The Body Serve

By The Body Serve Tennis PodcastSociety & Culture Sports Tennis

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Typical duration
65 min
per episode

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The Body Serve episodes

July 08, 2018 Wimbledon Week 1: Opportunities Earned
Maybe you've heard that Wimbledon 2018 has been full of shocking upsets, but just how shocking are they? Most of the early-round vanquishers have backed up their results with trips to the second week. In the words of tennis' poet laureate, Venus Williams, their places in the draw are not accidental, but "an opportunity earned." We comb through the draw, look at Federer's decision to leave Nike for Uniqlo, and take a look at Marion Bartoli and Nick Kyrgios' tiff.

0:30 Week 1 summary: Everybody lost
5:10 Wozniacki's unkind words for Makarova are belied by Makarova's actual results
10:25 Many of the early-round giant-killers are still slaying!
16:00 Other women's draw stuff - Serena, Venus, Kerber, Simona, Hsieh
24:20 Our women's draw predictions
25:55 Men's draw: Mackenzie McDonald is giving US fans a different look
31:45 Gulbis is rebuilding his career the hard way, knocks out #4 Sascha Zverev in round 3
37:00 Other men's draw stuff and predictions
41:30 Federer with Uniqlo in massive 10-year contract
47:30 Marion Bartoli goes all the way in on Kyrgios & Monfils
58 min
June 30, 2018 Previewing the Nature Valley WimbleBowl
We're back to regularly scheduled programming with our Wimbledon preview. First, we go over the grass court news: the seeding question that dominated the news cycle, Kyrgios' water bottle explosion, Petra's excellence, and Boris Becker's heretofore unknown career in diplomacy. Then we break down the gentlemen's and ladies' draws.

3:15 Nick Kyrgios pleasures a water bottle, owes 15,000 Euro; or: why we should stop criminalizing Nick
10:20 Odds and ends - Andy is back, Fed and Rafa trade no. 1, Petra Kvitova wins title no. 5
17:00 The Serena Williams seeding drama: here's how the Wimbledon seeding policy works
25:45 Draw preview - does Federer have any obstacles?
29:15 Nadal's fortunate draw avoids many of his bugaboos
36:50 Women's draw - Simona Halep's very tough quarter w/ Petra, Penko, Pova
45:55 Sloane is #4! A year after being #957
48:45 For some reason we really care about the #25 seed's draw
54 min
June 23, 2018 Pride Is Political: A Partial History of LGBTQ People in Tennis
We are proud to bring you our Pride Special, a partial and selective history of the LGBTQ people across tennis history who changed our sport forever. Some of the stories you'll know, others were news to us, but all of them challenged our view of history and opened our eyes to so many forms of resistance. Listen for stories about Baron Gottfried von Cramm, Helen Jacobs, Billie and Martina, Renee Richards, and many more. Happy Pride!

03:45 The early modern era: Big Bill Tilden
8:00 Helen Jacobs, shorts pioneer and one-half of a fascinating gay relationship in the 1930s
14:20 When queer love is criminal: Baron Gottfried von Cramm
22:00 Ted Tinling, the designer of women's tennis
27:00 Renee Richards changes everything
40:00 The summer of 1981: Billie Jean King & Martina's outings pose an existential threat to women's tennis
45:55 "In Defense of Billie Jean," by ally Chrissie Evert Lloyd
51:00 Martina: a perfect storm of Cold War hysteria, citizenship fears, and the "butch" female body
54:55 Amelie Mauresmo, who was never "in"
1:03:45 Gender trouble: the confounding clash of sex, sexuality, gender, and gender expression
1:11:30 Things we learned and closing thoughts

Reading List:
Big Bill Tilden - Frank Deford
Second Serve - Renee Richards
The Rivals - Johnette Howard
"Amelie Mauresmo's Muscles: The Lesbian Heroic in Women's Professional Tennis" - Pamela J. Forman and Darcy C. Plymire
"Renee Richards Wants to be Left Alone," Michael Weinreb (Grantland)
"Renee Richards' 'Second Serve' is a Book About Two Remarkable People," Jeremiah Tax (Sports Illustrated)
"Life, Death, Tennis and the Nazis: Gottfried von Cramm, The Man That Wimbledon Forgot," Will Mage (Vice Sports UK)
1 hr 20 min
June 11, 2018 La Primera y La Undécima: 1s Across the Board at French Open
Simona Halep and Rafael Nadal are your French Open champions. For Simona, it was her first time as last woman standing at a Slam, while Nadal hoisted the Coupe des Mousquetaires for an 11th time. After recapping both finals and notable matches since the quarterfinals, we tackle some of the outside-the-lines etceteras that popped up since our last episode. On tap: Nadal's alleged equal pay remarks, the ubiquity of flossing, the laughable punishment meted out in the James Blake case, and using Margaret Court to raise the stakes for our current greats.

01:41 Simona turns the Titanic back around
11:05 Putting the many facets of Simona into context
15:55 Muguruza defollicles Maria & Madison has no answers for Sloane
20:02 Complicating Sloane's relationship with the media
24:46 Sloane gives a pitch perfect performance as runner-up
27:00 Nadal's third "La Undécima" & the anxiety of greatness
34:54 How did Dominic acquit himself in his first Slam final?
39:48 The massive elephant in the room: Nadal & equal pay in tennis
53:28 Assessing Novak's performance and loss to Cecchinato
58:11 Speaking of Cecchinato...thinking out loud about sports reporting
63:50 Doubles, juniors & flossing?!?! How do the kids all know how to do it?
70:53 ENOUGH of using Margaret Court to move the goalpost.
1 hr 17 min
June 05, 2018 Much Ado About Mother: The Catsuit's Out of the Bag
The quarterfinals of the 2018 French Open are set, and we are back with episode 125 to recap how we got here. Serena Williams dominated week one discussion with her catsuit, and her play, before having to withdraw ahead of a fourth round meeting with Maria Sharapova. Some folks had stuff to say about her attire, and we've got something to say about that. We cover the usual mid-slam topics: upsets, genuine surprises, feel-good stories, amusements, and various atrocities.

02:02 Mother is back, causing ALL the conversation
05:30 The catsuit's out of the bag
15:34 Serena has to withdraw ahead of the Sharapova match
21:15 Girl, BYE: Bill Simons and Karolina Pliskova edition
29:08 WTA upsets, surprises, and upcoming quarterfinals
39:56 So, let's talk about Sloane
46:55 Marco Trungelliti's road race with destiny
48:12 Cecchinato's surprise and Jack Sock's abominable display
51:08 ATP upsets, disappointments, and other etceteras
53:54 The folly of John Isner
55:34 Grigor and Goffin disappoint, Nole holds court, and QF previews
64:55 Serena's moment of levity/immense pettiness
1 hr 9 min
June 04, 2018 Much Ado About Mother: The Catsuit’s Out of the Bag
The quarterfinals of the 2018 French Open are set, and we are back with episode 125 to recap how we got here. Serena Williams dominated week one discussion with her catsuit, and her play, before having to withdraw ahead of a fourth round meeting with Maria Sharapova. Some folks had stuff to say about her attire, and we've got something to say about that. We cover the usual mid-slam topics: upsets, genuine surprises, feel-good stories, amusements, and various atrocities.

02:02 Mother is back, causing ALL the conversation

05:30 The catsuit's out of the bag

15:34 Serena has to withdraw ahead of the Sharapova match

21:15 Girl, BYE: Bill Simons and Karolina Pliskova edition

29:08 WTA upsets, surprises, and upcoming quarterfinals

39:56 So, let's talk about Sloane

46:55 Marco Trungelliti's road race with destiny

48:12 Cecchinato's surprise and Jack Sock's abominable display

51:08 ATP upsets, disappointments, and other etceteras

53:54 The folly of John Isner

55:34 Grigor and Goffin disappoint, Nole holds court, and QF previews

64:55 Serena's moment of levity/immense pettiness
1 hr 9 min
May 25, 2018 Songs In C-lay Major: Roland Garros Preview
The denouement of the clay season is upon us with the dawning of the French Open. We're back to preview the year's second major with the help of some of our listeners. We solicited questions specific to Roland Garros, and you all came through big time; we structure our draw analysis through your thoughtful offerings. After parsing through the draws, we finish with a few thoughts on the protected seeding drama that erupted again this week.

02:26 Women's draw dark horses
09:34 Muguruza or Ostapenko: who will fare better?
13:57 Players who'll benefit/suffer most from lack of on-court coaching
16:40 Is this the beginning of the end for Aga?
20:00 Other women's draw observations
30:18 Men's dark horses
34:45 Who will be Nadal's fiercest competition?
37:10 The Big 4 as super coaches
42:18 FMK Frenchies edition: Pouille, Chardy, and PHH
44:26 Other men's draw observations
52:06 Wading into the protected seeding WTA issue again

Recommended reading: A Maternity Leave Policy for the WTA by @BadToss
1 hr 10 min
May 25, 2018 Songs In C-lay Major
The denouement of the clay season is upon us with the dawning of the French Open. We're back to preview the year's second major with the help of some of our listeners. We solicited questions specific to Roland Garros, and you all came through big time; we structure our draw analysis through your thoughtful offerings. After parsing through the draws, we finish with a few thoughts on the protected seeding drama that erupted again this week.

02:26 Women's draw dark horses

09:34 Muguruza or Ostapenko: who will fare better?

13:57 Players who'll benefit/suffer most from lack of on-court coaching

16:40 Is this the beginning of the end for Aga?

20:00 Other women's draw observations

30:18 Men's dark horses

34:45 Who will be Nadal's fiercest competition?

37:10 The Big 4 as super coaches

42:18 FMK Frenchies edition: Pouille, Chardy, and PHH

44:26 Other men's draw observations

52:06 Wading into the protected seeding WTA issue again

Recommended reading: A Maternity Leave Policy for the WTA by @BadToss
1 hr 10 min
May 21, 2018 Royal Weekend in Rome
Rafa Nadal rights the ship on clay with a gritty win over Sascha Zverev, and Svitolina defends her Rome title with far less drama. We also cover Francoise Abanda's charges of racial discrimination, Sascha Zverev's stunning hot streak, Djokovic's resurgence, and we spend a good while on our See What Had Happened Was: Karolina Pliskova's shocking tantrum in Rome.

1:40 Il Re della terra battuta: Rafa wins 8th Rome title
4:45 Sascha Zverev's game is steadily improving (except the volley) - expect him to change his fortunes at majors
10:00 Djokodal 51 - great signs for a resurgent Novak
15:20 Elina Svitolina defends Rome title, winning 8 straight finals
19:30 The Sharapova-Halep semifinal was - well, it was something
26:50 Canadian no. 1 Francoise Abanda addresses racism in tennis
34:00 #SeeWhatHadHappenedWas: Karolina Pliskova melts down, smashes umpire's chair
40:55 What would be the reaction had someone else done this? (Take your pick)
45:00 The umpire was wrong, Karolina was wrong, but only one of them acted with aggression and malice
53 min
May 16, 2018 One Clay At A Time
The show is back from a two-week hiatus to discuss more clay court tennis! Rafa Nadal got to a record 50 consecutive sets won before bowing out to Dominic Thiem, who in turn bowed out to Zverev two matches later in the Madrid final. Petra Kvitova continued her awe-inspiring run with a third title in Madrid, this after taking the title in Prague the week before. We rag on Shapovalov and Patrick Mouratoglou, take a deep dive into Cornet's ITF ruling, then finish up with a few tennis etceteras.

01:28 #Thirev is a thing? The Bel-Ami Madrid final
07:11 A few clay tangents and musings
10:40 Phallic with a real sense of danger
14:49 The most positive Sharapova segment we've ever done
17:21 Petra won't stop winning, and other WTA standouts
25:00 Taking the piss out of Shapovalov and his "haters"
32:00 Serena is playing Roland Garros? Lord God Patrick says so
35:39 The Cornet case: did they make every reasonable effort?
49:40 Results we missed, injury updates, and Vinci's farewell
1 hr 2 min