The Body Serve

Maria Sharapova became the richest woman in sport, a 5-time Slam champ, and one of the most polarizing figures in tennis. We have not always been Masha proponents, but it's important for us to contextualize her excellent career, her clever self-branding, and the many contradictions and mysteries at the heart of Maria Sharapova, superstar. We'd be remiss if we didn't interrogate the textured relationship between Maria and Serena, and the complex racial and sexual dynamics that colored and drove their money, images, and matches. After that, we chat about the Persian Gulf swing (is that a thing?): Rybakina's 21 wins, Djokovic's 21-match win streak and Monfils' heartache, Sabalenka's huge performance in Doha, and Ons Jabeur's ever increasing confidence. We end with some mess, as is our wont. 

:45 Maria Sharapova announces her retirement from tennis in an essay for Vogue & Vanity Fair - let's look at her vast influence and great career

10:15 It's complicated! Talking about the Great White Hope myth; the contradictions at the heart of Maria's sparkling image and her gritty, pugilistic game

18:15 Constructing a sex symbol out of an underage girl

25:25 Meldonium - how has it changed the way we talk about her career?

37:00 Results! Rybakina & Halep in Dubai, Garin in Rio, Felix in another final

41:30 Acapulco: Watson & 17-year-old Canadian Fernandez in final; Mexican Renata Zarazua stuns; Venus & Sloane do not

45:00 Doha (Sabalenka! Jabeur!) and Dubai (Djokovic at 21 straight wins!) 

52:50 HEALTH: Roger gets surgery, Andy clarifies his injury problems

56:30 MESS: Nick takes his road most travelled (the low one), Naomi claps back, Youzhny writes a sonnet

67:30 RIP Jeanne Evert Dubin (1957-2020)

It's been a while since we last brought you a mailbag episode. They're fun to do, and we get to rely on our listeners to drive the conversation. Thanks to your thoughtful questions, we cover everything topics like the role of Tennis Twitter in the sport, things we'd change about the Slams, to opinions we've changed and our favorite Mariah songs. The questions mentioned below are only a sampling of the whole thing:

4:30 Why are tennis players politically silent compared to athletes in other sports? (@bloodbaymare); AND, how do we reckon with the "platitudinous non-voice voices" of the Big 3 with regard to the Margaret Court controversy (@perspicaciousam)

17:25 What thing, person, incident have we changed our opinions on? (@AnnaClxxmxnn and @DamianTerbiler)

27:30 Tennis journalists we like, plus a tangent

32:40 FMK: Drama Kings (@SholzTalks10s)

35:28 An anonymously submitted question for Jonathan

37:15 What do we expect from Clijsters' return? (@fabianigiraneza)

46:35 What behind-the-scenes stuff in tennis would people be surprised by? (@AfrikaMsanifu)

55:00 How important is Tennis Twitter to the success of the sport? (@theswingvolley)

65:50 An extended meditation on our favorite Mariah songs; and picking just ONE from MC, Whitney, and Aretha (@hextreat)

February is always a frantic time on the tennis calendar. We've just gotten back from a quick vacation in Mexico, and are readjusting to the Toronto winter and the podcast grind. This episode has recaps of Fed Cup and two weeks of tournaments; a segment on the recent anti-doping developments with Farah and Spears; the WTA's new permissive policy toward coaching, and many more odds and ends.

10:15 A quick note on the Clijsters comeback

14:50 Catching up on results: Monfils wins Montpellier and Rotterdam back-to-back, Felix reaches 4th ATP final, Pospisil's great runs, Bertens d. Rybakina to win St Petersburg

23:30 New York Open, that was a thing that happened

27:45 WTA implements coaching from the stands

33:00 Las drogas, la carne, las vitaminas malditas; and, the economic context that makes lower-ranked tennis players vulnerable to bettors and PEDs

44:00 Harrison and Sock, and the Benjamin of wild cards between them

48:30 Larry Ellison, owner of Indian Wells, to host a Trump fundraiser! Ok! 

50:25 Naomi Osaka announces Netflix documentary about her life

The 2020 Australian Open has mercifully come to a close and we’re back to complete our coverage of the decade’s first Grand Slam tournament. Your winners: Novak Djokovic, for an 8th time in Melbourne; and Sonya Kenin, who shocked the tennis world for her first Slam, beating #1 Barty and the resurgent Muguruza for the title. We’ve also got old-timers taking on Tennis Australia’s dithering on Margaret Court, while Novak and Roger played from the crease and were trapped in front lbw. What else? The Big 3 would like to speak to your manager, the Muguruza and Zverev comeback stories, and what men’s tennis might look like over the next few months.

02:18 Djokovic conquers an ever improving Thiem to win his 8th AO

10:44 The ATP through March, Zverev’s turnaround & other week 2 results

18:53 The Big 3 would like to speak to the manager....of the umpires

32:55 James is feeling a bit hamstrung by a tenet of our show

40:08 Sonya Kenin has got spunk!

54:07 Ash Barty, and her niece, cause all that conversation 

60:26 Thomas Muster and Sam Sumyk have incredibly bad, forgettable fortnights

65:27 Martina and McEnroe protest Margaret Court, Novak and Roger remain feckless

74:47 Makarova retires, Delpo has knee surgery (again), and HoF inductees

The first week of this Australian Open has been something. Serena and Naomi lost on the same night Caroline Wozniacki retired from the sport, Milos Raonic is blasting his way through the men's draw, Rublev extends his win streak, and Novak Djokovic's dominance here shows no signs of slowing. We also take a few moments to ponder a certain 8th-seeded Italian, who allowed Sandgren to flourish. But mostly, we're looking at the many -- often delightful -- surprises of the first week. It's been a ride.

The Body Serve is back with our 6th annual (!) Australian Open preview. We break down the soon-to-be-broken draws, key first round match-ups, the dozens of floaters in the women's bracket, and whether the Big 3 stranglehold shows any signs of ending (it doesn't). We also cover the Australian Open's reliably unique approach to internationally accepted science, with their roll-out of a new air quality policy. 

2:30 The Australian Open draw ceremony ... err, Power Point presentation?

8:40 Breaking down the women's draw, starting with the Serena-Venus-Naomi-Dayana-Coco-etc quarter

21:55 Women's bottom half - a tough out for #2 Pliskova in a fascinating fourth quarter

31:00 A few probably wrong predictions

32:00 Men's draw: Nadal and Medvedev's paths; Kyrgios, Zverev, Ruby, Dominic, and so much speculation

39:20 Men's bottom half: Djokovic and Federer stuck with each other

46:55 James takes you through the Australian Open's new bespoke air quality policy, "inspired" by science

54:10 Et ceteras: union talks rear their head again, Sir Andy injury, GoFundMe update

Thank you to everybody for listening to our Monica Seles episode! We’re back to officially launch Season SIX of The Body Serve. If you’ve donated to our GoFundMe, please listen to the segment at the top of the show to find out what we’ve done, what we’re planning to do, and the prizes that we’ll be distributing at the end of the campaign. We start the tennis proceedings with a recap of a dizzyingly strange and moody ATP Cup before segueing into Serena Williams’ reassuring week in Auckland. Other topics on the docket: a note on climate change as it relates to tennis, the failures (thus far) of the Australian Open in dealing with the poor air quality in Melbourne, the need for unions in tennis, and a few predictions/wishes for the 2020 season. 

01:45 An update on our GoFundMe 

09:35 ATP Sippy Cup: an exercise in largesse and insolence

20:18 You get all these men together and they act a fool and a mess

31:44 Pliskova repeats in Brisbane

35:51 Serena has herself a tournament in Auckland, wins title #73

41:24 What this win could mean for Serena in 2020

48:05 A note from us on climate change in tennis and our coverage

51:25 Australian Open puts players’ health at risk & the need for unions 

63:02 Jarry and Farrah catch a pair of cases 

68:25 Breakout/comeback candidates and our tennis wishlists for 2020

It's clear that from the moment Monica Seles arrived on the tennis stage as a precocious teenager, the tennis world didn't quite know what to do or say about her. She's been constructed as, at varying times: the grunting and giggling wunderkind, an enigmatic superstar, a tragic victim of violence, a worldwide symbol of resilience, and the tour's elder stateswoman. In this episode, we try to make sense of the creation of Monica Seles as a public figure, by combing through the journalism written about her and several books written by her. How did we arrive at the Monica we 'know' today? How do we make sense of her incomprehensible stabbing? Does tennis know how to reckon with this superstar and her place in history? What this isn't: it's not a comprehensive biography, not a litigation of who's The Greatest, nor is it a deep dive into the Seles-Graf rivalry and relationship. This is instead about trying to understand how sports media creates celebrity, how patterns are repeated through generations, and a reminder that your heroes are complicated.

:30 Why are we doing this episode?

6:45 The first stage of Monica discourse: prodigy and peculiarity (1988-90)

15:45 Grand Slam debut at 1989 Roland Garros 

20:45 Seles' run of firsts in 1989/1990 and the Bolletieri falling out

30:25 The second phase: dominance and drama (1991-93)

33:20 The '91 Wimbledon withdrawal and reappearance at Mahwah

46:30 Let's talk about the endless grunting conversation, which blew up at 1992 Wimbledon

57:00 The stabbing and the subsequent 27-month hiatus (1993-95)

75:20 Monica's return to the WTA Tour, entering another phase of Monica discourse: embraced and beloved (but often underestimated) champion (1995-present)

83:00 Assessing Monica's post-comeback career: full of contradictions and lots of greatness

Y'all, we made it to the end of Season FIVE! First, we MUST thank you for all your generous contributions to the GoFundMe we launched last week. Truly, we are bowled over and so grateful. As for this finale, we're back to recap the year on the men's tour, replete with your responses to our questions we threw at you on Twitter. The season closes with James taking a quiz on the men's season, and be sure to let him know if you fared any better! Thanks again for all your support this season and over the years; we are here only because of y'all! 

02:36 Our general thoughts and a rundown of the titlists

12:56 Bautista Agut the Forrest Gumpian bookend to the season?

16:45 Thinking out loud about Nadal and Djokovic's seasons

20:30 Andy Murray's wild ride this year

25:23 Davis Cup. That's it. That's the timestamp

37:45 Y'alls most memorable moments

40:39 Thirst trappers of 2019

44:09 "Federer one good swing from the greatest moment of his career?"

48:06 Your most surprising & funny moments

53:39 Vote for the pettiest moment of the year

57:17 Comeback player and Player of the Year

59:07 Farewell to these men and goodBYE to Tipsarevic

62:44 James takes a quiz