Thirty Love: Conversations About Tennis

Helen R. Russell, co-curator of the New-York Historical Society's exhibit, "Billie Jean King: The Road to 75," joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about choosing more than 75 photos for the exhibit, her own tennis background, and King's New York ties. Music by Lee Rosevere. The exhibit, which exhibit runs through Jan. 30, 2019: https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/billie-jean-king-road-75 The Billie Jean King Archive: https://www.nyhistory.org/womens-history/exhibitions/Billie-Jean-King It Can Hyphen Here: Why the New-York Historical Society Includes a Hyphen (h/t Sam Anzaroot): http://blog.nyhistory.org/it-can-hyphen-here-why-the-new-york-historical-society-includes-a-hyphen/  

Two Tennibot executives—Haitham Eletrabi, CEO and founder; and Xianglin (Lincoln) Wang, CTO—join Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about how their love of playing tennis and unlove of fetching tennis balls led to the creation of their robotic ball gatherer, what makes Tennibot more advanced than a Roomba, and how else robotics could fit into tennis and other sports. Music by Lee Rosevere. Tennibot's website: http://tennibot.com/ Tennibot on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tennibot Tennibot in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weUs4cW9360

Stephanie Kovalchik and Graeme Spence—data scientists with the Game Insight Group (GIG), formed by Tennis Australia in partnership with Victoria University—join Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to break down Player DNA, their new system for analyzing what makes tennis players great. Kovalchik and Spence explain why the time was right for this form of analysis, why Roger Federer can be fast without great foot speed, and how their new ways of measuring injury risks will make it into TV broadcasts during this year's Australian Open. Music by Lee Rosevere. More on Player DNA: https://tennismash.com/2019/01/02/player-dna-technical-tactical-physical-mental/ GIG on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tennisausgig Kovalchik on Twitter: https://twitter.com/StatsOnTheT Spence on Twitter: https://twitter.com/graemetspence

With the 2019 season upon us, Thirty Love takes a close look at the…2017 season. Writer Rowan Ricardo Phillips watched every ATP match he could and transformed his experience into the book The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey. He joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to describe the experience of studying the tour so closely, how he knew he had a book's worth of material, and what made 2017 special. Music by Lee Rosevere. Rowan's website: http://www.rowanricardophillips.com/ Rowan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RowanRicardo

Mark Milne, an engineer in Arbroath, Scotland, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about why he thinks starting tennis games at 30-all makes for a faster and more exciting format; what Judy Murray and the ITF make of his idea; why he prefers his format to the one being used in Milan at the Next Gen ATP Finals, and why he doesn't just start games at deuce. Music by Lee Rosevere. Thirty30 Tennis's website: https://www.thirty30tennis.com/ 

Former Top 5 player Julie Heldman joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about her memoir "Driven: A Daughter's Odyssey," what she thought of the film "Battle of the Sexes," and how she emerged from 15 years lost to mental illness to write her first book. Music by Lee Rosevere. Heldman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/junkballjul "Driven": https://www.drivenadaughtersodyssey.com/

Marc Stein, NBA reporter for The New York Times, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about how a wax statue changed his tennis fandom forever, why so many tennis pros travel through Dallas, and what it's been like shadowing Julia Glushko and coaching Benjamin Becker at the US Open. Music by Lee Rosevere. Stein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheSteinLine Stein on Glushko: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/sports/julia-glushko.html Stein on Becker: http://www.espn.com/blog/marc-stein/post/_/id/4538/nba-tennis-words-collide-in-unforgettable-coaching-cameo

Lifelong tennis fan Jenni Dinger, a professor of entrepreneurship in Boston, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to review Laver Cup's second edition, in Chicago last weekend: Fed fans, Novak struggles, hot merch, and Jack Sock demonstrating the value of an elite doubles player. Music by Lee Rosevere. Dinger on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jendinger/

Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik—for the 14th episode from the 2018 US Open, on the 14th day of the Open—to break down the men's and women's finals, and the USTA's game of whack a mole with the weather. Music by Lee Rosevere. Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jasongay Jason's articles for the WSJ: http://www.wsj.com/news/author/6268

Preethi Ramamoorthy, who is covering the US Open for India's The Hindu newspaper, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about Naomi Osaka's grace and good humor after winning a controversial women's final, the Djokovic-del Potro men's final, and the state of Indian tennis. Music by Lee Rosevere. Preethi's articles for The Hindu: https://www.thehindu.com/profile/author/Preethi-Ramamoorthy-5011/

Chloé Cooper Jones, the freelance writer who covers tennis for GQ; and her editor Kevin Nguyen join Thirty Love host Carl Bialik just after Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams for the US Open title to talk about the 20-year-old's big win, the umpiring controversy that threatened to overshadow it, and the long and painful road of Juan Martín del Potro to the men's final against Novak Djokovic. Chloé on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CCooperJones Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/knguyen Chloé's del Potro profile: https://www.gq.com/story/juan-martin-del-potro-strikes-back Kevin's Osaka profile: https://www.gq.com/story/naomi-osaka-is-the-coolest-thing-in-tennis

Four of the people behind the Ashe '68 documentary project—creator and producer Rex Miller, co-documentary director Woody Richman, VR director Brad Lichtenstein, and exhibition producer and designer Bill Sullivan—join Thirty Love host Carl Bialik from the US Open to talk about Ashe's legacy, finding footage of the 1968 US Open champ, and re-creating the Forest Hills setting for Ashe's championship match on the 2018 US Open grounds. Music by Lee Rosevere. The film's official site: https://www.ashe68.com/

Kamakshi Tandon, who writes about tennis for tennis.com and other publications, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about an extreme US Open, the men's semis, and the future of Davis Cup and other fledgling team events. Music by Lee Rosevere. Kamakshi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kamakshi_Tandon Kamakshi on Tennis.com: http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/list/kamakshi-tandon/

Tom Perrotta, who writes about tennis for The Wall Street Journal, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about Rafael Nadal's five-set defeat of Dominic Thiem, Rafa's unusual tactic that's catching on, and Serena Williams's bid for her 24th Slam title. Music by Lee Rosevere. Perrotta on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TomPerrotta Perrotta on Nadal's tactic: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-rafael-nadal-returns-serve-from-the-back-wall-1536153459

Ashley Marshall, the USTA's assistant managing editor, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about his article on the first US Open's first match, pitting Billie Jean King against a dentist; his deep dive into umpire scorecards for 50 facts about Roger Federer at the Open; and juniors to watch in the second week of the Open. Music by Lee Rosevere. Marshall on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMarshallSport "The dentist who filled in at the first US Open": https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2018-08-15/the_day_billie_jean_king_played_a_dentist.html "50 Roger Federer facts for 50 years of the US Open": https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2018-08-28/50_roger_federer_facts_for_50_years_of_the_us_open.html

Joe Nocera, Bloomberg Opinion columnist and co-author of "Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA," joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik from a suite at the US Open to talk about the economics of attending big-time tennis events, the hardest thing to explain to a child who's starting to watch tennis, and why Federer : Nadal :: Jordan : LeBron. Music by Lee Rosevere. Nocera on Twitter: https://twitter.com/opinion_joe Nocera's Bloomberg columns: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AB5jPpvf5C4/joe-nocera

Freelancer Simon Cambers joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to talk about Alex de Minaur, Naomi Osaka, and other promising young players; the state of British tennis; and the prospect of fifth-set tiebreakers at every Grand Slam. Music by Lee Rosevere. Cambers on Twitter: https://twitter.com/scambers73

Giri Nathan, who writes about tennis for Deadspin, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to break down Roger Federer's beatdown of Nick Kyrgios, assess Serena Williams's chances of winning her seventh US Open title and appreciate the unusual game of Diego Sebastian Schwartzman. Music by Lee Rosevere. Nathan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/girinathan Nathan on Deadspin: https://kinja.com/girinathan

Stephanie Neppl, the day after arriving in the US Open for a last-minute Labor Day weekend of tennis, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to share tips on attending the Open, lament the accessibility of tennis stadiums, and marvel in the continued splendor of Serena Williams and Venus Williams. Music by Lee Rosevere. Neppl on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephintheus Neppl's tennis blog: http://ihaveatennisaddiction.blogspot.com/

Chris Widmaier, the USTA's managing director of corporate communications, joins Thirty Love host Carl Bialik to assess the new Armstrong stadium's debut, explain how the tournament has been handling the extreme heat, and reflect on how one moment from one side-court match can go international. Music by Lee Rosevere.