The Body Serve

The year's final Grand Slam is upon us, and for the first time since the 90s, we won't see a Williams sister, Nadal, or Federer at the US Open. In two weeks, we'll know if Djokovic has completed the historic Calendar Year Grand Slam against a group of young challengers (Novak and the Seven Trees?). We also discuss the recent publication of part two of the Olya Sharypova story and why the ATP and tennis broadcasters will have a harder time ignoring it this time around. Plus: Barty surging in time for NY, Stef's laughably bad vaccine stance, and some lucky loser drama in Winston-Salem. 

1:15 Reflections on Cincinnati FOMO

7:00 Wrapping up the Canada results: Giorgi stuns the field and Medvedev beats Opelka

10:50 Cincinnati: Barty allows no doubt about who’s #1

21:30 Also happening last week: *that* Naomi presser, Yastremska gets called something mean, Lepchenko popped for a doping violation

33:00 Cincinnati men’s draw: the less said the better

38:20 The Tsitsipas Family’s wild and reckless vaccine takes

44:35 A lucky loser fracas at Winston-Salem 

47:15 Draw analysis: starting with the women. So … how about that third quarter?

70:55 Men’s draw: is there anyone here who will beat Novak in best-of-five?

85:10 Part two of Ben Rothenberg’s story on the Zverev allegations -- why he said/she said is a dog whistle and why tennis might finally be forced to reckon with this

98:30 Another historic week in women’s sprinting! From your faithful tennis / Jamaican track correspondents

Tennis’ second pandemic summer gets us a bit closer to “normal,” but the absence of many of the biggest stars leaves room for other players to create compelling narratives. Danielle Collins runs off 12 matches in a row, Reilly Opelka transcends servebotism and outfoxes Tsitsipas in Toronto, and Karolina Pliskova resuscitates a career that many (us?) were calling over the hill. We also talk about some egregious stunts (ciao, Fabio & Mo), the WTA Race to [somewhere?], and the post-Big 3 landscape. 

0:35 Rafa and the glaring absence of the Old Guard this summer - what’s next? Does the Next Gen *have to* snatch the tour from the Big 3 or no?

9:10 Results in Cluj-Napoca & DC: Petkovic back in top 70, Sherif becomes first Egyptian woman in WTA final, Sinner & a few lesser known American men show out in DC

12:15 Danielle Collins wins a second title and more fans - why does Collins inspire such charged cultural conversations?

22:20 Montreal: Pliskova, Giorgi, Collins-Pegula, Jabeur

30:00 Reilly Opelka makes the case for himself

36:25 Pure stunts from the ATP’s king of stunts. Lasciami in pace, Fabio!

41:15 A brief retrospective on a Whitney & Mariah moment

45:15 Final thoughts on the blazingly fast women’s 200m and then we’ll leave you alone

Just to get it out of the way: we're not the biggest fans of Olympic tennis. Nevertheless, the Games brought up some interesting stories, old and new -- the fairy-tale endings that failed to happen for Novak and Naomi, the "mental health" conversation (or the seeing-athletes-as-human-beings conversation) that is changing sports discourse around the world, and the men's gold medal that wasn't. We've also got some thoughts on Naomi's Netflix docuseries, the extremely busy post-Wimbledon non-Olympics tennis calendar, and the blazingly fast women's 100m final.

7:10 Bencic is finally in "the talk," in her words

10:00 So, about the men's gold medalist and the allegations that are finally gaining traction outside of Tennis Twitter

17:45 Djokovic's Golden hopes end as a racquet is javelined into the stands

27:30 Final thoughts on Olympic tennis and 'prestige'

32:00 Simone Biles kicks off a conversation/uproar similar to Naomi -- the ground is shifting on how we talk about athletes, mental/physical health, and self-sacrifice

42:00 Post-Wimbledon events: Collins wins first title, Ruud vultures the entire summer clay season

47:05 Bertens & Bacsinszky bid farewell

50:00 Meet me at the altar in your Off White dress - GEMS Life is married!

54:10 Thoughts on Naomi's Netflix special

61:54 Our resident Jamaican track and field fan recaps the women's 100m race, which lived up to very high expectations 

The first Wimbledon since 2019 ends with Ash Barty and Novak Djokovic leaving London victorious, both clear #1s at very different stages of their careers. Pliskova should be mighty proud of her tournament, and Berrettini reaches a new height in a very promising career. So how long will Djokovic dominate? What will the next generation have to say about it? All that plus doubles, PTPA stuff, Olympics conjecture, and how the ATP can hold onto those eyeballs Berrettini brought in. 

3:00 Ash Barty wins Wimbledon 50 years after her mentor, Evonne Goolagong; cements no. 1 status whether you like it or not

11:50 A great semifinal lineup: former winner Kerber, perennial top 10-er (until recently) Pliskova, and Sabalenka's big breakthrough

16:20 Djokovic has 3/4 of the Calendar Year Slam, Berrettini acquits himself well in final

28:10 Berrettini and Hurkacz bring new eyes to the sport, but the youngsters still have work to do

34:05 Doubles: Mektic/Pavic are back from Covid; Krawcyzk gets the Channel Slam; Hsieh/Mertens save match points to win

38:15 Et ceteras: Roger, Felix, Raducanu, PTPA update

47:00 So who exactly is going to the Olympics?

55:05 We finally get the trailer for Naomi Osaka's Netflix documentary

It was a wet, wild, and slipp(er)y first week at Wimbledon, which felled a 7-time champion within minutes and saw some electrifying home country heroes show out for their local fans. The faves in the men's draw have sauntered into week two, while a few top clay performers have continued their good form on the women's side. Special shout-outs to Ons Jabeur's stannable barfing moment, the more-fun-than-is-reasonable Venus Williams-Nick Kyrgios mixed doubles pairing, and great stuff from Shapo, Gauff, Samsonova, and more. 

1:20 Upsets of Petra, Kenin, Andreescu, Tsitsipas (hey Frances!) -- were they *surprises* or just upsets?

9:10 Surprises: who is quietly sliding into the second week? Garin, Ivashka, Hurkacz, Khachanov

13:40 The women's round of 16 matches and how we got there; Jabeur vs Swiatek is the one we're looking forward to

25:00 Men's round of 16: the three faves -- Djokovic, Fed, and Berrettini -- are still here

33:35 So about the grass ... Mannarino and Serena slip on Centre Court and pull out within an hour of each other. How many slips are too many?

42:55 Andy Murray's electrifying Centre Court matches - it's great theatre 

47:15 The critique of Coco Gauff's court assignments 

52:40 Favorite moment of week one: Venus-Nick mixed doubles, it was great while it lasted

58:55 Ostapenko's very eventful second and third rounds

66:35 Et ceteras: good on Fowler & Gilbert for talking honestly about Zverev & Basilashvili; Alexandra, what are you doing?

74:45 Thanks to everyone who bought Body Serve merch!

Before we get to the Wimbledon preview, we're proud to debut our first line of Body Serve merch: t-shirts, magnets, stickers, mugs, hoodies and more, all adorned with Tom Humberstone's exclusive Body Serve artwork. Back to tennis -- Wimbledon is upon us, as we move back to the traditional two-week gap between Roland Garros and the grass major. We'll walk you through the draws and the grass results, highlighting top recent performances from Jabeur, Berrettini, and Kerber, plus Sonego's musical and athletic prowess. And to wrap, a few queer et ceteras for #PrideMonth. 

0:35 Introducing The Body Serve's online store! 

5:30 Grass results from this week: resurgent Ostapenko, Kerber, Giorgi, and Querrey; plus Dasha, Petra, and Daniil

18:20 Halle, Birmingham, Queen's, Berlin -- Jabeur wins first title, is the first Arab woman to do a lot of things in tennis

26:55 Men's draw: it's Novak and then a big drop-off -- who else is a contender?

41:00 Women's draw - a lot more early-round intrigue, lots of question marks in the first quarter

46:50 Women's third quarter presents a huge opportunity for somebody

51:20 Yastremska's sexcuse worked! The suspension is over

54:30 PTPA has resurfaced with an executive director, new branding, and an advisory board

65:20 #Pride et ceteras: Carl Nassib; Love, Victor; women's 100m; and a story!

Are your clay sensations nourished? Ours certainly are NOT, but we hope to summon the requisite energies to bring you this French Open recap. Barbora Krejčíková and Novak Djokovic are your 2021 Roland Garros singles champions, both surprise winners in their own rights, but also two champions that make varying degrees of sense. Krejčíková became the fourth active WTA player to win Slams in all three disciplines (Venus, Serena, and Stosur), while Djokovic captured his 19th Slam title, a stone’s throw from Nadal and Federer’s record of 20.

01:20 Krejčíková beats Pavlyuchenkova for her first Slam singles title

05:45 Questionable (line) decisions, sportsmanship, and giving the benefit of the doubt

15:00 How did we get to this women’s final? 

21:15 Rafole, hyperbole, and the context of that semifinal

33:35 Novak’s gonna Novak, and that Novak is on a higher plain

42:30 The grass season started *during* Roland Garros this year 

44:30 Is coaching allowed during matches? If you’re a commentator who is also related to the player, yes

49:15 Taylor Townsend writes an illuminating piece for The Players’ Tribune

Has the 2021 French Open felt a bit . . . strange? Clouded? Cursed, even? (Yes) But aside from the weirdness floating above the tennis, we've actually got a fascinating lineup of quarterfinals in both the men's and women's draws. The men have more familiar faces, but the women's side sees the success of a bunch of great performers during this clay season, including several first-time Slam quarterfinalists and the defending champion. In the interest of efficiency, in this episode we wrap week one, talk about the prevalence of betting culture on Tennis Channel, the virtue of a good apology, and how The Good Place and Roland Garros intersected in a most humorous way. 

06:10 Men's draw: a historic Slam for Italian men, Medvedev king of trolls, plus the usual suspects

13:55 Federer's withdrawal and Musetti's retirement -- honest to a fault

25:30 Women's draw: huge upsets; great stuff from Pavlyuchenkova, Gauff, Zidansek, Sakkari, and more

39:10 Et ceteras - betting is even more entrenched at Tennis Channel, Sizikova arrested for match fixing ... any irony there or nah

46:05 Rune proves that the cover-up -- err, non-apology -- is often worse than the crime. All this during Pride Month?!

54:20 Danielle Collins' great narrative arc and Jameela's valued tennis opinions

Since our last episode, the conversation around Naomi Osaka's withdrawal from press conferences grew so loud that it led to an actual withdrawal: her decision to pull out of Roland Garros completely to preserve her mental well being. The past few days have presented so many important questions -- especially around mental health, mental strength and the "bootstraps" mentality, race, gender, and the role of the press in tennis -- that we felt it warranted another stand-alone episode. Let's leave the mess in WhatsApp and instead have a real conversation about what we can do better and why tennis' first reaction was punitive rather than empathetic.

12:05 Naomi's statement and the French Federation's response - how did we get here, and how can we do better?

17:30 "Press conferences are part of the job description" - well, since you mentioned tennis being a workplace ...

24:30 Should the Player's Councils and the PTPA be vocal about this?

28:45 Many reporters took Naomi's initial statement as a personal or professional attack -- where is the reflexivity?

38:40 The demand for a disclosure from Naomi - the act of "confession"

42:30 What has this situation taught us about how society and sport view mental health awareness?

50:30 The unavoidable question of race and gender, and how Black athletes are expected to entertain without complaint

Naomi Osaka is a paradigm shifter, regardless of whether you agree with her decisions. We spend a good chunk of our Roland Garros preview thinking through Naomi's decision to skip press and how it affords the sport an opportunity to rethink how it conducts journalism and creates news. Why did it inflame such impassioned responses? What does the press conference accomplish? What are the alternatives? Amidst all this, we have the year's second Grand Slam to preview, which will happen among the most "normal" conditions we've seen since the pandemic began. Rafa, Ash, and Iga are faves, but they're not the only ones with a fighting chance.

0:45 Naomi Osaka's bombshell: she won't be doing press conferences at Roland Garros

8:30 "It's part of the job" - but why? Is this an opportunity to rethink how tennis does journalism?

20:25 What we don't want to see: personal axe-grinding against "the press" in general

35:10 Some ideas on how to rethink tennis journalism

39:50 Roland Garros men's draw preview!

55:25 Women's draw: two clear favorites and a lot of great performers right behind them

64:15 Women's bottom half -- especially the fourth quarter -- is ripe for a dark horse breakthrough