Hold On to Your Racket with Josefina Gurevich and Shravya Pant

Doping drama has overtaken the tennis world, just in time for the best and most chaotic Grand Slam of the year – the US Open. We unpack Jannik Sinner's drug test scandal and explain why we stand by his appeal and explanation, in addition to the exciting tennis awaiting us in the Big Apple. From scenes at US Open fan week visit to our picks to win (Aryna, we're looking at you), tune in to o...

The Olympics did not disappoint, and we’re here to tell you how and why. This week we are covering everything from Andy Murray’s final points to Coco’s flag-bearing prowess to Rafael Nadal’s baby being the cutest ever…and of course the medalists, as well. Tune in for a full rundown of everything that went down this past week in Paris and special coverage of a certain mixed doubles partnership reco...

Soccer wasn’t the only championship played on grass this weekend! From Carlos’ clean victory over Nole to Barb’s impressive and emotional tribute to her late mentor, we’re back from our (not so) brief hiatus to celebrate another memorable Wimbledon. Tune in to enjoy some tennis and laughs as you get ready to impress the lunchtime conversation with your athletic acumen.

This week the Hold On to Your Racket duo is talking the ATP Finals in Turin. We break down both groups, Red and Green, from Jannik Sinner’s steady rise and Daniil Medvedev’s incognito success this season to Novak's continued historic glory and Rune's fresh appearance. Before we break down the year-ending men’s tournament, however, HOTYR discusses Hot Headlines. This includes Turin contesta...

Hold On to Your Racket is back! …And with an exciting WTA Finals preview. Set in Cancun, this exciting event celebrates an entire season of phenomenal women’s tennis. We cover everything from the controversy over the tournament’s stadium construction to breaking down each participant’s 2023 season. Tune in for a glittering in-depth preview!

After yet another hiatus, HOTYR has an episode for you… and jeez was it a good time to make one. So… NAOMI OSAKA IS HAVING A BABY?? Yes, so just by that you should tune in to this episode and hear our thoughts on her bun in the oven, as well as her newfound drive for tennis. In addition to that massive piece of news, we are counting down the days until the release of Break Point, Netflix’s tennis...

It has been way too long!! Do not worry, the Hotties are back with some WTA Final action and Hot Headline catch-up. We just took an intermission to settle into our very demanding academic lives, but we promise the podcast is not going anywhere. Very eager to get back into the groove, we start by discussing some Halep drama regarding her not being aware of taking an illegal enhancing substance (??)...

There has only been one headline on everyone’s minds this week. Roger. Federer’s. Retirement. As GenZ’ers, Roger’s career has meant something different to us, but he has had an undeniable cross-generation impact on tennis. In this episode of Hold On to Your Racket, we’re paying homage to not only an absolute legend, but the era of tennis he and Serena are taking with them. There’s no saying what’l...

It’s a magical weekend at the US Open as we’ve got two exciting finals upon us. We discuss what to expect with Carlos’ electrifying game, Iga’s continued dominance, Casper’s solid play and admirable humility, and Ons’ impressive consistency on the big stage. With a new era of ATP tennis peaking through and 2022's top two in form WTA players facing off in the last grand slam of the year, the US Ope...

HOTYR’s favorite slam is finally here and we couldn’t be more excited. My dear co-host, Josefina, is away on a well deserved vacation this week so instead I, Shravya, am joined by a HOTYR local, dear friend and loyal Nolefam member Miller. We begin our lively conversation with a rundown of some of the latest headlines, namely Djokovic confirming his absence from the US Open (a tough pill to swallo...

We are so excited to share this interview with you all. For the first time in HOTYR history, we got to sit down with a real life professional tennis player (yes, they actually exist): Robin Montgomery! What better perspective to hear from than a fellow tennis obsessed GenZ-er? We discuss Robin’s young tennis career, including her impressive 2021 US Open girls singles and doubles championship doubl...

Cincy tennis baby! We start with a little blast from the past; while getting ready to leave for college, Shravya discovered a little elementary school project, a book she wrote in first grade titled “How to Be a Good Tennis Player.” Next time your fave is in their flop era, lend them this book. We then chat about the action in Cincy this week, with a resurgent WTA field (and some drama about balls...

Another classic episode of HOTYR with your two favorite teenage mutant ninja turtle hosts, minus the mutant ninja turtle part. This episode has an extra layer of pizzazz because Shravya made a little trip up to Toronto to watch some tennis, so we have some up-close and personal accounts of the tennis in the Maple Leaf Country. We open up with a heartfelt discussion of an icon leaving the sport, th...

It’s like we’ve met our idol…because the one and only Blair Henley was our guest this episode! Blair has become one of the most recognizable faces in tennis media, working at some of the top tournaments (including the Grand Slams, tour finals, Masters 1000 events, and much more) to bring the player content we know and love. We chat with Blair about her career, all the way from her college tennis e...

Seriously…we thought we were done with the dirt. Nevertheless, we persisted. This GenZ tennis podcasting duo is back to chat some of the best tennis highlights, both on and off the court, of the past two weeks. Recent action has shown us Musetti magic, Bernarda on fire, Fran’s title debut, Domi’s return to form, and some strong play from Anett, Matteo, and Casper; faves doing well all around! Off...

We’re wrapping up Wimbledon in classy fashion with this episode and an awesome event thrown by Wimbledon, the Hill in NY, featuring live viewing of the finals at an NYC replication of Henman Hill. We dive right into the conversation that needs to be had, the Kyrgios allegations. We discuss victim erasure in the media and different conversations (or lack thereof) that are being had regarding Chiara...

A monumental episode for Hold On to Your Racket! ONE. HUNDRED. EPISODES. We hit this big step in the HOTYR journey with a stellar episode. We discuss mostly Wimbledon, since it is currently happening in case you didn’t know. We start it out with some unfortunate withdrawals due to Covid from Matteo and Marin, then close out Hot Headlines with some talk about what Iga has been doing with her spotli...

Summer has officially started and the grass is greener than ever; welcome to the grass season! As we soak up the summer sun and embark on two months of tennis coaching (oh boy), we turn from our Red Ball classes to the professional level, discussing the latest on the ATP and WTA tours when it comes to the grass. A celebration of Serena’s return and Rafael Nadal’s baby are both in order, as well as...

Roland Garros has ended and we are here to wrap it up. We discuss some notable headlines, ranging from WTA players speaking out about menstruation to protestors walking on to Court Philippe-Chatrier to fabricated locker room beef. We also chat about Rafa’s historic #22 in 2022 and Iga’s continued win streak, while highlighting the impressive runs of Coco, Casper, and more. Also catch a glimpse of...

Bonjour, mes amis! We are back with a quick turnaround to celebrate the fun and chaos of the French Open! Join us as we discuss the action in the early rounds in Paris (Stef’s routine comeback, OJ and Barbie K’s early exits, Shapo’s rush to get back to rapping, and more), the ATP and WTA’s formal decision about Wimbledon, player responses to the point drop (Naomi, don’t just quit the grass!), and...

We’re coming close to a huge HOTYR milestone: 10k plays!! Very exciting and what an episode to close it out… juicy hot headlines and an in-depth Clay Slam preview await. We hit it off with the big topic: the ATP and WTA stripping Wimbledon of ranking points in response to their Russian/Belarussian player ban. We discuss the impact and grounds behind this move and what role politics play in the spo...

Buongiorno! HOTYR takes Italia in this episode covering the action at the Italian Open in Rome. We discuss who’s remaining in the field on the ATP and WTA sides of the tournament, including Shapo’s surprising victory (plus a theory we have about what exactly led to his success...) and our favorite cup of OJ’s (Ons Jabeur, if you didn’t get the joke) continued clay success. We also highlight the It...

After a bit of rest since our last episode, we are back! Thank you to everyone who tuned into Episode 93 and shared the love; we really appreciate it and are excited to welcome some new listeners to HOTYR! This episodes dives into the ATP And WTA clay season action so far, particularly in Madrid, but we also explore some important off-court discussions. For example, what’s up with the Wimbledon ba...

Special guest alert: Morgan Riddle! The woman on a mission to make tennis cool again, social media influencer with nearly 50k followers on Instagram and over 230k followers on TikTok, “Tennis Tour 101” TikTok creator, and girlfriend of Taylor Fritz (ATP #13, highest ranked American male player) joins us on this very special episode of HOTYR. We discuss Morgan’s career, how she got into influencing...

It’s clay season, baby! We discuss the biggest ongoing and upcoming clay tournaments of recent, Charleston and Monte-Carlo, predicting our clay standouts (and dropouts…) of the season. We also talk the PMou coach poach, Serena’s comeback at Wimbledon, Matteo’s unfortunate injury, and Ons’ impressive return to form. We’re one with the clay today! Just listen to Josefina - you can hear it in her voi...