The Body Serve

It’s late in the season but great stories are still being written: the world #204 Valentin Vacherot slips into the Shanghai qualifying draw and then wins it all, Coco Gauff rights the ship in Asia for the second year in a row, and two Canadians win titles in the same week. We also talk about Holger Rune’s Achilles injury, Finals qualification storylines, and the ongoing debates on scheduling and exhibitions in Timbuktu. Plus, a foray into pop culture featuring David Archuleta and the late great Diane Keaton.

01:30 The cousin final

07:35 Coco doing what she does best in Wuhan

12:10 The Felix anti-jinx

15:25 Other winners: Fernandez, Ruud, Rybakina, Medvedev (882 days, they’ve said many times)

20:30 Rune’s catastrophic Achilles rupture 

24:00 Who can still qualify for the ATP/WTA Finals?

28:40 The still-raging scheduling and exo debates + answering a listener question on Laver Cup

37:15 Pop culture break: Archuleta grows up, RIP Diane Keaton

Late in the season, the tennis tour is winding itself through the great cities of China. Anisimova wins Beijing, the women put together a banner lineup in Wuhan, while the men in Shanghai limp (literally) toward the season's end. We've still got so many great listener questions to answer, which cover topical stuff like the length of the tennis season and the Hall of Fame nominees; and less relevant but no less fun subjects like our work nemeses and the retirement of sprint queen and TBS all-time fave, Kingston native Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. 

02:45 Marquee matchups in Wuhan

10:10 Court speed wars; or, you sound like a loser

16:05 Taylor Daynes of tennis 

24:05 Work enemies

35:25 Tennis Hall of Fame nominees

43:10 Any update on Peng Shuai?

47:20 The schedule … six 500s?! Ten 1000s?!

52:50 The GOAT Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce retires

The men’s season ticks on, same as it ever was, as Alcaraz and Sinner snag twin 500s in different countries. We talk a little (very little) about recent results and people being consistently weird in and about Asia. Then, we move into our listener mailbag segment, where we cover everything from how to address the late-season malaise to dealing with workplace narcissists. We finish with an extended review of Mariah’s new album Here For It All, her first studio album since 2018. By the way, the episode title does not refer to our feelings on the album! 

2:50 Carlos and Jannik add titles, Learner is your newcomer of the year

9:00 No one’s talking to you

13:00 Why can’t players just be normal in Asia?

18:05 Does the tennis season end with a whimper? How to change it up?

32:00 Balancing cultural issues with tennis on the show

37:20 How much stock do put into year-end no. 1 rankings vs. the rolling ranking system?

40:55 Off-topic: do you have advice for how to deal with workplace narcissists and bullies?

50:10 Mariah album review! 

The post-US Open stretch is always a little strange. Case in point, Lleyton Hewitt was suspended for two weeks because he pushed an anti-doping official last year(?!). Taylor Townsend squandered a lot of good will after she mocked Chinese cuisine (though she swiftly apologized). The Italian dynasty captures their 6th BJK Cup title via Paolini, Cocciaretto, and Errani heroics. Plus, we issue a … clarification(?) of our comments on the USTA last episode, discuss the Canada-Israel tie, and tackle the allegedly imminent Kyrgios-Sabalenka “battle of the sexes.” 

1:50 A retraction/clarification on our USTA crashout 

6:20 We read the Lleyton Hewitt v. ITIA reports so you don’t have to

17:15 Results: Iga wins #25; WTA hatching and snatching continues

24:45 Team Italia continues to dominate BJK Cup 

29:05 Taylor Townsend’s self-own

37:45 USA crashes out of Davis Cup / Canada’s decision on Israel DC tie 

48:35 Kyrgios vs. Sabalenka will ultimately be a zero-sum game

Theme music courtesy of Oleg Fedak from Pixabay

Thanks for your patience as we finished up our US Open wrap! One of our birthdays coincided with Rolex inviting a certain president to the tournament, and we conscientiously objected. Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz are your winners (for the first time together). The tournament was a barnburner on the women’s side, a fantastic cap to a year which saw four different Slam winners and a few players rewriting their own stories. On the men’s side, Alcaraz faced only 10 break points (a record) and pushed a dominant Sinner into rethinking his own game. As is our wont, we talk extensively about other things … including using Mary Carillo’s commentary as an example of the necessary risk of expanding sports commentary into something more worldly and immediate. 

01:46 Aryna Sabalenka wins with smarts and steadiness

08:56 Animisova-Osaka, now that was a moment

18:27 The Townsend-Krejcikova match was a stunner

21:31 Mary Carillo and the risk of telling the truth

35:47 Carlos figures out Jannik (7 of the last 8 times)

42:19 Thanks, Rolex! The USTA makes a problem worse 

50:34 Breaking down the prize money increase

55:45 Allez Félix!  

64:50 Novak and everyone else

71:11 Duchess of Kent, Wimbledon icon, dies at 92

We've just returned from the US Open, excited to share some stories from the site. We cover our night session with Venus, the debut of Carlos' buzz cut, Felix vs some fake fans, and the luck of seeing Barbie K's opening match at two consecutive Slams. This has been something of a whiny US Open, though -- kicked off by Medvedev’s calculated tantrum, then followed by Ostapenko’s shameful display against Townsend (which Jonathan witnessed in person!). Later, we chat about the experience of a stretched out schedule, Serena inducting Maria into the Hall of Fame, the draws as they stand now. 

1:30 Daniil Medvedev’s desperation

11:10 Stefanos, another pissy baby

15:50 Your primary source for Townsend-Ostapenko 

32:00 Victor Barber we are so sorry (this time)

36:20 Night session with Venus Williams!

43:10 An overwhelming sense of ickiness 

53:05 Félix and the fake fans

62:50 How the Sunday start impacted the on-site experience

70:20 Inductrination 

77:35 The draws at the cusp of week two 

We're kind of winging it for this US Open preview. It's a bit too late for a Cincy recap, so we're talking about major themes -- like Coco’s coaching overhaul, Iga’s mid-season surge, the guys not named Carlos or Jannik -- and sprinkling in some results. We talk about what worked and what didn't in the mixed doubles exhib-- I mean the prestigious and successful mixed doubles tournament featuring the world's best players. Plus we settle some scores and probably create a few new beefs, but what the hell, this is the last major of 2025 and literally our 43rd Slam preview.

1:00 The major storylines in the women’s draw: I warned you Iga was coming! + Coco drops the GripMD

15:00 Men’s storylines: Djokovic LoseWatch, the also-rans 

21:05 The mixed doubles experiment

31:30 Mardy Fish comes for Rajeev Ram out of nowhere

35:50 Not Parks and Vavassori liking fake news homophobic posts on IG

38:45 Women's draw preview

51:25 Men's draw preview 

67:10 US Open artwork: Honoring Althea Gibson in death but not in life

The Canadian Open (finally) ends, and with a shocker: Burlington, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko snatches her first WTA title after starting the year outside the top 300, and Ben Shelton wins his first Masters event. Honestly, the longer format, the withdrawals of the top men, and the Cincinnati overlap all really hurt this tournament (the second-longest running in tennis history, btw!). We didn’t want to contribute to this Naomi speech discourse, but I guess we do in a small way. Plus: Stefano Vukov’s suspension has been overturned, That Guy is delulu (but in a very intentional PR type of way), and we take a question or two from the mailbag.

0:40 Burlington’s Very Own

13:50 The Naomi Discourse - not doing it again! (well, a little) 

25:00 Performance, Bye

29:20 The longer format is sucking the life out of the Canadian Open

39:45 Shelton wins his first Masters 1000, electronic line calling loses (again) 

48:00 Stefano Vukov’s ban by the WTA has been overturned in arbitration 

59:50 A few questions from the mailbag

Starting off hot with two updates in doping cases: first, Jannik Sinner has rehired one of the men responsible for the clostebol contamination. In Tara Moore’s case, CAS ruled that the actual beef was legitimate, but the figurative beef with the ITIA, sadly, was not. The DC tournament had outsized buzz this year, thanks to Venus Williams’ wild card and surprising performance, owner Mark Ein’s boosterism for DC-area tennis, Fernandez’s impressive run, and de Minaur’s late-stage heroics. Later, we touch on the Canadian Open, coaching drama, some big local retirements, and answer a few fun listener questions. 

01:30 Sinner rehires fitness coach Ferrara after a year in timeout 

10:35 Tara Moore’s case concludes with a 4-year ban

14:20 She’s still The Venus Williams

30:25 de Minaur wins a heartbreaker against ADF

33:55 Leylah Fernandez wins biggest career title (+ scheduling complaint in Montreal)

39:50 Canadians in the Canadian Open: retirements, withdrawals, but at least Mboko remains standing!

46:30 Coaching changes: two “supercoaches” constantly putting themselves in the talk

51:30 Listener questions: Toronto recs

57:50 Tournament essentials

62:25 An FMK like no other 

Presenting part two of our interview with Courtney Nguyen, tennis podcaster, blogger, and former Senior Writer, WTA Insider! This time around, we chat about tennis commentary, the various ways the ATP encroaches upon the WTA, and Courtney's evolving approach to podcasting while also working for the tour. We had to ask about Courtney's favorite players to cover while at the WTA (and the most challenging), her favorite commentators, and the inevitable(?) day when opinion-havers like the three of us simply run out of opinions.