The Canadian Open (finally) ends, and with a shocker: Burlington, Ontario’s Victoria Mboko snatches her first WTA title after starting the year outside the top 300, and Ben Shelton wins his first Masters event. Honestly, the longer format, the withdrawals of the top men, and the Cincinnati overlap all really hurt this tournament (the second-longest running in tennis history, btw!). We didn’t want to contribute to this Naomi speech discourse, but I guess we do in a small way. Plus: Stefano Vukov’s suspension has been overturned, That Guy is delulu (but in a very intentional PR type of way), and we take a question or two from the mailbag.
0:40 Burlington’s Very Own
13:50 The Naomi Discourse - not doing it again! (well, a little)
25:00 Performance, Bye
29:20 The longer format is sucking the life out of the Canadian Open
39:45 Shelton wins his first Masters 1000, electronic line calling loses (again)
48:00 Stefano Vukov’s ban by the WTA has been overturned in arbitration
59:50 A few questions from the mailbag
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The Mubadala Citi Destiny's Child Open
Starting off hot with two updates in doping cases: first, Jannik Sinner has rehired one of the men responsible for the clostebol contamination. In Tara Moore’s case, CAS ruled that the actual beef was legitimate, but the figurative beef with the ITIA, sadly, was not. The DC tournament had outsized buzz this year, thanks to Venus Williams’ wild card and surprising performance, owner Mark Ein’s boosterism for DC-area tennis, Fernandez’s impressive run, and de Minaur’s late-stage heroics. Later, we touch on the Canadian Open, coaching drama, some big local retirements, and answer a few fun listener questions.
01:30 Sinner rehires fitness coach Ferrara after a year in timeout
10:35 Tara Moore’s case concludes with a 4-year ban
14:20 She’s still The Venus Williams
30:25 de Minaur wins a heartbreaker against ADF
33:55 Leylah Fernandez wins biggest career title (+ scheduling complaint in Montreal)
39:50 Canadians in the Canadian Open: retirements, withdrawals, but at least Mboko remains standing!
46:30 Coaching changes: two “supercoaches” constantly putting themselves in the talk
51:30 Listener questions: Toronto recs
57:50 Tournament essentials
62:25 An FMK like no other
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TBS x Courtney Part II
Presenting part two of our interview with Courtney Nguyen, tennis podcaster, blogger, and former Senior Writer, WTA Insider! This time around, we chat about tennis commentary, the various ways the ATP encroaches upon the WTA, and Courtney's evolving approach to podcasting while also working for the tour. We had to ask about Courtney's favorite players to cover while at the WTA (and the most challenging), her favorite commentators, and the inevitable(?) day when opinion-havers like the three of us simply run out of opinions.
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Luck Be a Sinner This Fortnight
Wimbledon ends with maybe not the champions we chose but the ones we were given. Iga Swiatek honed her grass game and unleashed an almighty tempest to beat Amanda Anisimova with the loss of zero games. Jannik Sinner snapped his 5-match skid against chief rival Carlos Alcaraz by pounding his way to the title. We cover the very human and predictable limitations of electronic line calling, Sally Jenkins’ (warranted) hit piece on John McEnroe, and our lasting impressions of London. You can also expect us to discuss the embarrassing display of billionaire worship that occurred when “activist investor” Bill Ackman got an undeserved wild card to the Hall of Fame Open.
2:10 Dorothea Lambert Chambers thought her record was safe; Iga thought otherwise
16:10 Amanda’s journey to the Wimbledon final
21:05 Dimitrov and Djokovic injuries ease Sinner’s path
26:15 What happened, Carlitos?
35:15 Jonathan’s addendum on Swiatek’s season so far
38:50 Electronic line calling is fallible after all!
45:15 Ackman at the Newport Casino as we enter a new and dark Gilded Age
52:20 Sally Jenkins says what fans have been saying for years: fire McEnroe
58:20 Last notes from London
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Strawberries and WHAT?!
We’re back from our first ever trip to Wimbledon with lots of stories from the grounds and our impressions of the whole British Empire of it all (it's intoxicating at the same time). We were there for the hottest opening day in Wimbledon’s history, and the heat seemed to wreak havoc on the draw, with 36 seeds out by the end of round two. We’ll take you through the draws and some notable matches we saw -- Fritz-Mpetshi Perricard, Krejcikova-Eala, Sabelanka-Branstine, plus Mboko, Baptiste, and ‘Cos’ Giron. Plus, if you’re curious about the various ways to get Wimbledon tickets, we’ve got you (even though it’s still not easy).
2:00 What it was like being at Wimbledon: Let’s start with the food
10:05 Around the grounds: ivy, flowers, Henman Hill, Hailey the Baptist
30:30 How does one get tickets to Wimbledon?
39:30 It was really hot and a bunch of seeds fell
47:00 Women’s draw: #2-6 are out but Andreeva and Swiatek remain in the bottom half …
57:30 Men’s draw: Fritz hanging on, Alcaraz playing entirely too many sets
Theme music courtesy of Oleg Fedak from Pixabay
New Zealand