Entry #8Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
JR: So, Jonathan, one would think that with the US Open over, the tennis news cycle would slow down a bit. But with Miss Olympia’s newly verified Instagram account, Maria’s book, and Laver Cup, it’s hard to keep up. JN: Alexis Olympia Ebony Starr Ohanian-Williams is her name as far as I’m concerned. I knew we were going to be writing about Sharapova today (again), but you caught me a bit off guard when you said you wanted to chat about the Laver Cup. We haven’t talked about that one bit privately, so I’m curious to hear your thoughts on it. Shall we start this Diary there? JR: Sure. I can’t decide if Laver Cup is a cynical cash grab, an exhibition in posh clothing, or a fun experiment with format. It might be all three. I’m always skeptical of additions to the calendar -- especially ones with huge appearance fees -- when scheduling is such a contentious issue in tennis, and when the US Open men’s draw was plagued by big-name withdrawals. JN: I take and understand all those points, but I actually think it’s one of the better additions we’ve seen to the tennis calendar. I imagine the intent of it is in line with the Ryder Cup -- and more specifically the Presidents Cup -- events in golf, two tournaments that add a lot of texture and fun to the golf calendar without relying on gimmicks to bring fans in (*cough cough - Next Gen Finals*). We get to see Nadal and Federer play on the same team, which is a win-win for the sport. JR: I hear you … the Ryder Cup is hugely successful in golf (and it's been played in my hometown of Rochester, NY!). Laver Cup is in a good spot in the calendar, when many top players would be resting and while other players are competing in 250s. I hear Fedal will be playing doubles together, as well, which obviously has appeal. The lack of stakes, though, is a hindrance to me: it’s a bunch of very rich men playing low-risk low-reward tennis, for what exactly? I will concede that the entertainment value could be huge. The barrier right now is the hilariously lopsided match-up of “Team Europe” versus “Team World,” the latter of which pulls from only the U.S., Canada, and Australia; and whose players have shockingly poor head-to-heads against Team Europe. JN: Well, del Potro was supposed to play (which would have made it four) but he hasn’t yet recovered from his U.S. Open semifinal run. For a tournament like this to take off, it needs to have the legends of the game fully invested and the big names playing; the Laver Cup meets this criteria and then some: Team Europe will be headed by Bjorn Borg and Team World captained by John McEnroe. Then, we have the man himself Rod Laver doing all the promo he can manage to sell the event, and we have Fedal making time for it as well. In Borg-McEnroe and Federer-Nadal, these are two all-time great rivalries that will bring visibility and prestige to the event. Only time will tell if it will last. JR: I like that they have foregrounded tennis history with the choice of captains and centering Rod Laver. It’s also being held in Czech Republic, one of the most storied nations in tennis and one that doesn't have a big tournament of its own. Shall we move on to Maria? JN: Yes. But, one last point about Laver Cup. With the Ryder and Presidents Cups, the strength of the competing teams goes in cycles based on how well folks are playing in the two years leading up to the event. The big difference is that, while there is a qualification points system in golf, it feels a bit arbitrary with the Laver Cup. How were these players selected? Were they chosen because others weren’t willing to make themselves available? This is something to look for in future years; will it become a firm & desirable event in the calendar? Every time we say we’re done talking about Maria, something else happens to make liars out of us, lol. Maria has been making the press rounds to promote her new book, and one of the more surprising spots she did was on Sway’s Universe, sitting down with black presenters and a presumably black audience, fielding questions about race and Serena. Where do you want to start?
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Episodes 94, 95 & 96 of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast
In a post-U.S. Open haze? Follow our journey from the draws to the finale. In our preview episode, learn what we got right (Murray's withdrawal didn't doom the tournament) and what we didn't quite anticipate (Muguruza's loss in the 4th round, Sloane Stephens' gripping performance). In our mid-tournament episode, we speak with repeat guest Rene Denfeld, German-based Tennis Twitter phenomenon and journalist. In our wrap-up episode, we praise Rafa and Sloane, drag Maria, and tie up some loose ends.
Subscribe and review The Body Serve on iTunes, and follow James and Jonathan on Twitter. PART ONE: US Open Preview: Where My Boys At? The last major of the year is here, and lots of top players are not *sob*. We're completely foregoing draw analysis this time around, instead asking broader questions and talking about players who we hope make a splash. Is it fair to call the women's tournament "wide open?" Did Andy owe it to anyone to pull out earlier? Will James ever learn not to pick Tsonga? :30 Back in Toronto! We saw Mariah & Lionel! 8:20 Where are the mens? Andy adds himself to the disabled list 14:00 What's with the pressitude about Andy's timing? 18:00 Halep & Shapovalov ... err, Sharapova will meet in the first round 22:00 Troubling the "wide open" draws discussion 24:30 Looking at the big performers at non-Slam events (Svitolina & Zverev) and how they will perform at the Open 31:00 You can lead James to water but you can't make him drink (there must be a thirst joke in here somewhere) 32:45 The players with momentum: Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Muguruza 38:45 Who do we hope to see break through? 49:50 Things we dislike: the USTA loves to talk about itself; and how will the flag-waving be received this year? 52:45 Things we like: that Nike shoot with les Canadiens! PART TWO: US Op-Ocalypse: A Mid-Major Chat Featuring Rene Denfeld Despite the missing stars, the 2017 US Open has offered no scarcity of big stories: Sharapova's return, Peak Petra defeating Muguruza, Venus' continued good form at majors, and the excitement around Denis Shapovalov. We're so excited to welcome back the insightful Rene Denfeld to the show. The Tennis Twitter-lebrity is covering the US Open for the first time as a journalist, and he shares his thoughts on Sharapova, Fognini, the draws, and what it's like to be there. :35 What a day: James just got Twitter famous, Venus won, and Maria lost 8:00 The great women's round of 16s 11:00 Unpacking Sharapova - the scheduling, the "shade," the reception; or as James calls it, "a feeling of grossness" 21:45 Roger and Rafa's rocky starts to the tournament 26:15 The wild men's bottom half - Querrey, Anderson, PCB or Schwartzman in a major final 29:00 The Shapovalov hype! 33:00 #SeeWhatHadHappenedWas Fabio does Fabio. There's a reason that fogna means sewer 38:00 The problem with "I'm only here for the handshake" 42:10 The wonderful Rene Denfeld is back on the pod, straight from Queens 50:40 Talking with Rene about the weird men's draw, Shapo, Rafa's slow starts 1:00:30 What's it like to be on camera as a reporter? (Rene gets gif-ed) 1:03:50 Did you know? Rene was responsible for Naomi Osaka's excellent 'mesothelioma' monologue 1:08:30 Rene's favorite moments so far PART THREE: Sloane Storms NY & El Decimosexto de Rafa Welcome to episode 96 and our U.S. Open recap. By now you know that Sloane Stephens and Rafael Nadal are your singles champions. It still doesn't seem real, but we try to get to the bottom of a truly inspired performance by Sloane in New York. Nadal put aside a shaky start to the tournament to find some of his best tennis, finishing with a sublime exhibition against Kevin Anderson in the final for his 16th Slam title. We revisit some of the more memorable moments and performances from the tournament, and induct our second ever member of The Body Serve Hall of Fame. We finish with another trip to the Maria well, this time to call out the racist BS from the Serena chapter of her book. 01:18 Jonathan apologizes to Venus fans and to Sloane 03:20 How exactly did Sloane do ALL THAT?!?! 11:21 Sloane evolves before our eyes, pitch perfect on and off the court 16:52 Venus and Petra are THE TRUTH; they deliver the goods again! 22:50 El Decimosexto de Rafa: proving the doubters wrong yet again 29:06 All the credit in the world to Kevin Anderson 34:33 Relitigating the start of 2013 and "I Made You" 44:36 Doubles Standards: time to up the ante 49:43 TBS Hall of Fame: Arigato, Kimiko 54:10 Parsing through the post-Open rankings 60:58 Alicia "Tornado" Black: GO FUND HER!!! 63:08 Sashay away, Tom Rinaldi! 66:54 Maria is truly unstoppable...with the MESS! We have had it. Entry #7Jonathan Newman and James Rogers are the hosts of The Body Serve Tennis Podcast. In the The Body Serve Diary, Jonathan and James write conversationally about the various happenings in the wild world of tennis.
JN: We are two days out from Nadal’s 16th Slam title and three from Sloane’s unexpected run to a maiden title, let’s have a chat about some of the moments from this year’s U.S. Open that remain fresh in our memories. What’s the first thing that comes to your mind? JR: The rich and entertaining women’s draw, without hesitation. Between the comeback stories (Petra, Sloane, Madison, Kanepi, and others) and the many high quality matches, this was a banner event in women’s tennis. It’s a damn shame that the final was so lopsided. Madison played a near classic against Svitolina, with both women showing exactly why they’re shooting toward the top of the game. JN: I’ll start with Sloane. Back-to-back semis leading into the Open was still NOT an indicator that this was in the cards. Just a month ago, she was sitting in press at the Citi Open saying that she’s going to win one of these matches eventually...ONE of these matches...she hadn’t won a match in over a year, let alone winning the whole damn U.S. Open. Would she be fit enough or match ready enough to win seven matches? Just crazy. And even more impressive is the way she went about doing it; I’ve never seen anybody look like they had as much time on court as she did. I will never in my life forget those last three games against Venus in the semis, and how poised she was during and after that final. JR: Let’s be real: Sloane was being a little dramatic when she mused that she’d eventually win a match. She had been back from a huge surgery for, what, two tournaments? But there was nothing dramatic about how she went about winning this U.S. Open. She had patience, poise, court smarts, sporadic power, just everything. I was absolutely stunned at how she played in the final. Watching her win did kind of take the sting out of the previous match against Venus; I was heartbroken for Venus, but no one can say that Sloane didn’t earn this title. JN: Nope. Venus came at her in that semifinal (not always with her best stuff), but Sloane had the improbable answers time and again at the end of that third set. We watched her evolve in real time the last fortnight. Spare a thought for Madison Keys. Prior to to the final, she was the more accomplished player; she was probably the favourite to win the title against Sloane. Yet, she could barely find any rhythm, this after playing the match of her life in the semis to blitz CoCo. Shall we talk about El Decimosexto? JR: Wow, is that how you say it? Rafa wasn’t looking too hot over the summer or indeed in his first 3 rounds here. I did not have high hopes. But starting against Dolgopolov, his confidence and his game started clicking, and it was relatively uneventful from then on. It’s remarkable that we’ve arrived here, with Rafa winning a fourth hardcourt major. Last year, he was dealing with injuries and searching high and low for that forehand. Now, even when the forehand isn’t working how he wants it to, he has the backhand crosscourt, volleying, court sense, and speed to fall back on. JN: All those things are true. The thing that impressed me most with Rafa this time around was how poised he was in the final, especially in the first few games. He had a game plan, especially on return, and stuck with it even when he didn’t get the breaks of serve right away. He didn’t allow himself to show frustration; he didn’t change course and play overly aggressively. Rafa stayed the course and played an impeccable match on serve, picked his spots to be aggressive, and thwarted everything Kevin Anderson threw his way. When Rafa is at the peak of his powers, his game is less kill shot, than it is sucker punches until you have nothing left to give. Now, he has an almost 2,000 point lead at world #1, and he still has a few more events to cap a truly remarkable season. This Week In Tennis
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