Tennis with an Accent

Juan Martin Del Potro called time on his career. This episode is a look back at the career of Del Porto and we can't help but reminisce what could have been the case had he had a surgery free career. Few questions come to mind right off the bat - would he have won more majors than Murray and Wawrinka? For one time slam winners how does he measure up to an Andy roddick? Why did he not play the Argentina open through most of his career?

We explore two vantage points to capture these discussion points and more - a tennis writer's view from Matt Zemek and Carlos Barciela gives a view of an informed Argentine fan.

Rafael Nadal won his 21st major in Melbourne last sunday which makes him as the most successful men's champion in grand slams. He has broken the three way tie of 20 majors with arch rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

On the women's side of the draw Ash Barty created Aussies history by winning the tournament which ended the local drought of 44 years.

Hall of famer Mark Woodforde joins the show to look at this historic weekend of tennis.

James Rosewarne(https://twitter.com/jamesrokewarne) and Vijay Arumugam(https://twitter.com/vijayarumugam) join the show this week to give the Aussie perspective on the Djokovic saga. Rosewarne is the managing editor of the https://www.statsinsider.com.au/ site and Arumugam is a known presence on cricket twitter. Both are NSW residents and had some similar and some different viewpoints on how Australia operates and more importantly helped unpack the sports and politics connection.

The hunter becomes the hunted as Saqib Ali and Mert Ertunga swap places for this episode of the pod. Mert steps in as the host for the pod as he interviews Saqib on his Boris Becker fandom. It's an off season tribute to one of the all time greats of the game through the vantage point of a fan.

The episode chronicles many different memories of Becker's storied tennis career from his rise to fame as a teenager in 1985 to his sudden retirement in 1997.

Blair Henley is the podcast guest this week at Tennis with an Accent. I call her the voice of the tennis stadiums. She has been involved in tennis all her life and we explored her journey in the sport. The conversation touched upon various elements like her debut as the MC on court 17 at the US Open to her most memorable post match interview.

Henley also highlighted the preparation that goes into the art of on court interviews - the dos and the don'ts and what questions to chose from. Last but not the least we covered the most international aspect of tennis - the pronunciation of names. Tune in for this off season special episode.

In this episode Matt and Saqib review the respective wins of Muguruza and Zverev at the Year end championships in Mexico and Italy. We also make a relative deeper dive into the fact whether winning these YEC historically have been a pedestal for success for breakout winners. The conversation also touches upon how the success of the event in Guadalajara should pave way for newer markets to host the showcase events in future for both WTA and ATP.

Last but not the least TWAA team weighs in on the Peng Shuai situation.

Freelance tennis writer Damian Kust(@damiankust on Twitter)returns to the podcast to discuss the field of the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan. Kust is a tennis hipster who follows the ITF and the challenger tours throughout the year. He sheds some expert views on the rise of Carlos Alcaraz. He also describes why Alcaraz maybe the exception to the rule in a sport where it has become increasingly difficult to break though as a teenager.

The conversation also shifts to Korda, Musetti, Baez and Nakashima. Last but the not the least Kust weighs in on the difficulty of competition on the Challenger tour.

Some of Damian's recent articles -

https://t.co/TuTs2L22S2?amp=1

https://t.co/XIohCEeToX?amp=1

In this episode Matt and Saqib preview the Indian Wells 2021 edition. A lot has happened in the tennis world since Indian wells was played last. This episode covers the big stories coming into the event on both sides of the draws. Will Muguruza and Casper Ruud ride the hot hand into the desert? Can Medvedev narrow the gap between him and Djokovic in the rankings? Can Zverev and Tsitsipas overcome the disappointments of New York? A lot of food for thought for all fans.

Doubles legend Mark Woodforde returns to TWAA to review the US Open championships. We look back at the tournament where Daniil Medvedev stopped the historic bid of world number one Novak Djokovic for the Grand slam and the unprecedented run of Emma Raducanu as the first qualifier to win a major.

Former top 20 player Jaime Yzaga of Peru joins the podcast this week to recall his amazing win over Pete Sampras from US Open 1994. Yzaga was a solid ATP pro in his day who had wins over Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi among others.

Yzaga gets candid about his toughest opponents, greatest memories and some current tennis topics like bathroom breaks and future stars of the game.