The Body Serve

Arthur Fils caps his successful comeback to the tour with the Barcelona crown, while official tennis outlets act h-word on main while they trade on his good looks. Ben Shelton wins his first clay title outside of Texas and marks a surprising milestone for US men. Clay queens Coco and Iga are down bad while Elena, Karolina, and Marta soar; and Carlos’ status is questionable for who knows how long. Finally, we talk about the news that interests me most: Marketa Vondrousova has been charged with refusing to give a sample to a doping control officer. Her social media posts about the incident provide interesting context but – as we’ve seen before – could come back to bite. 

2:15 Arthur Fils is the truth!

8:55 Rybakina wins Stuttgart again, Muchova exorcises some demons

14:00 Join Elena’s crypto community … 

18:35 Ben Shelton, American king of clay?

26:35 Vondrousova’s case

37:40 James talks about books and takes another quiz!

In Monte Carlo, Sinner’s 4th consecutive Master’s title and reclaiming of the #1 ranking adds another wrinkle to the Sincaraz rivalry. We talk about our desire for a little less golden retriever energy from Carlos – or, at least one of us does – but ultimately an unfriendly rivalry is no longer advantageous for today’s player brands. Last week, Pegula defended her Charleston title, 3 Argentines made 3 different finals, and Iga appeared at the Rafa Nadal Academy with her new coach Francisco Roig. We also talk about golf, double bagels, Coco having to defend herself online (again), and an intriguing FMK about three celebrated tennis careers.

1:05 Bestie rivals, a hallmark of this era

13:35 A double bagel to Berrettini, come on man 

16:35 I thank myself 

20:40 Coco defends her Miu Miu look and her hair from online waste yutes and losers

24:05 Pegula wins the first equalized 500 prize money in Charleston

29:10 Men’s results last week: Tommy Paul, first career titles for Jodar and Navone

33:00 Coaching carousel 

36:20 Rory McIlroy defends his Masters title; Caroline still has shooters

39:45 FMK Tennis careers: Sharapova, Hingis, Davenport

Jannik Sinner wins the Sunshine Double without losing a set – a first! – and upends the mini-narrative that said Carlos was running away with the season. Aryna Sabalenka, for her part, snatches back momentum in the Rybakina rivalry and bests bugaboo Coco Gauff in the Miami final. The actual star of Miami turned out to be thirst magnet Arthur Fils, who reached the semis, stunned four-match-point-haver Tommy Paul, and broke containment. We’ve also got: close reading a tweet about the IOC’s new gender policy; the Charleston draw and prize money increase; and the WTA Finals’ departure from Saudi Arabia.

2:30 Sinner’s win reminds the tennis world to chill with the proclamations

9:55 Sabalenka keeps her head on straight for the final

18:35 Coco’s hat: saying nothing was always an option!  

26:35 Arthur Fils breaks out in a big way; a thick way, even

33:30 Charleston increases prize money to match the ATP 500 level

37:50 IOC’s announcement on trans athletes and what it has to do with Wertheim and Navratilova

46:00 What is holding you back from buying a yacht? 

47:45 Listener question: which tennis player would you go on vacation with?

Sebastian Korda is making like Gloria Estefan and coming out of the dark: in a career interrupted by injuries, Seb follows up his Delray Beach title by sending #1 Carlos Alcaraz out of Miami. Iga Swiatek’s frustration continues as her countrywoman Magda Linette packs her up; shortly after, Iga does the same to coach Wim Fissette. On the docket we’ve also got the Matosevic doping story, Danielle and Corentin (we’re way too old for this), a painful and hopefully temporary Body Serve ban, and an ASMR taste test of Vegemite - sure, a few months late in tennis terms, but whatever, we didn’t have Vegemite then. 

2:00 Carlos out of Sunshine swing

5:40 Iga loses her incredible streak of 73 straight opening-round wins

9:40 Let them eat bagels: Arthur Fils is back! 

14:30 Sorry, Leylah

18:45 Danielle et Corentin, you’re both doing A LOT right now

23:05 Marinko Matosevic’s brazen doping scandal

31:40 ATP schedule changes, in concert with the Saudi sports fund

35:15 Betting is a scourge and the players suffer

42:15 Our first (and last) ASMR segment

Indian Wells saw two new champs settling old scores – Sabalenka winning her first and upending a  worrying finals trend vs. Rybakina, and Sinner flying under the radar to grab the title over the more headline-grabbing Medvedev. Daniil has managed to refashion his game without losing the old antics, including asking for (and getting) a confounding hindrance call – and no, I don’t feel bad for Jack. We talk about Mirra’s crashout, IW misplacing the Venus-Leylah wild card, my certified hater status, and Iga’s trajectory. Plus, James takes another quiz and we give our Letterboxd 4, just like the players did this week.

03:45 Aryna hit the I Will Always Love You drum kick and the rest was gravy

15:20 Jannik overcomes Medvedev in two tiebreaks

21:00 Medvedev had an interesting week, to say the least

26:35 Let’s not make “F*** you all” your new tagline

33:30 They lost Venus and Leylah’s wild card

38:55 Letterboxd 4

46:25 The Oscars

56:20 Not another quiz!

Sports and politics … it turns out they DO mix! A few dozen ATP players and staff are stuck in Dubai as a result of Trump’s attack on Iran, as the Mexican tournaments go forward without a hitch after last week’s unrest. On court, Medvedev wins a second Dubai title, Longhorn Stearns grabs Austin by the horns, Bucsa becomes the Spanish #1, and Darderi and Cobolli win Latin tournaments on two continents. For fun, James takes a tennis geography quiz and we do an extended diatribe (requiem?) on The Traitors.   

1:40 ATP players and personnel stuck in Dubai

6:45 This is not a drill!! 

9:00 The Ellison data-media-government-tennis empire  

15:35 Craig Tiley is coming to America 

19:50 Results: Dubai, Acapulco, Merida, Austin  

31:10 They didn’t tell Stefanos you’re not supposed to talk about appearance fees

34:35 James takes a tennis geography quiz!

44:55 A Traitors diatribe

A gatekeeper, a consistent threat, not-a-pusher, and the social and political glue behind the scenes: Jessica Pegula has gone from tennis’s rich girl to a key piece of the bloc of players who reliably fight for the biggest titles on the WTA Tour. This week, she’s just won her 4th 1000-level title and has been announced as the chair of the new tour working group: the Tour Architecture Council. Elsewhere, Carlos continues his dominant start, Fils notches a runner-up spot in his third tournament back, Korda impresses in Florida, and Etcheverry plays for six hours in one day to grab his first career title. Plus, Tara Moore is not taking her suspension lying down, as she sues the WTA for failing to warn players about contaminated meat.

0:35 A trip down figure skating memory lane

7:15 Carlos dominates Doha 

10:45 Korda’s comeback, Etcheverry’s endurance run through Rio 

17:15 Consistency Queen Jessica Pegula wins Dubai 

22:40 Qinwen’s Emmy-winning guest appearance on The Player's Box

28:00 Peggy to lead the Tour Architecture Council 

32:25 Tara Moore sues the WTA 

40:30 Monica and Brandy

Welcome back to regularly scheduled podcasting! The tours have gone to South America, Transylvania, the Netherlands, Texas, and the UAE -- regional tours ftw, btw -- over the past two weeks. Karolina Muchova finally gets a big title, Mboko notches an incredible run to the Doha final, Zheng announces herself, Felix becomes king of Canada, and most importantly we’re back from Mexico, caught up on sleep and armed with fresh takes. We decide to finally dip our toes in the apparently imminent Serena comeback, whatever it shall be, and how it interacts with her endorsement of GLP-1 drugs (and her family’s vested interest). We’ve also got random takes on Bad Bunny, Brad, Puerto Vallarta, and Destanee Aiava’s eye-opening retirement announcement.

0:30 Catching up with us

12:00 Shelton Does Dallas; Canada’s Indoor King; the ATP’s hottest final 

17:05 Muchova finally gets that elusive second title. A big one!

25:30 Zheng, Sakkari, Iga’s d****e b****e  

36:00 Red card!

39:50 I guess we should tackle the “comeback” 

50:15 Odds and ends: Jack’s gateway haircut, Naomi picks on a podcast (not us, confirmed)

55:20 Destanee Aiava drops a hell of a retirement announcement

The first Slam of the year is in the books, and we’ve got the youngest Career Slam winner in the history of maleness, Novak’s 38th major final, and Rybakina continuing her hot streak and bagging her second Slam. We talk you through the scintillating men’s semifinals that injected the tournament with a much-needed spark. You’ll also hear about the smoking gun pickle juice bottle, That Guy’s tantrum, Coco’s semi-covert racquet smash, and Djokovic religious iconography. We finish up with a few serious matters: Craig Tiley’s future, the investigation into coach Rafael Font de Mora, and the PTPA’s latest proposal for … something.

2:30 Youngest male player: Carlos makes history

6:15 I’m not chasing anyone, let’s start there 

13:15 Excuses, excuses 

21:30 The 5-set king 

26:10 Rybakina: don’t underestimate WTA Finals swagger!

37:30 Women’s semis, Cocosmash; Mertens is Australian Open queen 

47:50 WTA launches investigation into WTA coach

51:15 What is the PTPA actually going for?

58:00 Remembering Canadian icon and the world’s mom, Catherine O’Hara

It's not officially a Slam until Jelena Djokovic accuses Naomi Osaka of being so nasty and so rude while Jelena’s husband narrowly avoids a default for something completely of his own making (again). Anyway, how was your first week??? The Australian Open has given us some exciting breakouts (Jovic, Bartunkova, Tien again) and a marquee quarterfinal lineup, with the top 6 men and women through for the first time in the Open Era. Osaka reminded us who she is – and what tennis is missing – with her audacious walk-out jellyfish look. But to be serious for a minute, American players are being asked to speak during this unprecedented and dangerous period in our history, and most are failing miserably. It's time to be brave.

3:45 A historically great quarterfinal lineup

5:45 Highlights of the first week of the men’s draw

11:30 The extreme heat rule: Jannik gets lucky, but it’s not unfair 

18:35 Women’s first week: Mboko and Jovic break out; Sabalenka sails; Iga wants a day session, dammit

32:05 The Osaka-Cirstea dustup + a Dramatic Reading

45:25 American players, it’s time to be brave

57:25 It’s fashion! God forbid a girl wants to be a jellyfish! 

66:15 Lulu, K-Swiss, New Balance, and a shoulder blade