He Knows His Angles: Australian Open Preview

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

We had a little time and a lot to cover, so why not jump in for a mid-first round Australian Open episode? First, we cover the upsets, injuries, and highlights of the first few days. It wasn’t a great day two for Canada. Jonathan brings you the in-depth coverage about Venus Williams you’ve come to expect. We also pick up stories on Frances’ gallon-a-day habit and nonfiction reading schedule, Naomi’s break with Evolve, Novak’s split with the PTPA, and the PR moment That Guy couldn’t have scripted better himself. 2:10 Upsets and injuries: Knowing too much about Flavio 8:20 Other highlights from the first few days 15:50 Venus Williams is always learning 27:40 But why nonfiction? 33:15 My people are not sending their strongest soldiers 43:25 Australian Open our favorite TV viewing Slam? 49:40 Tennis Australian settles with the PTPA

Who, if anyone, will challenge Aryna? Will the Alcaraz-Sinner machine make it nine in a row? What's Craig Tiley up to this year? We're dusting off the cobwebs to bring you our Australian Open preview, complete with draw analysis (if you want to call it that), major storylines, and a quick review of the “Opening Week” and the successful 1 Point Slam. Tune in to find out the new hottest man in the ATP and who Jonathan thinks might have a career resurgence this year (there's two).  2:30 Catching up with this week’s results 8:45 The 1 Point Slam: success! 16:50 This year’s (and last year’s) major questions 27:25 Women’s draw: “… or Mboko!” 38:15 Men’s draw: will Novak slice through his section? 54:15 Qualifying intrigue: Nishesh and the choking gesture

We’re back from break with season 12 of The Body Serve! The off-season didn’t let up for a second, with its fair share of surprising breakups: Carlos and Juan Carlos, Naomi and Evolve, and Novak splitting from the players’ organization he co-founded. We also cover Potapova’s copypasta, Venus’ wedding, the ESPN commentary reshuffle, Iga’s viewing habits, and more off-season stuff. We look ahead to the coming season with our usual breakout picks – no ADF this time – plus we recap the opening week Down Under, as Bencic leads her team to the final while Poland snatches their first United Cup. 3:25 Alcaraz and Ferrero split 10:35 Naomi Evolves away from the agency she co-founded 15:10 Djokovic quits the PTPA 22:10 Other off-season stuff: Iga didn’t watch, ATP rolls out safeguarding program, Next Gen Finals, Venus at the altar!  35:30 Looking ahead: our breakout picks for 2026 45:30 Changes to the ESPN commentary lineup 51:50 United Cup highlights: Hubie, Belinda, Zizou 60:00 Titles for Sabalenka, Svitolina, Medvedev, Bublik 65:35 The podcast landscape

For our last episode of 2025, we each wrote our own separate agendas with the plan to just chat and see what happens. There’s some tennis, mostly not -- but we do cover that crass spectacle Evolve has been stumping over on right-wing media. We’ve got quick-fire complaints (It is that deep! Bring back gatekeeping in restaurant criticism!), favorite TV series of 2025, server rants, movie etiquette, and Mariah. Timestamps seemed against the more chaotic spirit of this episode, so just jump in and enjoy. Thanks for a great season - see you in 2026!