No Challenges Remaining

Episode 277d: 2020 French Open Day 4 - Exits and Arrivals

It was an eventful day at Roland Garros, with three-time champ Serena Williams withdrawing due to a lingering Achilles' injury, Victoria Azarenka and Coco Gauff also exiting, and Sara Errani and Kiki Bertens getting into all sorts of drama as their third set rocked (and then rolled).

After bits from Serena, Errani, and Bertens, the main body of this episode focuses on two men who advanced on Wednesday: U.S. Open finalists Dominic Thiem and Sascha Zverev.

Ben is joined by German reporter Jannik Schneider to discuss Zverev, his perception in Germany, his physical development, the impact of signing with Roger Federer's Team 8 company, and the legal battles that remain for him, as well as the similar legal battles around Dominic Thiem and his former manager.

This was our 22nd(!) episode of the month of September! Golly.

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.

Episode 277c: 2020 French Open Day 3 - Fun With Props with Ricky Dimon

Trying to recreate a Paris tradition in podcast form, Ben and Ricky Dimon try to predict various happenings on Wednesday at the French Open, both on court and off.

The questions range from straightforward (How many sets will Pironkova win? How many double faults will Zverev hit?) to more unusual (How many times will the word "ball" be said Nadal's press conference?)

21 prop questions in all, we hope you have fun thinking about these questions and hearing our thought processes. To leave your own predictions, do so in the episode thread for this episode 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.

Episode 277b: 2020 French Open Day 2 - Alexander Bublik Bursts Monfils' Bubble

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.

Episode 277a: 2020 French Open Day 1 - The British Are...Leaving

The marquee matches of the day were both won in decisive straight sets, with Stan Wawrinka romping over Andy Murray, and Coco Gauff controlling play against Johanna Konta.

Tumaini Carayol, NCR's newly-enshrined Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa correspondent, joins to discuss these matches and the reactions to them. Is giving a wild card to Murray debatable, as Mats Wilander claimed? Should Konta be less walled off with the media? And what made Wawrinka and Gauff so sharp?

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.

Episode 276: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2020

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.

Episode 270: Courtney's Back! (And So Is Tennis)

For the first time in two-months-but-feels-like-much-longer, Courtney returns to an NCR episode! She graces us with her presence as we discuss tennis getting back underway in earnest now with a few weeks of the WTA Tour behind us and the New York swing of "Cincinnati" and the U.S. Open rapidly approaching.

What do we make of the challenge of covering the sport remotely? Who has stood out in the on-court action we've seen so far from the women? Will this U.S. Open be "asterisked," and what does an asterisk even mean? And what do we expect and want from players in the New York bubble?

Also, Courtney discusses her burgeoning career as a Twitcher.

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.

Episode 267: Tennis Returns, But a Rocky Road Ahead

Well, tennis is back, folks! But at the same time, tennis continues to go away. What to make of it all?

To help make sense of it all, Ben is rejoined by Reem Abulleil and Tumaini Carayol who also have been (virtually) covering the WTA's return event in Palermo this week. Is the tour set to succeed? And how do we think this sort of virtual coverage will change our work?

We also discuss the cancellation of Madrid and the new rules document from the U.S. Open, as well as the decision of defending champion Rafael Nadal to skip this year's event.

And then as a bonus at the end, you'll hear Dayana Yastremska discuss her unexpected turn as a recording artist.

(Apologies for some of the audio issues on Ben's track as this issue goes on, we did our best to make it sound decent)

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.

Episode 228: Barty, Nadal Party in France

A few days after the French Open, Ben and Courtney look back on the tournament that was and wasn't. While celebrating the champions--particularly the breakthrough of Ash Barty--we explore the general ennui we're left with from a tournament that never quite got in gear.

We discuss the Big 3, Serena, Thiem, Serena-Thiem, and a bit more from the Slam that was. 

Also, because we're in Champagne (we're fancy now), we discuss the fallout from the U.S.A.'s emphatic 13-0 victory over Thailand which we watched in Reims. Bugattis were earned.

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 #NCR228!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 227: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2019

With hours to go before the 2019 French Open begins, Ben and Courtney sit down for a quick-ish rundown of who can win this tournament and why.

From Naomi to Novak, Rafa to Petra, Plisko to Delpo, Tsitsi to Kiki, it's all here. 

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 #NCR227!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 206: Draw Me Like One of Your French Opens, 2018

Ben and Courtney rendezvous in Paris once again to discuss the women's and men's French Open draws, which set up two very interesting tournaments (or maybe one and a half?)

The women's side is full of intriguing and relevant match-ups throughout, especially the highly anticipated section with Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Karolina Pliskova. What can we expect from Garbine Muguruza? Can lightning strike twice for Jelena Ostapenko (or has she become a more stable generator?) And can Elina Svitolina reach her Slam potential.

On the men's side, Ben posits why the super lopsided draw is actually perfect for the tournament, as all the best players who aren't Nadal get to battle amongst themselves for a spot in the final. He also defends his advocacy for John Isner, and Courtney explains her new devotion to Lil' David Goffin.

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 #NCR206!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!