No Challenges Remaining

Episode 268: Louisa Thomas on the Fractured World of Tennis

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.

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 265: Knowing When to Call It Off, with Mark Ein

Mark Ein, owner of the Citi Open ATP tournament in Washington, joins NCR for a third time this year to share what went into the decision this week to call off his tournament, after months of previous optimism that holding it might be possible even amid a pandemic.

Ben and Mark discuss the uncertainty of the moment regarding travel, why now was the time to make the decision, and what challenges the U.S. Open still needs to clear in order to go ahead.

Also, could a radical reimagining of the traveling tour structure which tennis has had allow for a more viable product during this global crisis? And what might that look like?

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 264: Sports Bubbles Roundtable

As sports work towards a mid-pandemic return across North America, Ben is joined by a veritable constellation of media stars across the landscape to discuss how things are progressing across various arenas, and what their successes and struggles might indicate about what's in store for the tennis tours as they plot out a mid-pandemic comeback.

The panel: Helene Elliott, sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times; Ava Wallace, reporter for The Washington Post; Lindsay Gibbs of Power Plays; and Caitlin Murray, author of The National Team.

We think you'll have a real good time listening and learning.

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, including a new episode since last posting featuring Courtney discussing her love of The Last of Us! 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, and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 263: Can Tennis Stars Be Trusted to Act Responsibly? (With Reem Abulleil)

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.

Episode 262: A Tennis Star Catches COVID-19...Now What?

Between the recording and posting of an episode about the U.S. Open going forward, a big tennis news item dropped on Sunday: Grigor Dimitrov announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in the Adria Tour events, making this the most high-profile known incidence of coronavirus in tennis yet and casting a pall over the sport's plans to go forward with tour events soon.

Ben is kindly rejoined by Reem Abulleil and Tumaini Carayol to have another discussion of what the Dimitrov test result means for the sport, both in terms of lessons to be learned from what went wrong at the Adria Tour (seems like a lot!) and what it might mean for events like the U.S. Open which had optimistically planned on forging ahead.

Can be players be trusted to behave responsibly enough to keep a fragile thread of optimistic hope intact?

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 #NCR262!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 261: Tennis Plans An American Summer Return (with Mark Ein)

The U.S.T.A. confirmed today that it plans to hold the U.S. Open in its regular dates, albeit without fans and with players and their teams kept in a isolated bubble. The Western & Southern Open will also be played, but at the U.S. Open venue rather than in Ohio.

But before those, the first tournament back on the ATP Tour will be the Citi Open in Washington DC. To talk about what it's taken to get there, and what comes next for the tournament, Ben is rejoined by tournament owner Mark Ein to discuss how his tournament is preparing, what challenges lie ahead, and what an event could look like this summer.

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 #NCR261!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Episode 215: Laver Cup with Liz Clarke

With Courtney in China for a bit, Ben was delighted to meet up in D.C. with The Washington Post's Liz Clarke, who recently returned from Chicago where she covered the second Laver Cup, the novel new event which seems to defy expectations and definitions in tennis in first two successful editions.

Ben and Liz discuss her impressions of the event and how players and crowds have taken to it, what makes it work, the definition of "exhibition," and her take on the competing interests in men's tennis now.

Liz also shares her experience and wisdom on what makes tennis' struggles so uniquely frustrating and self-sabotaging (and please do go buy her great book on NASCAR if that bit piques your interest whatsoever).

And, of course, The Boss plays her out. 

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 #NCR215!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 214b: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 2: Everything Else

After spending the last episode on Naomi Osaka and what happened in her final against Serena Williams, Ben and Courtney move on to the rest of the U.S. Open.

Well, after an explanation of what "Pique" is, a bit more on Serena: what do we make of her not being the closer she once was deep in Slams?

Then, other topics include: the heat and the slow courts, the impact of moments when non-tennis media becomes interested in the sport, women's top-10 fleeing Slams early, champion Novak Djokovic, runner-up Juan Martin del Potro, and Mo Lahyani's absurd intervention into the Kyrgios-Herbert match. 

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 #NCR214b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 214a: Shutting the U.S. Open, Part 1: Osaka, Serena, Ramos

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!