No Challenges Remaining

Episode 200: Mary Carillo

Ben and Courtney are delighted to see their ersatz odometer click over to 200 with their dear friend Mary Carillo at the Australian Open (the 200th Grand Slam of the Open Era, no less!). She's our kind of people. 

Mary, in Melbourne for Tennis Channel, is also in the midst of reporting for HBO's Real Sports about the controversy surrounding the Australian Open's Margaret Court Arena, which has faced calls for a name change or boycott as its namesake, the Grand Slam champ-turned-pastor Margaret Court has continued to escalate her crusade against gay and transgender people, including children.

We discuss many of the sides of this complex issue, the perspectives of Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, as well as how BJK serve-and-volleyed Tennis Australia before the tournament began.

We end with Mary's enduring love for tennis, as well as her iconic moment regarding another racquet sport: badminton.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR200!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199d: 2018 Australian Open Preview

Ben and Courtney are back in your ears after far too long, and are in Melbourne ready to tee up the first Grand Slam of 2018.

On the women's side, we discuss the women who have surged to start the year (Halep, Kerber, Bencic...Giorgi?) and go through the draw thoroughly to find where openings might emerge. 

On the men's side, Rafael Nadal is a clear draw winner, but there still manage to be lots of exciting early round match-ups throughout. And is it Roger's to lose, or can 2,000 points go to Goffindor?

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCRAusOpen!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 178: Waking From Australian Dreams

Back home from their Australian adventures, and with time to process the "dream finals" of the Australian Open, Ben and Courtney rouse and reflect on what to make of the Serena-Venus and Federer-Nadal finals, and what they say about the current state of tennis, both for the players involved and the weekend's presumed losers (i.e. Angelique Kerber, Murray-Djokovic matches, etc). 

Also, how does the relative spreading of wealth in the WTA compare to the oligarchy of men's tennis? And are these results ideal for the respective tours?

Lastly, we talk about movies, and we have strong feelings about current and recent Oscar darlings. 

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR178!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 177f: Australian Open Day 10-12: Dream Finals

Tennis got everything it ever wanted! ...right?

Ben and Courtney break down the double-dip dream dates of the unexpected vintage Venus-Serena and Federer-Nadal finals that this Australian Open will conclude with. How did the matches go that got these four stars here, how will the finals themselves go, and how should we feel about them? Also, all the props in the world to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

Is some tampering of expectations in order for the finals? Probably. But still, let's revel in this moment. We're excited, you're excited, and we're excited that you're excited. It's all very exciting

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR177f!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 177c: Australian Open Day 4: Djokovic Derails

Day 4 was a day of upsets in Melbourne. No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska got blitzed by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (as Courtney flagged), but the biggest story was six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic stunningly falling in five sets to 117th-ranked wildcard Denis Istomin.

To assess Novak's slide, as well as other perceptions of him in Serbia and the wider world, Ben chats with Belgrade-based Saša Ozmo, a journalist for Sport Klub Srbija. How did this slide start for Novak, and what are reasonable expectations for him going forward? 

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR177c!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 177b: Australian Open Day 3: On Losing, With Peter Polansky

It's only three days into the Australian Open, but 160 players have already lost in the singles draws (355 if you add qualifying losers). We hardly knew ye! But let's get to know ye?

For our second Melbourne mini-show, Ben sat down with #132 Peter Polansky, a Canadian lucky loser who fell in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, dropping out in the brutal heat of a fifth set against Pablo Carreno Busta. He talks about his ups and downs in Melbourne (he's the only player to have lost twice here), and what it's like toiling away week-in, week-out on tour, as well as his passion outside the sport. 

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR177b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 177a: Australian Open Day 1-2: Petko and the Children

The Australian Open is underway, and Ben and Courtney are surviving, so far! Simona Halep was an early casualty, however, so we discuss her limping into the sunset in the tournament's opening hours. Also we hear from longtime NCR stalwart Andrea Petkovic's first round press conference. She's a fun one, yo.

The biggest narrative on the men's side so far has been the cavalcade of gangly teens slowly but surely taking over, so we talk about them with some special attention to Sasha Bublik, who Ben is convinced you will have strong opinions about...someday. 

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR177a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 176: Australian Open Draw Show

Together again in Melbourne, Ben and Courtney dive right into the women's and men's draws of the 2017 Australian Open, rolling in some thoughts on the season so far along the way. 

It's somewhat business as usual, with so many women relevant and so few men, but there's one particular woman who both Ben and Courtney are super geeked for. Can she break out and win her first Slam? How much or little should we read into early season stumbles by the other top women? And on the men's side, can anyone disrupt the Murray-Djokovic order? And are Roger and/or Rafa ready for runs?

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR176!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 175a: Ana, Auckland, and Anamneses

It's our Season 6 premiere! This is our 217th episode, and golly do Ben and Courtney have lots to reflect on before we get started with 2017. Time to look back to move forward.

First, we look back at the career and legacy of Ana Ivanovic, who played excellent tennis at times and was a joy to be around always. We discuss the role she plays in our separate and joint tennis origin stories, and what made her such a welcome presence on tour. Then, Ben chats with Auckland tournament director Karl Budge about running a tournament that has attracted increasingly star-studded fields (including Serena, Venus, and Wozniacki this year), and the differences between running ATP and WTA events.

Then we get into the meat of the show, which is our annual nostalgia trip known as "Remember When...?" It's so meaty this time that we need to carve it into two pieces, so this #175a will be followed by #175b in the near future.

And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR175a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 141m: Australian Open Day 14/Wrap: Novak Sends Us Home

Another Australian Open, another Novak Djokovic title. Ben and Courtney know the unsurprisingness of it all is unsurprising, because it's becoming clear that Novak Djokovic is just in a league of his own. So, how will he do against a tougher opponent than any now on tour: history? And where does this tournament leave Andy Murray, besides once again cementing his trophy ceremony tearjerker crown? Then, we wrap up the tournament with a brief look at Petra Kvitova splitting with longtime coach David Kotyza, and who we're going to be watching coming out of Australia.

Thank you guys for hanging with us on this Australian Open spectacular! As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter, and subscribing/reviewing on whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.