No Challenges Remaining

Live from the dirt of Paris and the glitter of Vienna, respectively, Courtney and Ben break down the momentous draw of the 2015 French Open, and give our predictions in pathetically crapshoot fashion. Firstly: the Djokovic-Nadal quarter, ever anticipated, actually happened! Now what happens? As you can guess if you've been listening, we disagree. We also have different players coming out of the men's bottom half, so it should make for a fun men's tournament. On the women's top half, we have even less clue. Serena against the field, but who exactly is capable in the field? Augh, it's tough. As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting platform of choice may be! 

As the B-52's once said, "Rome if you want to." Or maybe it was "roam". Whatever. 

On Episode 105, Ben makes Courtney jealous by talking about his mozzarella adventures in Italy, while Courtney makes Ben jealous by talking about how she spent her week in a non-third world country. We break down the results from Rome, which include Novak Djokovic's near assassination at the hands of a rogue Moet cork, and Maria Sharapova's triumphant week, which saw the return of the Black Swa-- er, we mean "Claypova". We also check in on Courtney's "Rafael Nadal Panic Button (TM pending)" and weigh in on two WTA hot topics: grunting and on-court coaching. 

There is dragging, there is slaying, and there is talk about venture capital funds and history of Netscape Navigator. We do it all, folks. And make sure you sit through Ben's terrible pick as an outro song -- spoiler alert: Eurovision -- to hear what Ben and Courtney talk about before the mics go hot. 

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting platform of choice may be! 

Related viewing/reading for this week:

• Courtney's incredibly geeky rave for The New Yorker's fantastic profile of Marc Andreessen. 
• No, Ben and Courtney aren't accidentally mispronouncing "Moet & Chandon". They're playing off one of their favorite SNL sketches, which you can see here. 

Ben and Courtney reconvene to discuss the madness in Madrid, where Andy Murray rolled to his first ATP Masters title on clay, while Petra Kvitova did what Petra Kvitova does and wins things when you don't expect her to win things even though we all know she should win all the things. Oh, you fickle grassophiles. We wish we knew how to quit you!

Then we get in the mood for this week's Italian Open in Rome, as Ben sits down with the man, the myth, the legend, long-time Italian journalist Ubaldo Scanagatta of UbiTennis.com. Ubaldo talks about his pro playing days, how he built one of the most successful tennis blogs in the world, and the current crop of Italian talent. 

Ben and Courtney wrap things up with two rather emotional confessions: Ben's a big ol' softie who cries on airplanes, and Courtney is a big ol' jerk but is trying her best to be less so. SO MANY EMOTIONS! ALIZE WHERE ARE YOU???

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting platform of choice may be! 

And here's a final note from Ubaldo: Ubitennis.com, a tri-lingual tennis website, is recruiting. If you can write in English or Spanish and are interested in what the opportunity may entail, you can email direttaubitennis@gmail.com.

With Madrid in swing, Ben and Courtney reflect on what was a quiet week in tennis, except for the snug pants which Andy Murray had to don on court. Did his title, or Federer's, mean anything? And what IS a WTA rising star, anyway? Who is likeliest to break out with a surprise run? Then we discuss if the hype explosion of Mayweather-Pacquiao has any possible applications to tennis, as well as what the role of illegal streaming is in tennis. Then we talk about streaming and all sorts of other things with ATP Player Council Eric Butorac, who rose from playing lower-tier college tennis to sitting next to the likes of Federer, Djokovic, and Nadal as the sport gets governed, about all sorts of issues in tennis today. As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting platform of choice may be!