Podcasts by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
Jeff Sackmann talks tennis and analytics with a rotating cast of experts and superfans.
Further podcasts by Jeff Sackmann
Podcast on the topic Sport
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Episode 5: Sharapova in Stuttgart, Nadal in Barcelona, and a Dose of Doubles from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.191414
Carl and Jeff discuss another busy week of tennis, including Sharapova's first week back on tour, Laura Siegemund's drop shots, Nadal's second Decima, and Albert Ramos's inability to win a doubles...
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Ep 6: Djokovic Goes Coachless and Sharapova Looks Dangerous in a Patchy Madrid Field from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.190150
Carl and Jeff take stock of the first joint event on clay, where Novak Djokovic makes his first coachless appearance, Maria Sharapova hopes to take advantage of a draw riddled with upsets, and a fe...
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Ep 14: Wimbledon Preview from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.169780
Carl and Jeff preview The Championships, with a focus on favorites Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, and Roger Federer.
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Ep 15: We're Back! from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.168787
Carl and Jeff return with a half-size episode recapping the summer Masters/Premier schedule and offering a midway-point recap of the US Open.
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Ep 16: The Second Half of our Second Week Chat from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.167661
Carl and Jeff discuss some of the pressing issues of the US Open's second week.
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Ep 18: A New Season Attacks from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.164843
Carl and Jeff debate the fascination of Nick Kyrgios, consider the value of exhibition formats, and preview the 2018 season while pleading for better tennis data.
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Ep 21: Talking About Talking About Tactics from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.160342
Carl and Jeff dive into the challenges of talking about tennis tactics, and the further difficulties of using data to test tactics-related claims. It's not quite as dry as all that, we promise.
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Ep 24: Figuring Out Who Figures Out Clay from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.149211
Jeff and Carl consider the causes of clay success, with specific discussions of Frances Tiafoe, Hyeon Chung, Kiki Bertens, and Elise Mertens, among others.
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Ep 31: US Open Week Two from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.071054
Jeff and Carl cover the upsets of Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, look ahead to the challenges facing Rafa, Novak, and Serena, and speculate wildly about the careers of some teenagers.
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Ep 35: Here Comes Aryna Sabalenka from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.047802
Jeff and Carl cover the rapid rise and the fearsome gamestyle of 20-year-old rising star Aryna Sabalenka, as well the resurgence of Bernard Tomic and an interesting new player in the field of elect...
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Ep 36: Knights of the Federer Roundtable from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.046592
Jeff and Carl are joined by Federer super-fans and analytics junkies Sulaiman Ijaz and Edo Salvati for an in-depth discussion of the current state of the men's tennis GOAT debate.
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Ep 39: Khachanov's Paris Title, and WTA Finals in Review from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.042033
Jeff and Carl cover the breakthrough Masters title from Karen Khachanov, along with the instant classic Federer-Djokovic semi-final from Paris. We also recap the WTA finals and Elite Trophy in Sing...
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Ep 42: 2019 Season Preview from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.037575
Jeff and Carl look ahead to the 2019 season, chatting about the continued dominance of Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, as well as the players most likely to emerge as stars. We also delve into ...
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Ep 43: Berdych's Comeback, Andreescu's Breakthrough, and Karlovic's Longevity from 2022-03-04T14:53:58.035965
Jeff and Carl go through the plethora of results from the first week of the 2019 season, including surprise runs from 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu and 39-year-old Ivo Karlovic, along with strong co...
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Ep 47: Davis Cup and Another Week of Tennis Shenanigans from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.980692
Jeff and Carl discuss the first-ever week of Davis Cup Qualifying, including the issues raised by Switzerland's early exit. We also look at some other Davis Cup-related business decisions, a WTA to...
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Ep 51: 100 For Federer, and 50.4% for Kyrgios from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.974383
Jeff and Carl start with this week's biggest story in tennis: Roger Federer's 100th title. We consider his chances of breaking Jimmy Connors's record of 109, and the odds that Nadal or Djokovic fol...
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Ep 55: Miami Titles for Barty and Federer from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.968532
Jeff and Carl discuss the newly-minted Miami champions. We start with Ashleigh Barty, possibly now the best hard-court player in the game, and mull over how her throwback style will translate to ot...
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Ep 56: Gender Differences in Surface Differences from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.966620
Jeff and Carl talk about the clay-court success of Charleston winner Madison Keys and consider how aggression seems to be a proven strategy at WTA clay events... though not for everyone. We also do...
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Ep 60: Goodbye, David Ferrer. Hello, Cristian Garin from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.961381
Jeff and Carl delve into the little-known group of dirt-ballers, including Garin, Matteo Berrettini, and Guido Pella, who are piling up the clay-court wins in 2019, while former great David Ferrer ...
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Ep 63: The Last 16 at Roland Garros from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.957086
Jeff and Carl go through the quarter-final lineups for both men and women at this year's French Open. Nadal remains a favorite, Halep faces another newbie, and we offer uncertain forecasts for the ...
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Ep 64: French Open Final Fours from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.956138
Jeff and Carl come up with a bonus episode to preview the men's and women's semi-finals at Roland Garros. We discuss the unending parade of upsets that has provided us a women's final four without ...
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Ep 69: Middle Sunday Check-Ins on Gauff, Nadal, Murray, Serena, Barty, and the Draw from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.945946
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, the possibly slower surface, and ...
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Ep 76: US Open Recap from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.917498
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 marat...
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Ep 79: Paul Timmons on the Broken Structure of Pro Tennis from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.913645
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 in...
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Ep 82: ATP Cup and WTA Season Preview from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.909538
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...
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Ep 85: Author Steven Blush on 1970s World Team Tennis from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.905482
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 change...
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Ep 86: A New Documentary on Guillermo Vilas and the No. 1 Ranking from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.904540
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 t...
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Ep 87: Author Sasha Abramsky on Lottie Dod, the Little Wonder from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.903261
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 ...
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Ep 89: Rebuilding the History of Women's Tennis from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.900469
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 o...
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Ep 97: Matt Futterman on the Australian Open and Sports With Fans from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.887408
This week's guest is Matt Futterman, reporter for the New York Times and author of Running to the Edge, who spent 15 days alone in hotel quarantine so that he could cover the Australian Open. We ta...
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Ep 104: The Present and Future of Jannik Sinner from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.876483
Carl Bialik joins me for a recap of the Miami Open, with a particular focus on the Italian teenager who reached the final there. Sinner has a relatively weak first serve, but seems to do everything...
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Ep 108: Gerry Marzorati on Serena Williams and Tennis Coverage in the 21st Century from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.870600
Gerry Marzorati is a contributor to The New Yorker and Racquet magazine, and he's the author of the new book Seeing Serena, which follows Serena Williams throughout the 2019 season as she seeks her...
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Ep 109: Joe Posnanski on the Australian Open and GOAT Lists from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.869525
Returning guest Joe Posnanski is the author of the Baseball 100, and he writes about all sports at JoeBlogs on Substack. We talk about the Australian Open--what it means for Rafa's case as the grea...
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Ep 110: Carl Bialik on Stan Wawrinka (and the Australian Open) from 2022-03-04T14:53:57.868413
Carl Bialik rejoins the podcast to talk about player #127 on the Tennis 128, Stan Wawrinka. We consider how he improved so late in his career, what role Magnus Norman played in the transformation, ...
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Ep 107: Book Club: Sudden Death, by Alvaro Enrigue from 2021-05-26T14:00
A digressive novel centered on a 16th-century real tennis match inspires a discussion that strays far afield from the contents of the book itself. Carl Bialik and I get into the advantages and diff...
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Ep 106: Monte Carlo Simulations Aren't As Good As the Real Thing from 2021-04-21T13:00
How much do we need to revise our assessment of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal after their early losses in Monte Carlo this year? Carl Bialik and I discuss the week that was in the principality fr...
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Ep 105: Book Club: Days of Grace, by Arthur Ashe from 2021-04-15T11:00
Ashe's 1993 memoir gives us a chance to get inside the mind of one of the most important figures in tennis history. He was the first African American man to rise to the top of the tennis world, pla...
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Ep 103: Katrina Adams on Role Models, Grassroots Development, and Tennis Governance from 2021-03-30T14:00
Katrina Adams's new book is called Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One. As a former player, coach, and commentator, and as the first African American t...
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Ep 102: Erik Jonsson on the Rising Wave of Stars in Men's Tennis from 2021-03-25T10:00
Lorenzo Musetti is only the latest of many teens and early 20-somethings to shake things up on the ATP tour. Erik Jonsson (@erktennis) is a longtime Challenger and prospect watcher, and he shares h...
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Ep 101: Author Larry Olmsted on the Benefits of Sports Fandom from 2021-03-19T08:00
Larry's new book is called Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding, and this episode dives into exactly that argument. We talk about how sports are like religi...
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Ep 100: 100 Questions for Episode 100 from 2021-03-17T13:00
Carl and I celebrate our milestone 100th episode with the mailbag to end all mailbags--75 minutes worth of questions, many posed by our loyal listeners, covering everything from our favorite player...
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Ep 99: Author Julie DiCaro on Serena Williams, Women in Sports, and the Limits of Sports Media from 2021-03-12T06:00
Julie is the author of the new book Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, which comes out on Tuesday. We talk about the forces that keep sports media from holding stars, teams, ...
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Ep 98: Book Club: Couples, by John Updike from 2021-03-10T16:00
Carl and I discuss the second pick of the Tennis Abstract book club, a 1960s novel that didn't turn out to have much tennis in it at all. We talk about whether the brief bits of tennis in the book ...
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Ep 96: Author Dave Seminara in the Footsteps of Roger Federer from 2021-02-25T00:00
I am joined by Dave Seminara, author of the entertaining new book Footsteps of Federer: A Fan's Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts. We talk about how Roger Federer is typically Swiss (and...
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Ep 95: Joe Posnanski on Djokovic, Osaka, and Tennis Greatness from 2021-02-22T00:00
I welcome Joe Posnanski, senior writer at The Athletic, for a wide-ranging conversation starting with a discussion of Djokovic's and Osaka's wins at the Australian Open. He talks about what might b...
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Ep 94: Injury Management, and How Much It Matters In Modern Tennis from 2021-02-17T00:00
Carl and I use the fitness sagas of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as a springboard to talk about injury management--the way in which players handle constant nagging injuries, whether that means a...
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Ep 93: ESPN's Bill Connelly on What Novak Djokovic Does Better from 2021-02-11T00:00
Jeff chats with Bill Connelly, an ESPN college football writer who dug into Match Charting Project data this week to write about the complex mastery of Novak Djokovic. Bill explains how Djokovic ta...
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Ep 92: Natural Experiments and Second-Order Pandemic Effects from 2021-01-27T00:00
Carl and I dig into the opportunity generated by the Covid-19 pandemic to study natural experiments in sports. Many of the things we used to take for granted--stadiums full of fans, weekly travel s...
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Ep 91: Book Club: A Handful of Summers by Gordon Forbes from 2021-01-20T00:00
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 ...
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Ep 90: Joshua Robinson on Global Sports (and Tennis) in a Tough Pandemic Year from 2021-01-12T00:00
Jeff and Carl welcome guest Joshua 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 th...
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Ep 88: Author David Berry on his People's History of Tennis from 2020-12-16T00:00
Jeff interviews 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 wa...
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Ep 84: Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, and a Tactically Brilliant Future from 2020-11-24T00:00
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...
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Ep 83: Is the Practice Court Broken? from 2020-01-13T00:00
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 dif...
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Ep 81: Joshua Robinson on Diriyah Cup and the Ethics of Sports in Saudi Arabia from 2019-12-16T00:00
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, Ri...
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Ep 80: Martin Ingram on Predicting Match Outcomes, Bayesian Style from 2019-12-10T00:00
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, ...
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Ep 78: The Davis Cup Finals from 2019-11-25T00:00
Jeff is joined by Peter Wetz (@sPETEcore), 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 ...
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Ep 77: Erik Jonsson on Swedish Tennis and the NextGen Finals from 2019-11-10T00:00
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 s...
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Ep 75: US Open Preview from 2019-08-25T00:00
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 t...
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Ep 74: More Aggression For Medvedev, More Control For Madison Keys from 2019-08-19T00:00
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 con...
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Ep 73: Rogers Cup Review, on Rafa, Medvedev, Andreescu, Serena, Kenin, and More from 2019-08-12T00:00
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 importan...
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Ep 72: The Unbreakable Alex de Minaur, the Unfocused Alexander Zverev, and the Unaffiliated World Team Tennis from 2019-07-29T00:00
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 spec...
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Ep 71: An Analytical Approach to the Tennis Hall of Fame from 2019-07-22T00:00
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 t...
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Ep 70: Djokovic, Federer, Simona, Serena, and a Wimbledon Finals Weekend to Remember from 2019-07-14T00:00
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 tieb...
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Ep 68: Wimbledon Preview: Hot Streaks for Pliskova and Fritz, and a Cold Streak for Serve-and-Volley from 2019-06-30T00:00
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 t...
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Ep 67: Wimbledon Warm-Up Wins for Federer, Barty, and Andy Murray from 2019-06-24T00:00
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 forec...
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Ep 66: The Grass is Greener, Even For a Few Dirtballers from 2019-06-17T00:00
Jeff and Carl wonder about how clay-court breakthrough star Matteo Berrettini transferred his winning ways to grass, with a debut title on that surface in Stuttgart. We also wander through a long l...
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Ep 65: Rafa! Barty! Krawietz/Mies! Roland Garros in Review from 2019-06-10T00:00
Jeff and Carl celebrate the breakthrough of Ashleigh Barty by discussing what sets her game apart, what might be working for her on clay, and what her future holds. We mark Rafael Nadal's 12th Rola...
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Ep 62: A Roman Holiday for Rafael Nadal and Karolina Pliskova from 2019-05-20T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap the ATP/WTA joint event in Rome, where Rafael Nadal got his mojo back, winning his ninth title with a decisive final-round victory over Novak Djokovic. A less-polished clay-cour...
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Ep 61: Reading Rafael Nadal's Tea Leaves from 2019-05-13T00:00
Jeff and Carl struggle to draw conclusions from Rafael Nadal's latest surprise loss in Madrid, as the King of Clay has no titles in 2019, but his track record still suggests he's the favorite (or c...
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Ep 59: More Surprises on Clay, and L'Affaire Gimelstob from 2019-04-29T00:00
Jeff and Carl re-evaluate Rafael Nadal's status as clay-court favorite after his semi-final loss to Dominic Thiem in Barcelona. We also consider what Daniil Medvedev is doing right, even if it didn...
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Ep 58: An Unexpected Introduction to the European Clay Season from 2019-04-22T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap the Monte Carlo Masters and try to make sense of Rafael Nadal's semi-final loss to Fabio Fognini. We discuss how seriously to take the early exits of Nadal and Djokovic, as well...
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Ep 57: Clay Court Specialists, Return Attackers, and Predictable Servers from 2019-04-15T00:00
Jeff and Carl review a week's worth of ATP and WTA results, starting with Christian Garin and Casper Ruud, the dirtballers who contested the Houston final. They consider the decline of clay-court s...
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Ep 54: Miami At the Half-Way Point from 2019-03-25T00:00
Jeff and Carl catch up on the Miami early rounds, beginning with some rocky starts for Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. We also look at the slew of early upsets and the threats who remain in the d...
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Ep 53: Indian Wells in Review from 2019-03-18T00:00
Jeff and Carl talk about the breakthrough hard-court Masters title for Dominic Thiem, as well as what the result says about the runner-up Roger Federer. We also touch on Nadal's injury battles, par...
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Ep 52: The Unpredictable WTA of Osaka, Stephens, and Sasnovich from 2019-03-11T00:00
Jeff is joined by guest co-host Jeff McFarland this week, and the two Jeffs talk about the joys of unpredictable tennis. We consider the various explanations for Sloane Stephens's inconsistency, Na...
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Ep 50: Easy Draws, Tough Draws, and the Difficulty of Forecasting from 2019-02-25T00:00
Jeff and Carl spend much of the 50th episode on a familiar theme: the difficulty of judging a player's future by his current performance. We focus on the surprise finalists in Rio de Janeiro and De...
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Ep 49: The New York Open, Surprise Finalists, and Clay Court Tactics from 2019-02-18T00:00
Jeff quizzes Carl about his time at the second edition of the ATP New York Open, featuring breakthrough performances from big-serving American Reilly Opelka and underdog Canadian Brayden Schnur. We...
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Ep 48: Fed Cup and a Survey of Tennis Analytics from 2019-02-11T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap the weekend's Fed Cup action, considering the favorites now that the Czechs are out of the picture, and questioning whether the event needs the same overhaul that the Davis Cup ...
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Ep 46: Australian Open Recap from 2019-01-28T00:00
Jeff and Carl discuss Naomi Osaka's second straight major title, and consider what it means for her future, both long-term and in the rest of this year's grand slam schedule. We also review the Djo...
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Ep 45: Australian Open Week One from 2019-01-20T00:00
Jeff and Carl talk over a busy week's worth of results from Melbourne. Federer, Wozniacki, and Anderson suffered early exits; Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Anismiova, and Pavlyuchenkova have shined; and a fas...
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Ep 44: Andy Murray's Retirement and an Australian Open Preview from 2019-01-13T00:00
Jeff and Carl consider where Murray ranks among the greatest of all time and wonders where he'll go from here. We also preview the first grand slam of the season, with a close look at an unpredicta...
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Ep 41: A Breakthrough for Zverev, a Season In the Books, and a New Team Event from 2018-11-20T00:00
Jeff and Carl cover the 2018 ATP Tour Finals, with Alexander Zverev's career-best title, highlighted by a surprise defeat of Novak Djokovic. We also talk ATP Cup, TennisTV's new uber-stats, and a q...
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Ep 40: Fed Cup, the ATP Tour Finals, and a Sandbox Full of Rule Changes from 2018-11-11T00:00
Jeff and Carl preview this week's ATP Tour Finals, as well as cover the Czech Republic's Fed Cup dynasty and last week's innovation-riddled ATP NextGen Finals in Milan.
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Ep 38: A Look at the WTA Finals Field in Singapore from 2018-10-22T00:00
Jeff and Carl break down the women's elite eight, with a focus on tactics, rating systems, and the quality of the WTA tour compared to a decade ago. Also: A record-setting Challenger title for Karl...
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Ep 37: Djokovic and Halep Pad Their Career Totals from 2018-10-15T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap the Shanghai performances of Djokovic, Coric, and Federer, then talk year-end championship fields, including WTA year-end number one Simona Halep.
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Ep 34: Laver Cup and the Changing Tennis Landscape from 2018-09-25T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap the 2018 Laver Cup, with its speedy courts, Federer focus, and half-hearted inclusion of doubles. Also on the agenda: The homestretch for the WTA season, and what to think of th...
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Ep 33: Farewell, Davis Cup World Group Playoffs from 2018-09-17T00:00
Jeff is joined by guest host Peter Wetz, who reports from the Austria-Australia World Group playoff tie in Graz, Austria, and helps make sense of the radical new format for Davis Cup in 2019 and be...
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Ep 32: US Open Recap from 2018-09-10T00:00
Jeff and Carl look at the resurgence of Novak Djokovic, his US Open final victory over Juan Martin del Potro, what the future holds for women's champion Naomi Osaka, and some difficult choices on t...
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Ep 30: US Open Week One from 2018-08-30T00:00
Jeff and Carl run down the early results at the 2018 US Open, identify the biggest matches of the next few days, and speculate about coaching and heat rules.
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Ep 29: A New Davis Cup and a Career Golden Masters from 2018-08-20T00:00
Jeff and Carl dig deep into the potential of the ITF's new Davis Cup format, what it will mean for player participation, and which countries might end up on top. Plus: Djokovic, Halep, and more.
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Ep 28: Tsitsipas, Sloane, and the Serve Clock from 2018-08-13T00:00
Jeff and Carl focus on the two Rogers Cup runners-up, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Sloane Stephens. We also look at the unlikely defending champions in Cincinnati, and the impact so far of the new serve ...
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Ep 27: Roland Garros Preview from 2018-05-26T00:00
Jeff and Carl break down the men's and women's draws in Paris, with a focus on the unpredictability of the women's field, the towering presence of Rafael Nadal in the men's, and the big-name floate...
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Ep 26: Reasons for Optimism from 2018-05-21T00:00
Jeff and Carl recap last week's action in Rome, looking at the strongest performances and considering what they have to tell us about the fortunes of some top players at Roland Garros.
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Ep 25: Number Ones, Present and Future from 2018-05-14T00:00
Jeff and Carl debate whether Simona Halep is a "weak" No. 1, look at the competition, and marvel at the latest dominant performance from Alexander Zverev.
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Ep 23: Rafa, Las Undecimas, and The Shot Clock from 2018-04-30T00:00
Jeff and Carl cover Rafael Nadal's greatness, the rest of the field on clay, and the potential impact of the US Open's shot clock.
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Ep 22: Davis Cup, Present and Future from 2018-04-10T00:00
Jeff and guest co-host Peter Wetz run down the weekend's Davis Cup results, including the return of Rafael Nadal and Austria's upset of Russia. We also address the proposed Davis Cup format changes.
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Ep 20: Five Tournaments, Lots of Decisions from 2018-02-26T00:00
Carl and Jeff consider the factors that go into each player's decision to go to one tournament instead of another. We also cover big steps forward for Schwartzman, Kasatkina, and Tiafoe.
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Ep 19: Comeback Stories from 2018-02-20T00:00
Carl and Jeff look at all the comebacks in tennis today, from Federer's return to the top to various return-from-injury strategies like Kei Nishikori's challenger detour. Plus Sharapova, Serena, Ba...
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Ep 17: US Open in Review from 2017-09-13T00:00
Carl and Jeff discuss Sloane Stephens, Rafael Nadal, and the other notable names from this year's final grand slam.
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Ep 13: Kvitova vs Barty, Serena vs McEnroe, and Federer vs The Field from 2017-06-27T00:00
Carl and Jeff talk titles: Kvitova's trophy in Birmingham, Lopez's surprise run in Queens, and Fed's domination in Halle. We also delve into John McEnroe's comments about Serena Williams and how s...
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Ep 12: Fed's Match Points, Vika's Return, and Wimbledon's Seeding Formula from 2017-06-19T00:00
Carl and Jeff settle in to grass season, covering Fed's surprise loss and his prospects in Halle this week, as well as the returning WTA stars--Azarenka, Kvitova, and Lisicki--who are likely to thr...
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Ep 11: The French Open in Review from 2017-06-12T00:00
Carl and Jeff talk forecasting: Could we have seen Rafa's resurgence coming? What are the career prospects for Latvian sensation Jelena Ostapenko and women's runner-up Simona Halep? And Carl explai...
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Ep 9: Roland Garros Preview and the Value of Surface-Specific Forecasts from 2017-05-28T00:00
Carl and Jeff break down the men's and women's Roland Garros draws, looking for threats to the favorites as well as lesser-known names worth watching over night fortnight of the year's clay-court G...
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Ep 8: Zverev's Title, Emerging WTA Favorites, and a New Match Format from 2017-05-22T00:00
Carl and Jeff get serious about the Roland Garros chances of Rome champions Alexander Zverev and Elina Svitolina, review the weeks of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, and assess the potential of th...
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Ep 7: Champion Simona, King Rafa, and Memories of Pico from 2017-05-15T00:00
Carl and Jeff recap the Madrid titles for Halep and Nadal and consider the continuing uncertainty in both the ATP and WTA fields headed into the Italian Open.
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Episode 4: La Decima, a Wild Fed Cup Weekend, and Sharapova's Return from 2017-04-24T00:00
Carl and Jeff take on a jam-packed week of tennis with a review of Rafael Nadal's Monte Carlo title, a wrap-up of Fed Cup action, and a look ahead to the WTA without Serena, but with Maria Sharapova.
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Episode 3: Champions Young and Old from 2017-04-17T00:00
Carl and Jeff look at last week's notable accomplishments from players at both ends of their careers, and consider how much value to place on a title at a very young age. Plus: Davis Cup, Schiavone...
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Episode 2: Doubles, Wild Cards, and the Role of Megastars from 2017-04-11T00:00
Carl and Jeff offer a ringing endorsement of increased doubles coverage, consider the role of megastars in doubles and the game in general, and discuss the mismatched incentives that make wild card...
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Episode 1: Indian Wells, Miami, and the Renewal of Federer-Nadal from 2017-04-06T00:00
Carl and Jeff cover the events of the March Sunshine Double, and dig into the nitty gritty of the Roger-Rafa matchup.
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Episode 1: Indian Wells, Miami, and the Renewal of Federer-Nadal from 2017-04-06T00:00
Carl and Jeff cover the events of the March Sunshine Double, and dig into the nitty gritty of the Roger-Rafa matchup.
Listen
Episode 1: Indian Wells, Miami, and the Renewal of Federer-Nadal from 2017-04-06T00:00
Carl and Jeff cover the events of the March Sunshine Double, and dig into the nitty gritty of the Roger-Rafa matchup.
Listen