No Challenges Remaining

Episode 139: Starting on the Right Foot

After the first week of tennis, Ben and Courtney look around to see how things have started in the 2016 season of tennis. As carnage accumulates, things sure look good for Brisbane champions Victoria Azarenka and Milos Raonic, don't they? You'll hear from both of them (and Azarenka's coach Wim Fissette), as well as runner-up Roger Federer. Elsewhere, gosh was Novak Djokovic able to do unspeakable things to Rafael Nadal in that Doha final. Has anyone ever been such a clear favorite heading into a Grand Slam? And has anything ever been as overblown as the reaction to Jack Sock conceding a first serve in a friendly farewell tour exhibition match? We discuss all that and more.

There is now less than a week to go in our Kickstarter campaign, so if you want to support us and get any of our neato rewards before it's too late, don't delay! Your support has been super amazing already, and we can't thank you all enough. If you haven't yet and still want to, you can find out more here.

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

Episode 138: Wobbly Stars and Fierce Pearce

It's our Season 5 premiere! Ben and Courtney are back together in person for the first time since the U.S. Open, and they're ready to tackle the 2016 season. But are any of the top WTA players? With injuries to three of the top-five already, it sure doesn't seem like it. But one player who does seem ready is Victoria Azarenka (9min40sec), who you'll hear from at her first Brisbane press conference.

After a reflection on the demise of BerdycH&M (17min), we're delighted to be joined by one of our favorite Aussies, Linda Pearce of The Age in Melbourne (21 min), who shares some of her adventures in Australian tennis. We try to hide our jealousy over the incredibly colorful tapestry of characters she has to work with. We fail. 

With less than two weeks to go in our Kickstarter campaign, we're over 500% of our initial base goal, which is astoundingly awesome. We've rolled out a few new rewards, and a stretch goal for $17,000 (live Periscopes every day of the Australian Open!) so if you want to get in on it before it's too late you can do so here.

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

Episode 137: Hey, Remember When 2015 Happened?

In their 2015 season finale, Ben and Courtney look back at the year that was in tennis. After discussing the retirement and legacy of Robin Soderling this past week, we flip through back the calendar to piece together the year that was through a chronological game of #RememberWhen. From Serena ordering coffee on court to champagne nearly de-eyeing Novak Djokovic, it was a year whimsy and wild moments that quenched our thirst all year long. Tweet us your own #RememberWhen moments to @NCR_Tennis! In a combined, lengthy rant/rave, Ben and Courtney get spoilery on their latest obsession, the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer. So, don't listen to that if you haven't finished (or started) the show yet.

With less than three weeks to go in our Kickstarter campaign, we're an incredible $10,000 over our initial base goal! You guys are awesome! There's still many cool rewards on offer (including our new #ImJustHereForThePostcards set of four) and lots of time for more of you to join the cause. Even though we've surpassed all our original expectations, the number of donors so far is still under 5% of NCR listener ship, and we'd love to widen the base of those onboard, so we're continually rolling out stretch goals and backers-only content! Join in here.

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

Episode 136: O Come, All Ye Random Numbers

As they deck the halls, Ben and Courtney fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la over Roger Federer's 2016 schedule, which throws out the mold and the clay. Should more players follow his lead and pick and choose more selectively from the all-you-can-eat buffet that is the tennis calendar? Then, we wrap and stick under the tree what you've all been asking NCR Santa for: Take a Number, and lots of it. After a few rounds of lucky numbers, we then soup it up and hold our second annual Secret Santa for the ATP and WTA top 10s (with a couple substitutions). Then Ben raves and Courtney raves and raves and rants and raves some more. Because it's Christmas, and we should all be cheery cashiers Robin Hood-ing when we can. 

With less than four weeks to go in our campaign, we thank you for continuing to make our Kickstarter campaign such a success so far! We're already blown away by the totals (over $11,000 as of publishing this episode!) but would love to see a higher percentage of our audience chip in, even if it's just a tiny amount. You guys are helping to make NCR bigger and better, and the tennis world is taking notice. You can support NCR and gain access to exclusive backers-only content here, which includes Ben diving deep into his rave for GeoGuessr. Also, we're offering a new #ImJustHereForThePostcards reward level! 

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

Episode 135: Lindsay Davenport (and Olympic Chat)

Who better than 1996 gold medalist Lindsay Davenport to join Ben and Courtney to talk about the Olympics? Well, Lindsay is awesome on anything and everything, but for this Olympics-themed episode as we're on the eve of an Olympic year, Lindsay shares her memories from her various Olympic efforts, her thoughts on how the Olympics have grown in stature within tennis, and the show-and-tell duties that they never tell you about when you're on the podium. Ben and Courtney also discuss various other Olympic issues, including their disruptiveness in the calendar, qualifying rules, and which mixed doubles teams we #RioShip. 

And again, we thank you for continuing to make our Kickstarter campaign such a success so far! We're already blown away by the totals, but would love to see more of you become backers at any level, no matter how small. Support and gain access to exclusive backers-only content here. 

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

Episode 134a: Serena Williams is Sportsperson of the Year

In a rare emergency episode that is for an indisputably positive reason (neigh-sayers aside), Ben and Courtney discuss Serena Williams being honored by Sports Illustrated as their Sportsperson of the Year for 2015, becoming the first woman to win the award outright in over 30 years, and the first tennis player in over 20 years. To discuss how Serena clinched the honor, we're joined by Sports Illustrated's executive editor Jon Wertheim (host of SI's reinvigorated tennis podcast Beyond the Baseline), who dives into the process of picking the Sportsperson as well as what it's been like to have his entire career overlap so closely with Serena's. 

We finish by thanking you guys for the beyond amazing start to our Kickstarter campaign, with you guys more than doubling our base goal in less than a week. You guys are the best, and have opened lots of exciting possibilities for what the show can do next year. It's still going for another five weeks, so if you'd like to join in and get access to some exclusive backers-only content you can do so by chipping in here.

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

Episode 134: Kickin' Back in the Off-Season.

As the off-season starts to get comfortable (and shorter, sadly), Ben and Courtney dive into the mailbag once again to discuss a whole bushel of topics. Is IPTL worth paying attention to for tennis fans? And is it a good proposition for the players who play it, including the lethargic Serena Williams? We also discuss our Hall of Fame ballots, and the legacies of nominees Justine Henin, Marat Safin, and Helena Sukova. Also in questions, we discuss what fair 2016 expectations are for Serena and Djokovic, LGBT issues in tennis, and Andrea Petkovic's doubts about her tennis motivations and what they can teach us all.

Also, in an effort to continue growing and improving, we officially launch our Kickstarter campaign to help support NCR in 2016! You can donate and learn more about our Kickstarter campaign here. Check it out, and thanks in advance for considering us! 

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

Episode 133: Murray Family Values

As Ben and Courtney finally exhale upon the long-awaited arrival of the off-season, they're left breathless on the topic of Andy Murray, who won the Davis Cup for Great Britain in one of the most impressive solo efforts ever in the competition. Ben is joined by Scottish tennis writer Stuart Fraser of the Mail Online to discuss his land's native hero and his most recent heroics, as well as the surprising timing of the latest round of criticisms of British tennis that has followed in the wake of one of its biggest successes. Then, Courtney and Ben dive into the mailbag for all sorts of questions, ranging from our favorite press conference moments to the value of tennis maintaining its niche status to the most likely next first-time Slam winners to what "deuce side" means. Lastly, Courtney ties a cheesy string to her childhood while Ben is inspired to shovel. 

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

Episode 132: Novak's Greatness and Our Gratefulness

With the ATP regular season at last coming to a close, Ben and Courtney step back and bask in the luminous 2015 campaign of Novak Djokovic. Just what made him so dominant, and how does his year measure up to (or surpass) previous great years of his and others? With no one else coming close right now, how do we assess Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in London, as well as beard and towel intrigues? And why does Stan Wawrinka always seem to get a free pass from critics? 

Then, we shift gears to talk about the xenophobic panic behind Aljaz Bedene's purgatory, and we hear from Genie Bouchard's lawyer, Benedict Morelli, who sounds off on the answer filed by the USTA in response to Bouchard's lawsuit. We then take a moment for seasonal gratitude, to remember things we're thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches. Lastly, Courtney recommends you watch another Netflix show, and Ben recommends you don't watch a movie.

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

Episode 131: Boot and Rally

Both back in America, Ben and Courtney tee up the homestretch of this 2015 season, in which Maria Sharapova fell short through no fault of her own in the Fed Cup final, Novak Djokovic continues to cruise, and things are tasting stale in London. Why is it that this time of Djokovic's dominance has been received less warmly than Federer's dominance? Does the ATP need to move the World Tour Finals out of London to get out of a rut? Does Novak Djokovic's great fall make us reconsider if he had a better year than Serena? And what does Ronda Rousey's loss say about premature legacy making?

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