Tennis With An Accent

In a throwback episode of the podcast we take a look into the big talking points of ATP in the decades of 70's and 80's. Making sense of this conversation are hall of famer Steve Flink and tennis coach Mert Ertunga. Conversation focuses on the leading players and their rivalries through the respective decades. It's impossible to cover all the names but we do take a deeper dive into the following names - Borg, Connors, Nastase, Ashe, Vilas, McEnroe, Lendl, Becker and Wiander. Brew a cup of coffee and kickback as this one is a long discussion.

Ash Barty has stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the game at age twenty five. This is such a rare occurrence in professional sports when a dominant athlete who has age on their side calls time on a career. Matt Zemek(https://twitter.com/mzemek) and Saqib Ali(https://twitter.com/saqiba) discuss the Barty decision while reminiscing her greatness and comparing it with other young tennis retirements.

Tennis channel anchor Gill Gross is the podcast guest this week as we explore his tennis and podcasting journey. Gross opens up about his ambitions to be a sports broadcaster and how his path shaped up towards his youtube show and podcasting. We also take stock of the leading men of ATP through the first two months of tennis. Other topics covered are the Nadal Medvedev rivalry, the looming breakthrough watch for Carlos Alcaraz and the steady rise of Felix Auger-Aliassime. https://twitter.com/Gill_Gross https://www.youtube.com/c/GillGross

Juan Martin Del Potro called time on his career. This episode is a look back at the career of Del Porto and we can't help but reminisce what could have been the case had he had a surgery free career. Few questions come to mind right off the bat - would he have won more majors than Murray and Wawrinka? For one time slam winners how does he measure up to an Andy roddick? Why did he not play the Argentina open through most of his career? We explore two vantage points to capture these discussion points and more - a tennis writer's view from Matt Zemek and Carlos Barciela gives a view of an informed Argentine fan.

Rafael Nadal won his 21st major in Melbourne last sunday which makes him as the most successful men's champion in grand slams. He has broken the three way tie of 20 majors with arch rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. On the women's side of the draw Ash Barty created Aussies history by winning the tournament which ended the local drought of 44 years. Hall of famer Mark Woodforde joins the show to look at this historic weekend of tennis.

James Rosewarne(https://twitter.com/jamesrokewarne) and Vijay Arumugam(https://twitter.com/vijayarumugam) join the show this week to give the Aussie perspective on the Djokovic saga. Rosewarne is the managing editor of the https://www.statsinsider.com.au/ site and Arumugam is a known presence on cricket twitter. Both are NSW residents and had some similar and some different viewpoints on how Australia operates and more importantly helped unpack the sports and politics connection.

The hunter becomes the hunted as Saqib Ali and Mert Ertunga swap places for this episode of the pod. Mert steps in as the host for the pod as he interviews Saqib on his Boris Becker fandom. It's an off season tribute to one of the all time greats of the game through the vantage point of a fan. The episode chronicles many different memories of Becker's storied tennis career from his rise to fame as a teenager in 1985 to his sudden retirement in 1997.

Blair Henley is the podcast guest this week at Tennis with an Accent. I call her the voice of the tennis stadiums. She has been involved in tennis all her life and we explored her journey in the sport. The conversation touched upon various elements like her debut as the MC on court 17 at the US Open to her most memorable post match interview. Henley also highlighted the preparation that goes into the art of on court interviews - the dos and the don'ts and what questions to chose from. Last but not the least we covered the most international aspect of tennis - the pronunciation of names. Tune in for this off season special episode.

In this episode Matt and Saqib review the respective wins of Muguruza and Zverev at the Year end championships in Mexico and Italy. We also make a relative deeper dive into the fact whether winning these YEC historically have been a pedestal for success for breakout winners. The conversation also touches upon how the success of the event in Guadalajara should pave way for newer markets to host the showcase events in future for both WTA and ATP. Last but not the least TWAA team weighs in on the Peng Shuai situation.

Freelance tennis writer Damian Kust(@damiankust on Twitter)returns to the podcast to discuss the field of the NextGen ATP Finals in Milan. Kust is a tennis hipster who follows the ITF and the challenger tours throughout the year. He sheds some expert views on the rise of Carlos Alcaraz. He also describes why Alcaraz maybe the exception to the rule in a sport where it has become increasingly difficult to break though as a teenager. The conversation also shifts to Korda, Musetti, Baez and Nakashima. Last but the not the least Kust weighs in on the difficulty of competition on the Challenger tour. Some of Damian's recent articles - https://t.co/TuTs2L22S2?amp=1 https://t.co/XIohCEeToX?amp=1

In this episode Matt and Saqib preview the Indian Wells 2021 edition. A lot has happened in the tennis world since Indian wells was played last. This episode covers the big stories coming into the event on both sides of the draws. Will Muguruza and Casper Ruud ride the hot hand into the desert? Can Medvedev narrow the gap between him and Djokovic in the rankings? Can Zverev and Tsitsipas overcome the disappointments of New York? A lot of food for thought for all fans.

Doubles legend Mark Woodforde returns to TWAA to review the US Open championships. We look back at the tournament where Daniil Medvedev stopped the historic bid of world number one Novak Djokovic for the Grand slam and the unprecedented run of Emma Raducanu as the first qualifier to win a major.

Former top 20 player Jaime Yzaga of Peru joins the podcast this week to recall his amazing win over Pete Sampras from US Open 1994. Yzaga was a solid ATP pro in his day who had wins over Boris Becker, Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg and Andre Agassi among others. Yzaga gets candid about his toughest opponents, greatest memories and some current tennis topics like bathroom breaks and future stars of the game.

Mert Ertunga is back on TWAA to preview a slam. He joins Matt Zemek and Saqib Ali to look ahead for the US Open fortnight. The conversation centers around Osaka, Barty and Djokovic for the respective draws.

Dr. Craig Cypher -- @DoctorCypher on Twitter -- is a clinical and sport psychologist. He is a certified mental performance consultant who works in the University of Rochester's fitness and science department. He joins Tennis With An Accent to provide layers of insights into sports psychology and the mental health of athletes. He discusses the psychology of athletes, the psychology of tennis players, and examines specific aspects of Naomi Osaka's story to explain how her journey is instructive within the field of sports psychology. Dr. Cypher explains how he works not only with athletes themselves, but with coaches and support teams to create more positive experiences for athletes and the people who work with them. Crucially, Dr. Cypher makes the point that the work he does with athletes is meant to create a broader positive foundation they can carry with them in all aspects of life.

Former world number six Nico Lapentti of Ecuador is the podcast guest. Lapentti now covers tennis for ESPN and remains involved in the sport. The conversation was rich in nostalgia and dates back to the "New balls please" campaign of lat 90's in which Lapentti was part of the young players the ATP promoted along with the likes of Guga Kuerten and Roger Federer. Lapentti also weighed in on the range of clay court players he had played against during his time as a pro on the tour - ranging from Thomas Muster to the King of clay Rafael Nadal. Lapentti further evaluated Novak Djokovic's dominance and his ability to dial in mentally in key situations of the big matches. Last but not the least he spoke about his bid to represent the Americas on the ATP board - citing how South America is kind of overlooked in the big picture.

Noted writer and commentator Ravi Ubha(@raviubha on twitter) returns to the podcast to help unpack the draws for the 2021 edition of The Championships.

Prajwal Hegde has been covering tennis for more than two decades. In this episode of TWAA she recalls upon how her tennis media journey started through the Mid-Day newspaper. Hegde has been seen as part of the first generation of women covering sports in India. Was covering tennis any different than covering Cricket in India? Hegde also highlights her lonely presence as an Indian representative on the international tour. The conversation also covers the media relations with players and how the Big 3 and Serena have transcended the sport to newer heights. Last but not the least she weighs in on the struggles of Indian players. The role of the Indian Federation or the lack of it. She tries to address the questions most Indian tennis fans have been asking for a long time - why there are no top Indian players in a sport which is truly global.

Matt Zemek and Saqib Ali review the championship weekend at Roland Garros as Novak Djokovic and Barbora Krejcikova reigned supreme. Djokovic won his 19th career major and also completed the second set of career grand slam. Krejcikova completed the rare double of singles and doubles win at Roland Garros. Also covered in this episode at length is the Nadal Djokovic semi final - which featured an all time best set of tennis.

Hall of famer Steve Flink joins the show this week to talk about the ongoing French Open. Flink looks forward to some highly anticipated matchups like Danil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas and the potential meeting between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic as the event approaches quarter finals stage. He also looks back at the major first week exits of Serena Williams and Roger Federer.