We are joined on this Day 2 episode by one of the big winners of the day at Roland Garros: Alexander Bublik (aka Sasha Bubbles in NCRland) who knocked out #8 seed Gael Monfils in four sets.

It's a relatively short chat but not short on material: Bublik covers everything from ambition to old men to underhand serving to Faust. And, if you're a Sasha Bubbles celebrator, good news: we'll have a more extended chat that Ben did with him coming later this week on our Patreon.

Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent weeks on the NCR Patreon! If you'd like to join in as we strive to bring you the best French Open content we can from across the Atlantic, check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backers J O'D, Mike, Christopher Bishop and Charles Cyna!)

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

Another Slam approaches at a time of year which has never held a Slam before, so Ben and Courtney try to gather their physical and mental strength to take on what is shaping up to be an incredibly challenging Slam in many ways.

We start with the women, where Simona Halep is a clear favorite, but parity abounds also in women's tennis, as always. Garbine Muguruza appears set for success, and Serena and Azarenka are also intriguing in a Slam which may reward power more than the average French Open.

On the men's side we discuss Novak Djokovic's status as favorite, and detour into topics such as the complaints of players who are testing positive, the "struggles" of Stefanos Tsitsipas, the height of Diego Schwartzman, the wonders of Sasha Bubbles, and more.

Also, we discuss what we'll miss most about Paris. 

Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent weeks on the NCR Patreon! If you'd like to join in as we strive to bring you the best French Open content we can from across the Atlantic, check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backers J O'D, Mike, Christopher Bishop and Charles Cyna!)

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

On the eve of the U.S. Open, Ben and Courtney sit down with the draws to figure out who is going to win this thing. It only feels worth going so far on the women's side, given the parity and upheaval on that tour lately, whereas our men's picks are mighty confident--including for newcomer to the top Daniil Medvedev.

We discuss Serena-Sharapova, Bianca Andreescu, Hubert Hurkacz's mock turtleneck, Jannik Sinner's roots, and much more.

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 #NCR232!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

With Courtney covering the end of the women's season in Zhuhai, Ben is joined once again in Washington with friend of the show Ricky Dimon to talk about all things men's tennis. 

After a quick look back at the season as a whole, Ben and Ricky look ahead to London, which is coming down to a two-horse race between Kei Nishikori and John Isner. Which would make for a more intriguing participant?

Then, we look at the players from last year in London who came nowhere near qualifying this year, most notably Grigor Dimitrov and Jack Sock. On Sock especially, how did he manage to plummet so badly this year?

We then weigh in on the current debate over whether or not Pete Sampras was boring (or the boringest), and what makes a player boring. And then we discuss other superlatives by going over the ATP award nominees, and we imagine who would be on the ballot for antonymous awards (like least sportsmanlike).

We then eulogize retiring players like David Ferrer and Mikhail Youzhny, and raise a #FreeDimonator rallying cry.

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 #NCR217!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!