the Russian. On the women's final, we consider whether Serena Williams offered a fair assessment...

Jeff and Carl start by previewing the new Tennis Abstract player pages, which you can expect to see roll out over the next few days. Look forward to tons of new stats, plus new ways of looking at traditional numbers. Most of the episode is devoted to our US Open preview. We consider much Novak Djokovic's chances are hurt by the draw, in particular his likelihood of facing Daniil Medvedev again in the quarter-finals. We highlight some notable early-round matches in both the men's and women's...

Jeff and Carl resume last week's conversation about Daniil Medvedev's tactical choices, now that he took down Novak Djokovic with big second serving en route to his first Masters title. We also consider whether Medvedev's generation is more aggressive than the ones that came before, notwithstanding the Russian's predilection for 30-stroke rallies. We also consider the decisions that led to a best-ever title for Madison Keys, a player who thrives with high-risk, powerful shotmaking, but dialed...

Jeff and Carl dig into the unique tactical approach of fast-rising Daniil Medvedev, who reached the Montreal final last week but failed to make a dent against Rafael Nadal. We consider the importance of point-finishing skills, the declining role of surface speed, as well as Bianca Andreescu's sudden return to the top of the women's field.

Jeff and Carl discuss the awkward position of World Team Tennis, which is loaded with stars but has a hard time succeeding outside the structure of the tennis tours. On court, they look at the spectacular serving performance of sub-six-foot Alex de Minaur, another disappointing loss for Alexander Zverev, and a shock comeback from Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

Jeff is joined by guest co-host Jeff McFarland this week, and the two Jeffs take an analytical dive into the tennis institution, looking at who deserves to be there, who doesn't, and how we ought to decide. We also discuss Jeff M's work on various ways to quantify career accomplishments.

Jeff and Carl attack the five-hour Djokovic-Federer men's final from all sorts of angles, including Novak's excellence on key points, Fed's surprisingly decent backhand, and the first, awkward tiebreak at 12 games all. We also question how much of the lopsided women's final result could be attributed to Halep peaking, and how much to an off-day for Serena Williams.

Jeff and Carl recap the first week of Wimbledon, with a focus on the oustanding debut of 15-year-old Cori Gauff. We also talk Kyrgios-Nadal, Murray-Serena doubles, and Raonic the decent returner. We also offer forecasts for each of the 16 fourth-round matches, along with Elo- and market-based predictions for each one.

Jeff and Carl do a deep dive into whether there is still a place for serve-and-volley tennis in today's game, especially for the most dominant servers. They cover the highlights of several events the week before Wimbledon, starting with the big Pliskova-Kerber WTA final and the all-American ATP title match in Eastbourne, and weigh how this week's winners are likely to fare in the big event at the All England Club.

Jeff and Carl resume a discussion about the potential value of unlimited in-match coaching, and check in on Andy Murray's surprisingly successful doubles comeback. They also do some Wimbledon forecasting, picking Novak Djokovic and new WTA No. 1 Ashleigh Barty as the favorites, amid crowded fields of marginal contenders.