The Body Serve

Danielle Collins, you will always be famous. The 30-year-old charisma machine – she of 2 NCAA titles and an unorthodox journey through tennis – wins her biggest title in the final year of her career. On the men’s side, everybody’s fave Grigor Dimitrov beat three top 10 players but fell against the final one, the near-unbeatable Jannik Sinner. Plus, we have more tales from our time at the Miami Open, including one particularly impassioned rant and the key to why Casper Ruud is not beating the Karen allegations.

03:30 Danielle Collins, the woman you are

09:48 She’s still retiring, so stop asking

15:24 Jannik Sinner is the best (*right now)

18:25 Brother Grigor

24:53 Watching Andy Murray + his devastating injury

29:30 Not an impromptu quiz!

31:17 A nightmare on site … 

42:40 What’s the tournament director there for if not to field complaints?

47:43 Extras: Thiem injury, Leylah, Novak-Goran split

53:21 The USTA sexual abuse case will go to jury trial + the failed attempt to bar Pam Shriver from testifying

For the first time, we’re coming to you from Miami Gardens, Florida! Before recapping Indian Wells, we share our first impressions of the Miami Open site and some of the tennis we got to see early on: Halep’s first match back from her suspension, Azarenka-Stearns (with an appearance by early Berry Gordy’s son RedFoo), Ostapenko lighting up Court 1, and more. Alcaraz defends his Indian Wells title -- snapping a title-less stretch going back to Wimbledon -- and Iga regains her title while losing a mere handful of games. Later on, we talk about the competing proposals that aim to overhaul mostly everything about tennis (Premier vs. PIF).

0:35 Miami Open: Penko-Siegemund, Vika-Peyton (and why RedFoo is here)

9:35 Simona’s return and Woz’s take heard round the world: “It wasn’t a clearance”

18:48 Minding Our Own Business 

22:20 Belatedly wrapping Indian Wells

27:07  Non-problematic beef

29:41 Unnecessary beef

32:28 Miss Beswick strikes again

35:28:Tennis headed for fundamental change: Premier Tour vs. Saudi PIF bid

On March 5, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rendered its decision on the Simona Halep appeal: the doping was not intentional and the suspension was reduced to 9 months, time long since served. It’s the welcome end to a saga that has dragged on and shaken trust in the sport’s anti-doping institutions. But, we’re left with ever more questions: Why were the conclusions of the ITIA and CAS so starkly different? What of the biological passport results? What took so long? Why are tennis players often so successful at CAS? Aside from the Halep news, we talk about the early happenings at Indian Wells, the cancellation of Netflix’s Break Point, the ATP's annual awkward International Women’s Day video, and more. 

01:40 CAS accepts Simona’s contamination defense and throws out biological passport charge 

07:50 Why are the conclusions of ITIA and CAS so vastly different?

15:00 Comparisons to Sharapova, the question of “innocence” 

25:00 So where are the “real” dopers?

35:30 Indian Wells: withdrawals, Sinner’s win streak, Kerber-Woz revival

45:15 Break Point is over: what went wrong?

50:40 Ruby amends his apology, thanks to Sofya Tartakova

51:50 A (very) slight improvement in the ATP’s Women’s Day video!

Rublev’s default from Dubai generated tons of discourse this week, and we devote quite a bit of time to it: the facts, the question of proportionality (of both Rublev’s actions and the umpire’s decision), and why player reactions aren’t the final word. We also recap the end of the lead-up to Indian Wells, with several players showing off the best tennis of their lives. Plus, Murray’s retirement talk; the ATP’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund; and the suspension of a low-ranked player for cannabis and how WADA decides to ban a substance.

2:15 Quick results recap: de Minaur, Boulter, Yuan, Humbert, Baez 

8:30 The Rublev Default

13:10 The Act of (non)Contrition

25:35 Proportionality, in a few senses

34:45 Andy Murray talks about the end

38:40 #TheNetflixSlam: it was a bit tacky and very American, but overall a huge win for the sport

46:00 ATP partners with PIF

50:55 A 2-year suspension for weed? Also an opportunity for some nerdy anti-doping discussion

February concludes with another first-time winner at the WTA 1000 level, Jordan Thompson winning 3 matches in one night to double in Los Cabos, and a bunch of hatchers and snatchers in Doha and Rio. We're also talking about the Coco-umpire incident in Dubai, Holger Rune rehiring Patrick Mouratoglou but retaining his reckless social media brand, and the quagmire of ethics breaches with the influx of betting companies into tennis institutions. 

1:40 Jasmine Paolini wins Dubai + Kalinskaya’s fantastic run

7:40 Thompson wins Los Cabos singles and doubles

12:05 Hatching and snatching in South America

17:50 Andy Murray wins his 500th hard court match

21:15 Coco vs. an obstinate (and wrong) umpire

27:25 Holger is back with Patrick: how to fail up in tennis

37:50 James Blake sanctioned under the sport’s betting sponsorship rules; but why can tournaments and other institutions have betting sponsors?

We're catching up with the tennis tours as they wind through Transylvania, South America, the US, and the Middle East. Iga Swiatek threepeats in Doha, Rybakina racks up more wins, Pliskova surges, and Sinner wins his first tournament off becoming a Slam winner. Meanwhile, Ostapenko still hasn't lost a match to anyone but Azarenka. We've got updates on the high profile doping suspensions: Brooksby gets some clemency from the ITIA, and Halep pleads her case to the CAS and sues the supplement company (hey, Scarborough!). Plus: the last one-hander in the top 10 goes out, and major coaching shakeups at a strange time of the season. 

3:20 Iga threepeats in Doha

8:00 The state of Naomi’s return from mat leave 

16:45 Rybakina wins Abu Dhabi, Kasatkina slams the scheduling

19:30 Penko and the aborted racquet shake

24:30 Sinner keeps winning, other men’s results 

31:40 The death of the one-handed backhand

36:30 Doping updates: Brooksby’s suspension reduced, Simona Halep makes her case at CAS and sues the supplement company

41:20 Coaching breakups: Sakkari and Tom Hill; Holger and everybody

The Body Serve is back with what’s become a February tradition, an off-topic mailbag/pop culture episode. Fair warning to Sw*fties to proceed with caution through a few of the early segments (timestamps below). As we all switch modes from Australian Open to the global February tennis schedule, we offer our highlights and the broader themes raised by the Grammys with a massive dose of deja vu; we answer your questions, both tennis-related and not; we take on the idea of “tarnishing” a legacy by continuing to play past your prime; and chat randomly about the Naomi memoir, We Are the World, and The Traitors (spoilers abound). 

1:00 Grammys: the Swift of it all

10:00 The broader problem: the Grammys’ failure to recognize Black women

21:20 Sone actual highlights from the Grammys

30:15 Memoirs

41:25 Will tennis ever change its schedule due to climate change?

43:50 Who will be the next first-time Slam winners?

46:05 Why do they keep protecting that guy? The sunk cost fallacy

48:45 Traitors: spoilers ahead for all versions

55:45 Best-of-5 for women + court speeds

61:00 Ideal tennis dinner guests, the evolution of tennis kits

65:05 Andy Murray and the idea of “tarnishing” one’s legacy

The 2024 Australian Open wrapped with Aryna Sabalenka defending her title and Jannik Sinner snapping both Djokovic’s dominance and Medvedev’s almost inexhaustible energy to win his first major title. Amidst increasing coverage of the abuse charges against him, Zverev comes dangerously close to reaching a Djokovic-less final but Daniil says ‘calma.’ In good news, Zheng Qinwen breaks out even earlier than expected, Hsieh Su-Wei wins the third and fourth Slam titles of her return to tennis, and Rohan Bopanna reaches #1 at age 43.   

01:25 Sabalenka defends her Australian title without much trouble

13:50 Shakey shake! Coco’s run

19:05 Jannik Sinner’s patience and smarts help him win his first major title 

27:00 Daniil Medvedev finds the poetry in losing

30:40 The strangest Djokovic semifinal

35:10 Calma: Medvedev stops the Zverev momentum

42:00 The coverage of the abuse allegations against Zverev reach a peak 

49:15 Doubles! Bopanna at #1, Hsieh’s continued doubles dominance 

56:20 Et ceteras: record attendance doesn’t always make a pleasant experience; a few more fashion notes

We’ve reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where the women’s draw has swallowed up all but 4 seeded players. Amidst the chaos, we’ve still got the defending champion, the US Open champion, and a number of players who’ve been expected to break out for a while. On the men's side, only seeded players have made the quarters. We chat a bit about the surprises (Borges, Cazaux) and whether anyone will stop Novak from getting his 11th title. We also talk about the kits we liked (Coco and Grigor ftw); the Sports Illustrated layoffs; and, in light of so many mothers playing this Australian Open, we answer a listener question about maternity and paternity leave. 

4:05 Men’s quarters - Djokovic rounding into form

16:25 Women’s draw: some would say carnage, we would say chill 

28:40 Noskova d. #1 Swiatek 

33:10 The fashions: are the fashions in the room with us?

37:45 Eight mothers in the AO draw: what are the tours doing on mat/pat leave?

50:45 Sports Illustrated lays off all editorial staff

57:00 Andre and Steffi present … Simona?

Six days into the Australian Open and most of the comeback kids are gone (except for Anisimova). On day five, chaos reigned down in Melbourne: Rybakina is gone after losing the longest tiebreak in Slam history, Medvedev scrapes through at 3:30 am, Swiatek survives a tussle with Danielle Collins, and seeds Pegula, Rune, and Kasatkina exit. The news of Zverev’s trial date and his election to the Players Council converge to dominate coverage during week one; players flail in press conferences and the ATP appears inert. Finally, we take a look at Nadal's surprising(?) new role as ambassador to Saudi tennis.

02:39 Anisimova leads the way & other comebacks

14:52 Iga v Danielle 

20:36 Danielle announces her final year on tour 

23:40 Rybakina, further upsets, and other notable moments 

34:12 Players get wrapped up in the Zverev case 

44:40 What does a good answer to Zverev questions look like for players?

52:18 Speaking of rotting, Gimelstob is back 

54:02 Rafael Nadal: Ambassador or Sportswasher?  

65:06 Some sad tennis news to end the episode