Perfect Match?

The breakup of Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina shocked the tennis world when the story broke on Instagram last week. Our heart goes out to both of them, and it got us thinking about tennis couples, breakups in general and breakups in our past. It's the breakup episode!

Also:

• Musetti violates the Bro Code by banging Berretinni's ex (and cheating on his current partner/baby mama for good measure)
• There's a $1200 Nadal book

And more!

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Apparently lots of men are "glutemaxxxing" these days, so we thought we'd survey the tuchus landscape over at the ATP. Michele lays out her scoring system for the top male players' tushies, while Bryan awkwardly engages. Also, tennis needs a timeout: bad vibes at the end of the tennis season.

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Love, 15, 30, 40: Music to tennis fans' ears and seemingly more complicated than A.P. Calculus to non-tennis people. This week, we attempt to explain how to explain tennis scoring. Bryan takes particular joy in this exercise as a man who loves to explain things (they should have a word for that!). Can tennis scoring be explained, or must it be lived?

Also,

• Elf and Polymarket are running the latest annoying Tennis Channel ads
• The history and possible future of the tiebreak in tennis

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak

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Michele is out of town this week, which happens to also be Bisexual Awareness Week. I kept myself occupied by recording this short, (I believe) thoughtful essay on bisexuality. For all our bisexual listeners, you are awesome 💜

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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On Sunday, we had a Brodown: (Total Bro) Ben Shelton battled (Toxic Bro) Alexander Zverev, not for the title of Top Bro but for the adjacent title of 2026 US Open Men's Champion. This week we break down Bros in Tennis: the Total Bro, Partial Bro, Nouveau Bro, Not a Bro and Toxic Bro. We feel that these entirely made up categories of bro-dom are a useful framing device for Men's Tennis in 2026. Or are they?

Also:

• Sabalenka is a sore loser at the US Open Final
• Two out gay male players compete in a final in a Challengers match for the first time 🏳️‍🌈

And other stuff...

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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In this extended episode we talk about the emerging Gay Sports Romance genre and nerd out on behind-the-scenes library stuff with New York Public Library Senior Librarian and Cataloger Julia Lubey! How do books get tagged as Queer Fiction vs. Bisexual vs. Young Adult? What about The Open Era, which is perhaps all of the above?

Also:

• Alcaraz' nipple slip shirt 👀
• Djokovic's mysterious long-COVID-like condition 🤢
• The USTA's decision to make the Open unaffordable 💰💰

And more!

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak

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The US Open Fan Week: loud, crowded, disorganized, chaotic! But we got a chance to see Serena and Carlos play doubles as well as the return of the one and only Roger Federer. Michele refrained from putting them on the glass for Roger, and Bryan remained relatively sober despite spending ~$200 on booze. Only at the Open!

Also,

• The Arthur Ashe stadium renovation that reflects the disappearing middle class
• Zohran Mamdami shames the US Open into providing some more affordable tickets
• The book talk for Finding Renee Richards, the new autobiography of the only trans pro tennis player in history by Julie Kliegman

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak

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No sooner did we record an episode about Carlos' cornrows than he took them out (and pulled out of Cincy 😞). Regardless, there's a history of white people adopting/appropriating(?) black style with mixed results. We were initially becringed by the cornrows, but a new generation of social media users has put the whole topic into grey area.

Also:

• Jessie Pegula is hard to root for
• The ticket scalpers buy another year of profiteering
• "The Dink": the Pickleball movie with a heart of gold
• WTA sex testing update

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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Jannik Sinner made headlines last week because he passed on a potentially unprecedented and historic opportunity: win all Masters 1000s tournaments in a single year. Nobody has ever done it. With all the talk about how maladapted, weird and lazy Gen Z is purported to be, we wondered if there's a generational theme here (spoiler: they said the exact same things about Gen X, but no one remembers anything about us).

Also,

• The DC Mubadala tournament's noble origin story
• Player boycott of the US Open Mixed Doubles event: still happening?

And more...

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak

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The Women's Tennis Association, arguably the most progressive sports association in history, has decided to require every female professional tennis player to prove that they are a woman. What certification will be acceptable to pass this new test? Oh, it's something called an SRY test, which checks for the presence of Y chromosomes. Funny story, the man who discovered the SRY marker thinks that the test shouldn't be used this way. Good times!

Special shout out to Ben Rothernberg for breaking this story. Read his piece here.

Also:

• Alcaraz is coming back!
• Aussie Open to limit cheap tickets
• Thoughts on (partially read) new gay tennis romance novel "The Open Era"

Send us your hot takes at [email protected]

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast in your app, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.