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Episode 203: Fights and Fakes in February Feb 28, 2018

Show notes

Frequently frantic, February fades out with the latest chat between Ben and Courtney, who have lots to catch you up on.

Topics covered include Frances Tiafoe's first title, Wozniacki-Niculescu beefing, Federer reaching #1, Serena Williams' long road ahead, Tennis Twitter falling for Darko Grncarov, Harrison-Young ugliness, the rise of Acapulco, and more!
Lastly, a celebration of Logan Lucky and a defense of Cool Runnings against attacks.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR203!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 202: Bouchard vs U.S.T.A. - Genie Wins Round 1 Feb 22, 2018

Show notes

After three days at a very different court than usual, Ben is joined by Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal to briefly discuss Eugenie Bouchard's victory in the liability phase of her lawsuit against the United States Tennis Association.
Speaking outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, Ben and Daniel discuss the first three days of the trial, the testimonies it contained, where the U.S.T.A.'s defenses fell short, and the many ambiguities and uncertainties that are still to come in the wildly debatable damages stage.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR202!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 201: Australian Open Wrap Feb 06, 2018

Show notes

Ben and Courtney fled to opposite corners of the globe after the Australian Open, so just now bring you this show on the Grand Slam that was, in which second seeds Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki won their 20th, and first, respectively.
First, on the men. Why was closing the roof a correct, obvious decision? And indoors or outdoors, has it all gotten a bit too easy for Roger Federer at an age when it shouldn't? And on the flip side, does Rafael Nadal have grounds to complain as much as he does about schedules and surfaces and such?
Also, we delve into the Tennys Sandgren saga, what parts of it were fair and not, and what lessons there are to be learned.

Then, onto the women, where champion Caroline Wozniacki may have somehow had the least impressive tournament of any of the semifinalists? On her breakthrough, what we learned about Simona Halep, the joys of Hsieh Su-wei and the underwhelming major results of Elina Svitolina.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR201!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 200: Mary Carillo Jan 14, 2018

Show notes

Ben and Courtney are delighted to see their ersatz odometer click over to 200 with their dear friend Mary Carillo at the Australian Open (the 200th Grand Slam of the Open Era, no less!). She's our kind of people.
Mary, in Melbourne for Tennis Channel, is also in the midst of reporting for HBO's Real Sports about the controversy surrounding the Australian Open's Margaret Court Arena, which has faced calls for a name change or boycott as its namesake, the Grand Slam champ-turned-pastor Margaret Court has continued to escalate her crusade against gay and transgender people, including children.

We discuss many of the sides of this complex issue, the perspectives of Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, as well as how BJK serve-and-volleyed Tennis Australia before the tournament began.

We end with Mary's enduring love for tennis, as well as her iconic moment regarding another racquet sport: badminton.
As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR200!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199d: 2018 Australian Open Preview Jan 13, 2018

Show notes

Ben and Courtney are back in your ears after far too long, and are in Melbourne ready to tee up the first Grand Slam of 2018.
On the women's side, we discuss the women who have surged to start the year (Halep, Kerber, Bencic...Giorgi?) and go through the draw thoroughly to find where openings might emerge.
On the men's side, Rafael Nadal is a clear draw winner, but there still manage to be lots of exciting early round match-ups throughout. And is it Roger's to lose, or can 2,000 points go to Goffindor?

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCRAusOpen!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199c: Keep the Dream Alive Nov 26, 2017

Show notes

Ben and Courtney reunite on this packed episode and start with a discussion of the legacy of the late Jana Novotna, who passed away at age 49 due to cancer. How should her legendary breakdown and resilience continue to influence how we see the sport today?

As the WTA and ATP seasons wrapped up, what did we learn about the respective year-end champs, Caroline Wozniacki and Grigor Dimitrov? Will either be able to carry their results into next year? And is 2018 primed to be a year full of first-time major champions on either or both tours?

We then touch on the ATP Next Gen event in Milan, its tasteless draw ceremony, and the reactions to mid-match coaching with headsets. Our takes vary here.

Then we introduce you all to the #NCRBookClub, which is starting with Venus Envy by John Wertheim, which you should read!

Lastly, Courtney gives all sorts of movie recommendations and Ben talks about his game show experience and recent Jeopardy closure.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR199c!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199b: ATP Rundown (with Ricky Dimon) Oct 25, 2017

Show notes

While the best women battle it out in Singapore, we look ahead to the men's season wrapping up with guest Ricky Dimon back on the show to talk some men's tennis. How did everything get so flipped around in the Big 4 this year, and how does it set up 2018?

Also, we go over our (unsubmitted) ATP awards ballots and dish out some before-and-after fun (full thing on our Facebook page).

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR199b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199a: The Rises and Falls of Fall Oct 18, 2017

Show notes

With the field set for Singapore, Ben and Courtney look back at the fall that was, including the sudden surge of Caroline Garcia to defy the odds and grab a spot among the elite eight.

On the men's side, Roger beat Rafa yet again--that means he's the best player of the year, right? And who gets our player of the year votes on the women's side? And how can we assess the field of play when it's all so tightly packed together on the women's side and when almost no men seem to be playing all that well?

Lastly, would the WTA benefit from a Milan-style showcase for its youngest stars? Or is that event, alternately, detrimental for the men?

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR199a!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 199: Laver Cup (With Reem Abulleil) Sep 26, 2017

Show notes

As she returns from covering the inaugural Laver Cup, NCR's Middle East correspondant Reem Abulleil chats with Ben about the new competition, which proved to be stunningly successful and compelling despite being an exhibition made out of thin air by Roger Federer's marketing team.

What did Laver Cup get so right in its first try? Why were players so invested in it? And how can the stale and neglected Davis Cup learn from it to adapt for this changing tennis landscape?

Reem is the hero of our times.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR199!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

Episode 198b: U.S. Open - Rafa, Sloane, Battle of the Sexes, Unstoppable Sep 11, 2017

Show notes

The 2017 U.S. Open wrapped up with an unsurprising men's champ in Rafael Nadal and a very surprising women's champ in Sloane Stephens. How did we get there? We discuss.

What do we make of how the draw broke in Rafa's favor? And how was Kevin Anderson the one able to seize the opportunity on the bottom half?

On the women's side, how did Sloane Stephens go from not being able to walk to playing her best tennis ever so quickly? What's next for her? Also, how should the other Americans in the final four--Madison Keys, CoCo Vandeweghe, Venus Williams--feel about their tournaments? And what sort of #1 will Garbine Muguruza be after unseating Karolina Pliskova?

And snaps to the USTA for one heckuva tournament.

Also, we discuss the new tennis movie Battle of the Sexes, as well as Maria Sharapova's new memoir "Unstoppable."

Mentioned on this episode: Chloe Cooper Jones' GQ piece on Dominic Thiem and Kelsey Anderson talking taxes on NCR.

As always, thanks for liking us on Facebook (leave comments on the episode thread! Engage with other listeners!), following us on Twitter (discuss this episode with hashtag #NCR198b!), and subscribing/reviewing on iTunes on iTunes or whatever your podcasting app/platform of choice may be!

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