No Challenges Remaining

Mary Carillo, NCR's favorite, joins Ben and Courtney for a third time as the U.S. Open gets to the business end of the draws, as we are now down to four semifinalists for both the men and women. What has it been like calling this completely different tournament from on site at the Open? What have been the unexpected revelations of this new landscape and soundscape? Why does the Chinese restaurant want you to order the fries? We discuss all eight semifinalists in some detail: Jennifer Brady, Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka; Pablo Carreno Busta, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, and Dominic Thiem. Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support

Pam Shriver is used to being on the very front lines of tennis reporting for ESPN, running around the grounds of tournaments, hunting down celebrities, coaches, drunk Scottish people on Henman Hill, or whoever else might have something worthwhile to say. In this very different 2020, Pam is at home during this U.S. Open, staying connected to the coverage from afar as she tries to balance work and family priorities amid this pandemic. Pam and Ben discuss the 2020 U.S. Open, how it's coming across on TV, the sudden opportunity in the men's draw, Djokovic's simmer, recent tennis politics flareups, and their shared love of the Baltimore Orioles. Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who hav

With the U.S. Open reaching the quarterfinal stage, where the draws get considerably more manageable to process on a more granular basis, Courtney and Ben reconvene to reset the table for the feasts of tennis cooking for the men and women. The men's field is ordering off the kids menu, with the men's game tour finally guaranteed a new Grand Slam champion for the first time in six years. Who is best poised to take advantage of this? How will the new favorites, like Thiem and Zverev, deal with the pressure? On the women's side we discuss a field that includes the Americans Jennifer Brady and Shelby Rogers, the crafty Yulia Putintseva, the remarkable Tsvetana Pironkova, the regal Serena Williams, and the resurgent Victoria Azarenka. Also! We are uploading video of the recording of this episode to our Patreon as an experiment, if you want to see what it's like to watch NCR instead of just listening! Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow

We made a mega mid-Slam episode for today's shocking developments, as No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the prohibitive favorite, was defaulted from the U.S. Open in the first set of his fourth round match after striking a lineswoman in the throat with a ball. Courtney and Ben are joined by Reem Abulleil to discuss this moment, what it says about Djokovic and the rules of tennis, and where it leaves Djokovic and the tournament going forward. Then in the second half of the show, Ben is joined by Alex Gruskin of the Cracked Racquets media empire to discuss the fact that we're suddenly guaranteed a new Grand Slam champion in men's tennis, something we haven't had for six years. Which of the young guys seems ready to take this mantle? And how do these unusual circumstances color the moment? Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patre

As the first week of the U.S. Open wraps up, we get into (and hopefully wrap up) the story that dominated the first week: the fallout of Benoit Paire's positive coronavirus test last weekend, and the slow-but-severe effect it had on other players he had contacted before testing positive, ending with Kiki Mladenovic getting defaulted from the women's doubles draw to be quarantined fully in her Nassau County hotel.  Quentin Moynet of L'Equipe joins to discuss this week and other developments in French tennis including what's in Alize Cornet's new book, Corentin Moutet, and the rapidly approaching Roland Garros, which is still planning on having thousands of fans on the grounds each day. Sacre bleu! Also, check out Quentin's book! Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five

On a typically bizarre 2020 day in which New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had to rule on Adrian Mannarino's U.S. Open eligibility, we at NCR are delighted to bring you a cool, calming chat with Shelby Rogers, who solidified her great year by advancing to the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Friday. Shelby discusses how she used the quarantine time to work on herself physically, mentally, and spiritually, the fun variety of fast courts, and enjoying the solace of tennis in a bubble, even as craziness continues inside and out.  Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backers J O'D, Mike, and Charles Cyna!) As always, thanks for

On a day at the U.S. Open on which its co-president Vasek Pospisil upset Milos Raonic, Ben chats about the new Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA, aka pihtihpihAHHH) with Amy Fetherolf, who knows her unions and her tennis. What to make of this new tennis union? Does it need to have more specific goals outlined as it's getting off the ground? What classic anti-union tactics are visible in the resistance it's received? What if the ideas behind this union, like leaving out the women, are bad? What are the next steps? Amy has answers to these questions and many more. Also, thunder. Thank you again for the incredible support for NCR we've received in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O

Ben and Courtney reconvene on Day 3 of the U.S. Open to recalibrate their forecasts for the top half of the women's draw, which saw top-seeded Karolina Pliskova knocked out, as well as somewhat surprising exits by Alison Riske, Marketa Vondrousova, and Dayana Yastremska. Who is well-positioned for success going forward? Who looks comfortable in these unusual conditions? Is Naomi Osaka a fair favorite to win it all? And what makes Madison Brengle's approach so delightful? Also, we discuss some of the early challenges we've encountered trying to cover a Grand Slam from home.  Again, thank you so much for the incredible support for NCR in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backers J O'D,

The second day of first round play included many impressive comebacks, both mid-match and several years in the making. Kim Clijsters played her first Slam match in eight years, Andy Murray won (and stuck up for women again, as per), and, in her first match in more than three years, Tsvetana Pironkova took advantage of the fast courts to lay a beatdown on Liudmila Samsonova. Ben and Courtney caught up with Pironkova after her win to hear about her decision to come back, playing as a mom, and finding new challenges. Again, thank you so much for the incredible support for NCR in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backers J O'D, Mike, and Charles Cyna!) As always, thanks for following us on

Day 1 of the U.S. Open was dominated by talk of the decisions made a day earlier, when a number of players who were in contact with Benoit Paire after his positive test for coronavirus were still allowed to play their matches, albeit under tighter restrictions which one referred to as "a bubble within a bubble." You'll hear from two of those double-bubbled players, Adrian Mannarino and Kiki Mladenovic, as well as from Noah Rubin, host of Behind the Racquet, who spread word of this late last night on his podcast and has growing concerns about how the "bubble" is being handled by the USTA. You'll also then hear from our cherished NCR Middle East correspondent Reem Abulleil for her thoughts on how it's been handled. Lots to cover! Thank you so much for the incredible support for NCR in recent days! If you'd like to join fellow listeners in supporting our show as we work to crank out daily shows during the 2020 U.S. Open, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and s

As Ben and Courtney prepare watch and cover this U.S. Open from home, they check in with a buddy who has been on the ground in New York for "Cincinnati" and will be for the U.S. Open as well: Blair Henley, on-court interviewer to the stars and a woman of many varied talents in tennis. Blair discusses her journey through tennis from teaching pro to writer to YouTuber to on-court emcee, what makes for the best on-court exchanges with players, and how much preparation it takes to pull off a MarioKart win on social media. She also discusses what it's felt like on the largely empty grounds of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center so far, and how she and players are adjusting to the new protocols. She also asks for a reiteration of "PTPA" pronunciation, and we marvel over Novak Djokovic's ability to compartmentalize. If you'd like to support our show during this odd, disruptive year, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And

Ben and Courtney break down the U.S. Open draw amid a tournament build-up which feels very different to that of a normal Grand Slam, particularly as we aren't even in New York this week.  We discuss the women's draw first, where 2018 champ Naomi Osaka impressed on and off the court during "Cincinnati" but comes in carrying a hamstring injury. What to make of Serena's form since the shutdown? Can Kim Clijsters make an impact? Also, Dayana Yastremska is very much. On the men's side, after a helpful pronunciation guide to the new "PTPA," we discuss Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Reilly Opelka, Daniil Medvedev, Milos Raonic, Bobby Bautista, and more. Also, hear Courtney's thoughts about night trains!  This is the first of many, many shows we have planned for the U.S. Open, so stay tuned! If you'd like to support our show during this odd, disruptive year, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many liste

UPDATE: After Osaka initially withdrew from Thursday's semifinals, she has agreed to play on Friday after the entire day of play was postponed on Thursday.   Postponing the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open because of continuing police violence against Black people, Naomi Osaka joined an escalating wave of anti-racism athlete activism that began in basketball and has echoed across North American sports. Tennis has been seen as remedial in recent years when it comes to athlete engagement, so Osaka's gesture was especially striking.  Tumaini Carayol of the Guardian joins to discuss Osaka's action, what if any precedents there are for it in recent tennis memory, and where the sport goes from here, now that Cincinnati has canceled play on semifinal Thursday out of deference to the moment and that the U.S Open main draw is only days away.  You'll also hear in this episode from Milos Raonic, who was strikingly forceful on the topics in the moments after his own quarterfinal win.  If you'd like to sup

For the first time in two-months-but-feels-like-much-longer, Courtney returns to an NCR episode! She graces us with her presence as we discuss tennis getting back underway in earnest now with a few weeks of the WTA Tour behind us and the New York swing of "Cincinnati" and the U.S. Open rapidly approaching. What do we make of the challenge of covering the sport remotely? Who has stood out in the on-court action we've seen so far from the women? Will this U.S. Open be "asterisked," and what does an asterisk even mean? And what do we expect and want from players in the New York bubble? Also, Courtney discusses her burgeoning career as a Twitcher. If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!) As always, thanks for foll

The most talked about TV show in the tennis world during this long stretch of indoor entertainment, without doubt, has been the Netflix comedy "Never Have I Ever," narrated by John McEnroe and featuring Sendhil Ramamurthy as the tennis-loving father of protagonist Devi Vishwakumar. Sendhil doesn't just play a tennis lover on TV; the dude seriously plays and knows his tennis, and we're delighted to have him on NCR to discuss his love for tennis, working with John McEnroe, the relative lack of tennis in pop culture, and much more fun.   If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!) As always, thanks for following us on Twitter and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of ch

The New Yorker's Louisa Thomas is back with us to discuss the comprehensive piece she published about the state of tennis in these tumultuous last five months, "The Fractured World of Tennis Amid a Prolonged Pandemic." Louisa and Ben discuss the notion of self-centeredness and tennis and how players are trained by people to potentially hurt those same people, how tennis' structure reflects both its strengths and weaknesses, the fast-approaching U.S. Open, and much more, including, inevitably, Nick Kyrgios. It's a wide-ranging story and a wide-ranging chat, and we think you'll enjoy it. Also, please go get Louisa's new book, Losers, for yourself and/or everyone you know!  If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!

Well, tennis is back, folks! But at the same time, tennis continues to go away. What to make of it all? To help make sense of it all, Ben is rejoined by Reem Abulleil and Tumaini Carayol who also have been (virtually) covering the WTA's return event in Palermo this week. Is the tour set to succeed? And how do we think this sort of virtual coverage will change our work? We also discuss the cancellation of Madrid and the new rules document from the U.S. Open, as well as the decision of defending champion Rafael Nadal to skip this year's event. And then as a bonus at the end, you'll hear Dayana Yastremska discuss her unexpected turn as a recording artist. (Apologies for some of the audio issues on Ben's track as this issue goes on, we did our best to make it sound decent) If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you

Journalist Glenn Greenwald, creator of The Intercept, joins Ben on this episode to discuss his longtime admiration of Martina Navratilova, the documentary project about that admiration he has been working on, and the hurdles that he's run into along the way as Navratilova has incurred the wrath of activists, as Glenn wrote about here at the Intercept. We discuss Navratilova's sudden fall in LGBT sports circles, the notion of cancel culture, and also Glenn's longtime love of tennis and what he makes of the modern game. If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!) As always, thanks for following us on Twitter and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be.

Mark Ein, owner of the Citi Open ATP tournament in Washington, joins NCR for a third time this year to share what went into the decision this week to call off his tournament, after months of previous optimism that holding it might be possible even amid a pandemic. Ben and Mark discuss the uncertainty of the moment regarding travel, why now was the time to make the decision, and what challenges the U.S. Open still needs to clear in order to go ahead. Also, could a radical reimagining of the traveling tour structure which tennis has had allow for a more viable product during this global crisis? And what might that look like? If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you to G.O.A.T. backer J O'D!) As always, thanks for following us on Twitte

As sports work towards a mid-pandemic return across North America, Ben is joined by a veritable constellation of media stars across the landscape to discuss how things are progressing across various arenas, and what their successes and struggles might indicate about what's in store for the tennis tours as they plot out a mid-pandemic comeback. The panel: Helene Elliott, sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times; Ava Wallace, reporter for The Washington Post; Lindsay Gibbs of Power Plays; and Caitlin Murray, author of The National Team. We think you'll have a real good time listening and learning. If you'd like to support our show, particularly as our normal work has disappeared along with the sport, we've launched an NCR Patreon where you can do just that, including a new episode since last posting featuring Courtney discussing her love of The Last of Us! Check out our five tiers and see which might be right for you! And thank you to the many listeners who have already given their support! (And thank you