Episodes
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
Episode 214a: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 1: Osaka, Serena, Ramos
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
Tuesday Sep 11, 2018
The 2018 U.S. Open was absurdly eventful, and the women's side finished with tremendous controversy, so we devote most of this first wrap-up episode to that.
But first, we spend ample time on our new breakthrough champion, Naomi Osaka, and her stunning performance.
Then we dive headlong into everything that happened in the second set of her win over Serena Williams, which sparked worldwide discussion about officiating, sexism, and more. It was a whole big mess, and we hope we're able to clean it off and sort it out pretty well for you here.
Part 2, on everything else that happened at the U.S. Open, coming later this week.
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 #NCR214a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
Episode 212: U.S. Open 2018 Draw Preview Spectacular
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
Saturday Aug 25, 2018
It's been a minute, but Ben and Courtney are back together to tee up the 2018 U.S. Open draw and do a little catching up on things we missed or covered in our lost post-Wimbledon episode.
First, the draws, which feature Serena Williams being dealt a gauntlet of her sister and Simona Halep, clearly the best player of the year. How do we assess the many threats in that quarter? And who else is well positioned to go deep?
On the men's side, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic seem like co-favorites, but how do their paths compare?
Also, we still agree about best-of-five, and now Andy Murray sees it our way. And one of us is more excited than the other about #poLLanskycaLLendarsLLam
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 #NCR212!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Friday Aug 24, 2018
Friday Aug 24, 2018
NCR was THRILLED to be able to partner with friend of the show Nick McCarvel for his "Open Playbook: Being Queer & Out in Pro Tennis" event on the Thursday before the U.S. Open at the Housing Works Bookstore in SoHo.
After a quick intro chat between Ben and Nick, you'll here Nick host a panel featuring out gay former players Brian Vahaly and Casey Dellacqua, who share their different journeys of coming out and the acceptance (or lack thereof) they felt along the way.
It was a super fun night with cocktails (Martini Navratilova, anyone?) and drag queens and laughs, but also a unique chance to explore the LGBT experience in pro tennis, and we at NCR are thrilled to be able to bring it to those of you who were not in attendance (and it was great to meet the many listeners who were!)
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 #NCR211!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
Episode 202: Bouchard vs U.S.T.A. - Genie Wins Round 1
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
After three days at a very different court than usual, Ben is joined by Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal to briefly discuss Eugenie Bouchard's victory in the liability phase of her lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association.
Speaking outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, Ben and Daniel discuss the first three days of the trial, the testimonies it contained, where the U.S.T.A.'s defenses fell short, and the many ambiguities and uncertainties that are still to come in the wildly debatable damages stage.
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 #NCR202!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Monday Sep 11, 2017
Episode 198b: U.S. Open - Rafa, Sloane, Battle of the Sexes, Unstoppable
Monday Sep 11, 2017
Monday Sep 11, 2017
The 2017 U.S. Open wrapped up with an unsurprising men's champ in Rafael Nadal and a very surprising women's champ in Sloane Stephens. How did we get there? We discuss.
What do we make of how the draw broke in Rafa's favor? And how was Kevin Anderson the one able to seize the opportunity on the bottom half?
On the women's side, how did Sloane Stephens go from not being able to walk to playing her best tennis ever so quickly? What's next for her? Also, how should the other Americans in the final four--Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe, Venus Williams--feel about their tournaments? And what sort of #1 will Garbine Muguruza be after unseating Karolina Pliskova?
And snaps to the USTA for one heckuva tournament.
Also, we discuss the new tennis movie Battle of the Sexes, as well as Maria Sharapova's new memoir "Unstoppable."
Mentioned on this episode: Chloe Cooper Jones' GQ piece on Dominic Thiem and Kelsey Anderson talking taxes on NCR.
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 #NCR198b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Tuesday Aug 29, 2017
Episode 198a: U.S. Open Day 1 - Sharapova Beats Halep
Tuesday Aug 29, 2017
Tuesday Aug 29, 2017
In one of the biggest and best Slam first rounds ever, Maria Sharapova beat #2 Simona Halep in three thrilling sets. Ben and Courtney didn't quite see that coming, so we break it down in this special Day 1 episode from the U.S. Open. What are Sharapova's chances going forward in what's turned into a very open quarter suddenly?
There were some other upsets, too (Ferrer? Konta?). Also, Aleksandra Krunic is a delight.
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 #NCR198a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Episode 197: U.S. Open Preview!
Monday Aug 28, 2017
Monday Aug 28, 2017
It's our U.S. Open preview show! Ben and Courtney catch up on the happenings of the hardcourt season, and make all the tough picks as we breakdown the women's and men's draws in New York this year.
With Andy Murray's withdrawal the last of five from the ATP top 11, how should we feel about the men's field? And just how open is the women's draw, really, with eight women who can reach #1?
Lots of fun tangents, as per.
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 #NCR197!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!
Tuesday Sep 13, 2016
Episode 165f: U.S. Open - Kerber, Wawrinka Win; We Punch Out
Tuesday Sep 13, 2016
Tuesday Sep 13, 2016
And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR165e!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Saturday Sep 10, 2016
Episode 165e: U.S. Open - Finals Reckoning
Saturday Sep 10, 2016
Saturday Sep 10, 2016
And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR165e!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.
Tuesday Sep 06, 2016
Episode 165d: U.S. Open - The Women in the Room
Tuesday Sep 06, 2016
Tuesday Sep 06, 2016
And as always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR165d!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.