Episodes
Saturday Feb 13, 2021
Episode 293d: Australian Open 2021 - Round 3 Round-up
Saturday Feb 13, 2021
Saturday Feb 13, 2021
As we reach the end of the Australian Open's first week, saying goodbye to Nick Kyrgios, the crowd, and Novak Djokovic's lock status, Ben is joined by Tumaini Carayol to wrap up the week that was and set the stage for the prize fights looming.
How does this tournament feel so far? What were our impressions of Thiem-Kyrgios? How would the tournament change if Djokovic can't compete? And what is making the women's bottom half so special?
Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received on the NCR Patreon which has powered us into our TENTH(!) season! If you'd like to join in as we bring you the best shows we can each week, 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, Pam Shriver, and Nicole Copeland!)
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.
Saturday Feb 06, 2021
Episode 292: Australian Open 2021 Draw Show
Saturday Feb 06, 2021
Saturday Feb 06, 2021
Another Slam is around the corner, and, in a surprise to no one, there are many players who seem wildly competitively relevant in the women's draw. Serena and Osaka are very good! Barty and Andreescu are back in action! Kenin and Halep remain legit! And then a whole bunch more people!
On the men's side, there's Djokovic, who just about always wins in Melbourne. And then, we guess, Nadal? Thiem? Medvedev, maybe?
Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received on the NCR Patreon which has powered us into our TENTH(!) season! If you'd like to join in as we bring you the best shows we can each week, 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, Pam Shriver, and Nicole Copeland!)
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.
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Episode 291: Stefanos Tsitsipas
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Wednesday Jan 27, 2021
Amid his busy schedule of creating photos and music, ATP #6 Stefanos Tsitsipas joins NCR this week, chatting with Ben about all sorts of things in a wide-ranging interview from his hotel room in Melbourne.
We discuss topics including how he's handled the quarantine so far, his lifelong interest in creating things on the internet, his relationship with Nick Kyrgios, the pressures of the junior tour, being grounded from his travel-loving lifestyle, his fracas with Daniil Medvedev in Miami, tennis as a family business, and more.
Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received on the NCR Patreon which has powered us into our TENTH(!) season! If you'd like to join in as we bring you the best shows we can each week, 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, Pam Shriver, and Nicole Copeland!)
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.
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Episode 286b: Remember When? 2020, Part 2
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Sunday Dec 27, 2020
Ben and Courtney wrap up their wrap-up of the uniquely weird year that was 2020 with this episode, which focuses on everything that happened after the pandemic first stopped the tours.
How do we look back on how tennis players handled the stoppage, both as players and as citizens? Is it fair to make generalizations?
And how did we feel about the tennis once it came back?
Also, Courtney is on Twitch, as she mentions several times.
Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received this year on the NCR Patreon! If you'd like to join in as we bring you the best shows we can each week, 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, Nicole Copeland, Anna Welinder, and Pam Shriver!)
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.
Thursday Oct 01, 2020
Episode 277e: 2020 French Open Day 5 - Hot Take-Off (with Alex Gruskin)
Thursday Oct 01, 2020
Thursday Oct 01, 2020
With two rounds of the French Open now done, it's time to make some bold calls.
Ben is rejoined by Alex Gruskin of the Cracked Racquets media empire to make some bold calls and predictions about the short-term (Roland Garros) and long-term outlook of tennis.
From Jelena Ostapenko to Sofia Kenin to Sascha Zverev to Serena Williams to Jannik Sinner, we've got all the hot takes you could ever want...and then some.
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, Charles Cyna, and Nicole Copeland!)
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.
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Episode 268: Louisa Thomas on the Fractured World of Tennis
Friday Aug 14, 2020
Friday Aug 14, 2020
The New Yorker's Louisa Thomas is back with us to discuss the comprehensive piece she published about the state of tennis in these tumultuous last five months, "The Fractured World of Tennis Amid a Prolonged Pandemic."
Louisa and Ben discuss the notion of self-centeredness and tennis and how players are trained by people to potentially hurt those same people, how tennis' structure reflects both its strengths and weaknesses, the fast-approaching U.S. Open, and much more, including, inevitably, Nick Kyrgios.
It's a wide-ranging story and a wide-ranging chat, and we think you'll enjoy it.
Also, please go get Louisa's new book, Losers, for yourself and/or everyone you know!
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! 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. backer J O'D!)
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.
Friday Jul 03, 2020
Friday Jul 03, 2020
The fall out from the Adria Tour coronavirus cluster took an unexpected trip to the dance floor within a week later, with video surfacing of Alexander Zverev partying in Monte Carlo just days after being repeatedly exposed to the disease (and promising to follow health protocols) enraging people around the sport in tennis and severely damaging trust in tennis players.
To discuss the ramifications, and the notions of a code of conduct, Ben is joined by NCR's Middle East correspondent Reem Abulleil (please do support her Patreon as well!) to talk about what the tours can and can't do, the corrosive effects of selfishness in tennis, and more.
Should tennis continue on without putting super rigid restrictions on personnel behavior in place? And if tennis has to do so much in a pandemic that it stops being fun, should it just stop all together? Big, bleak conversations are had here, but we also had a lot of fun.
If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! 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. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCR263!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Episode 246: Louisa Thomas on Writing About Tennis
Friday Feb 28, 2020
Friday Feb 28, 2020
We are delighted to have Louisa Thomas, one of the most wonderfully writerly writers about tennis in her work for The New Yorker, on this week to talk about all sorts of things to do with tennis and writing, and answer bunches of listener questions.
We discuss how she got into writing about tennis, how to make tennis relevant to a general audience, the Kim Clijsters comeback, her favorite athlete to profile, the Big Three and how to compare greatnesses, tennis books, and much more. (Recorded before the Sharapova retirement announcement, which Ben discussed with Tumaini Carayol here).
If you'd like to support our show, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!)
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 #NCR246!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Thursday Feb 06, 2020
Episode 243g: Australian Open - Novak Djokovic Eight 'Em Up
Thursday Feb 06, 2020
Thursday Feb 06, 2020
Ben and Courtney wrap up the Australian Open with a look at the end of the men's event, which finished for the eighth time with Novak Djokovic as champion. He sure seems to be closing in on that G.O.A.T. count, huh?
Also, we discuss runner-up Dominic Thiem, who is establishing himself as the new Andy Murray, Sascha Zverev, who made a first Slam semifinal and generated a lot of donation talk, and Roger Federer, who toughed out a win over Tennys Sandgren and then gamely took court to face the music against Djokovic.
We also discuss Nick Kyrgios, the female officials who drew praise, and how the protesting of Margaret Court is being led by two retired players.
If you'd like to support our show, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you!
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.
Friday Jan 17, 2020
Episode 242: Australian Open 2020 Draw Preview
Friday Jan 17, 2020
Friday Jan 17, 2020
Ben and Courtney dive into the first Grand Slam of the 2020s with some Big Decade Energy, breaking down the paths for the top women and men in Melbourne.
We start with the women, where Ash Barty is the top seed and hometown hope, and where many contenders clustered in the top half, particularly in the second quarter (Osaka, Serena, and an R1 between Venus and Gauff).
On the men's side, we like the paths for the top four, and appreciate the pruning of the plant to inspire new growth. Or something like that.
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 #NCR242!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.