No Challenges Remaining

Ben and Courtney are full of Wimbledon joy as they inhale the vaunted fumes of Centre Court, where the 2017 tournament will soon start.  They start breaking down the men's draw by discussing Sasha Bublik, the highly-entertaining Russian-turned-Kazakh who lucked into a spot playing Andy Murray in R1. You'll hear some of his pre-tournament press, then we break down the paths of the top-four seeds, w...

We are delighted to finally be able to fulfill one of our most frequent listener requests: an interview with a chair umpire!  Felix Torralba, a gold badge chair umpire who worked full-time with WTA and has also worked around the world of tennis on all corners of the globe, recently retired from officiating to take a full-time position at the Mallorca Open, where Ben caught up with him. He answers...

Ben and Courtney have a lot to catch up on after the French Open. Well, maybe a little bit less on the men's side, where a fairly lackluster men's tournament ended in obvious fashion--albeit in style! Rafael Nadal is really good, but we knew that. Elsewhere in the men's game, things look much better for Andy Murray and much worse for Novak Djokovic. What should Novak do to give himself a chance to...

It's Slamming time again! Ben and Courtney break down the French Open draws for both the men's and women's. On the women's side, where there are many favorites to choose from, who got the best and worst draws? And whose great draws and good recent forms could lead them to a second consecutive semifinal (or better)? There are multiple correct answers to that one. On the men's side, could this be a...

In our first somewhat normal show together since the European clay swing began in earnest, Ben and Courtney catch up on what has happened in the past several weeks, from Stuttgart to Madrid to Rome. Firstly, we assess the form and future of Maria Sharapova, the predominant protagonist of those tournaments, even if her runs ended early at the last two. Where does she go from here? Also, we (again,...

In a decision that had been anticipated for months, French Tennis Federation president Bernard Giudicelli surprised many by not granting Maria Sharapova any wild card--not even into qualifying--for Roland Garros, locking out the two-time champion there as she continues to work on rebuilding her ranking following her 15-month absence due to a positive test. In this short episode, Ben discusses the...

It's Eurovision season again, and it's NCRvision season again! One year after we launched the NCRvision Song Contest , we're happy to be able to bring it back to you to gear up from the results show, which will be coming in a few days. It's possible that some of these amazing songs have faded from your memory (or that you missed them altogether), so we're bringing you this refresher of the show, a...

We are delighted to be able to fulfill a wish of many of our listeners for years now by bringing on Jamie Hampton (a.k.a. Julie Hamilton) as a guest, who has been out of sight as she rehabs various injuries but not out of our minds of many listeners. Ben and Jamie discuss her mindset as she copes with setbacks, the perspective she's gained on tour issues from being away, the current landscape of t...

With best wishes, Ben and Courtney convene after Serena Williams' announcement that she is expecting her first child this fall, and may already be as far as 20 weeks into her pregnancy. Does this change how we look back on her title at the Australian Open in January, when she already would have been roughly two months pregnant? And what does this mean for the tour going forward? And what is the st...

With a quarter of 2017 now complete, Ben and Courtney try to make sense of it all. But does it make sense, really? Daria Kasatkina won Charleston in an all-teen final, which should be a big result. But what are results anyhow, when every player seems to have a roughly equal share of success and failure these days? Which characters and plotlines are really relevant? Does TV have the answers? The me...

Wrapping up the happenings in Indian Wells, Ben and Courtney cover the popular champs and the odd ways their matches were pitted against each other. First, is the surprising win of Elena Vesnina reflective of a current landscape of opportunity in women's tennis? And where might this title lead her? And for Roger Federer, how much is about him surging and how much is about the others atop men's ten...

With Maria Sharapova's ban set to end in just over a month, we've assembled an all-star lineup to discuss her impending return and the many questions it raises in this our fourth episode (here are 1 , 2 , and 3 ) about Sharapova's saga. First, Ben speaks with Markus Günthardt, the tournament director of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart where Sharapova will be making her comeback on Wednesday, A...

If you can't see stars on a clear desert night, are they still there? Ben and Courtney contemplate these quandries and more as they reunite in Indian Wells, where lumpy draws made for exciting clusters of fun, the #1 dude lost to a guy outside the top 100, and Madison Keys returned for her first tournament in five months.  We discuss patience with young prospects who might seem to fall short of th...

With the tours spending three weeks in the region, there's no better time to check in with NCR's Middle East correspondent, Reem Abulleil , for a quick catch-up on the doings over there. After a rough go of things last year, Caroline Wozniacki made good, despite some rain on her parades. And what to make of Elina Svitolina, who has stealthily piled up some very impressive scalps? Also, Roger Feder...

It's been a slowish month of tennis, anthem nightmares notwithstanding, so Ben and Courtney turn to the ever-reliable mailbag to fill out most of this week's show. With the popularity of the Australian Open, should hard court tournament directors adjust their court speeds accordingly? What are fair expectations for Maria Sharapova's return to tour in a couple months? And why don't people talk more...

There was an eye-catching ending to Davis Cup this weekend, so Ben and Courtney open by discussing Denis Shapovalov's howitzer into the face of chair umpire Arnaud Gabas, and all the various conversations it starts. Should tennis players drastically rein in their tantrums? Should rules change? Or would an overreaction clamp down on a sport that needs big personalities? Then, Ben chats with the fou...

Back home from their Australian adventures, and with time to process the "dream finals" of the Australian Open, Ben and Courtney rouse and reflect on what to make of the Serena-Venus and Federer-Nadal finals, and what they say about the current state of tennis, both for the players involved and the weekend's presumed losers (i.e. Angelique Kerber, Murray-Djokovic matches, etc).  Also, how does the...

Tennis got everything it ever wanted! ...right? Ben and Courtney break down the double-dip dream dates of the unexpected vintage Venus-Serena and Federer-Nadal finals that this Australian Open will conclude with. How did the matches go that got these four stars here, how will the finals themselves go, and how should we feel about them? Also, all the props in the world to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. Is s...

With the Aussie Open halfway between quarterfinals and semifinals, Ben is rejoined by Courtney to assess all the fun. Has this Slam been satisfying? Depends on if you're into role reversal, really. The men have been wild and the women have been mild, but it should be setting up for great finishes on both tours, we hope! Speaking of saving the best for last, this sport is aging like a fine wine and...

The surprises continue on Day 7 of the Australian Open, where both #1s lost Sunday. Angelique Kerber went out to CoCo Vandeweghe (not a huge shock) and Andy Murray went out to Mischa Zverev (a huge shock).  First, to talk about both Zverev brothers and some German tennis in general, Ben (alone today as Courtney is out sick) talks to Petra Philippsen , a German freelancer. Then, with the draws coll...

Day 4 was a day of upsets in Melbourne. No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska got blitzed by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (as Courtney flagged), but the biggest story was six-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic stunningly falling in five sets to 117th-ranked wildcard Denis Istomin. To assess Novak's slide, as well as other perceptions of him in Serbia and the wider world, Ben chats with Belgrade-based  Saša...

It's only three days into the Australian Open, but 160 players have already lost in the singles draws (355 if you add qualifying losers). We hardly knew ye! But let's get to know ye? For our second Melbourne mini-show, Ben sat down with #132 Peter Polansky , a Canadian lucky loser who fell in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, dropping out in the brutal heat of a fifth set against...

The Australian Open is underway, and Ben and Courtney are surviving, so far! Simona Halep was an early casualty, however, so we discuss her limping into the sunset in the tournament's opening hours. Also we hear from longtime NCR stalwart Andrea Petkovic's first round press conference. She's a fun one, yo. The biggest narrative on the men's side so far has been the cavalcade of gangly teens slowly...

Together again in Melbourne, Ben and Courtney dive right into the women's and men's draws of the 2017 Australian Open, rolling in some thoughts on the season so far along the way.  It's somewhat business as usual, with so many women relevant and so few men, but there's one particular woman who both Ben and Courtney are super geeked for. Can she break out and win her first Slam? How much or little...

Since 2016 had so much stuff to remember, Ben and Courtney split Episode 175 into two pieces so they could make it all more manageable. Here's the second part, which covers (more or less) late April until the end of the year.  Lots in there, to be sure, so be sure to chew carefully. And if there's still something worthwhile which we forgot (and there almost certainly is), let us know on Twitter or...