No Challenges Remaining

With Wimbledon just around the corner, Ben and Courtney stroll through the grass lead up so far. Who has raised his or her stock most? How much can we read into these results? And what is it about the tranquility of Halle and Eastbourne that make them such idyllic warmups? Also: super takes on super coaches. Then, we welcome back Wimbledon superstar  Alex Willis , who catches up listeners on devel...

As Ben soaks up the Halle Weltenschauung, he is joined this week by a voice any tennis fan should be very familiar with:  Nick Lester , one of the anchors of the ATP's world feed television coverage, beamed and streamed around the world. Nick discusses his path to the microphones he today graces, plus his takes on what makes for good and bad commentary, and all sorts of other related topics that w...

Nearly dried out from a miserably soggy French Open, Ben and Courtney are up in much sunnier Scotland, drinking in the tournament and some ales in an Edinburgh pub (our apologies for the sometimes overwhelming background clatter). First, Garbine Muguruza won on the women's side. What did she show during her run, and how worried should we be about the inevitability of Serena Williams breaking recor...

As the first week of the French Open wraps up, Ben and Courtney bring in a legendary tennis Tweeter to guest on each side of the tournament. First, discussing women's happenings, it's  Tumaini Carayol ! How well is this women's draw holding together to pay off in a great second week (answer: very), and should Alize Lim's outfit have saved her from some doubles fine (answer: why not?)  On the men's...

Our first mini show from the French Open wrapped up an uneventful first five days. On Friday there was news, and it was bad news: Rafael Nadal withdrew with a left wrist injury.  To discuss and contemplate what this means for Nadal short-term and long-term, Ben is joined by the wonderful  Marta Mateo  of La Vanguardia, who discusses Rafa, the aging of the Armada, and the shift in focus to the two...

It hasn't been a very eventful French Open yet (not necessarily a bad thing), so here after the first two rounds have finished we bring you a few morsels from the press room. From Thursday evening, hear Tatjana Maria's indignation at the behavior of her opponent Alize Cornet in their dramatic second round clash. Then, hear Florida-raised Naomi Osaka attempt to speak to her country's press in Japan...

Not much music this time, but Ben and Courtney try to hit all the right notes in this breakdown of the French Open draws (after a quick review of the Rome action), including some predictions. On the men's side, if it takes a team effort to beat Novak Djokovic, then who can contribute to that? And what are the chances like for his rivals Nadal, Wawrinka, and Murray? On the women's side, does Serena...

We are beyond excited to bring you the NCRvision Song Contest, a celebration of and competition for the best songs inspired by tennis in the world! Ben and cohosts  Carole Bouchard  and  Rene Denfeld  walk you through the 26 songs which reached the final and are hoping for your votes.  The ballot is here . Any questions, please ask! Here's the running order, full of twists and turns and bops and j...

On the eve of glorious NCRvision, Ben and Courtney debrief briefly on the week that was in Madrid, where Simona Halep put herself back in the conversation by winning yet another wide-open WTA tournament. What does a Paris shortlist look like? Probably not very short. On the men's side, Novak Djokovic wins his 29th Masters, Rafael Nadal dropped off, and Andy Murray ended his two-year partnership wi...

Ben and Courtney are covering the Mutua Madrid Open for the first time, and are surprised by some things and not by others. We also discuss the schedule management concerns cropping up this week as they pertain to grassophiles Roger Federer and Venus Williams, as well as the general topics of the Olympics drawing closer on the horizon. Then, we sit down with the ever delightful and insightful  Tim...

In their last pre-Europe show, Ben and Courtney discuss the things you probably shouldn't do on television, like Roselyne Bachelot's accusations about Rafael Nadal that just drew a defamation lawsuit. But is there any good way to talk about illicit performance enhancement speculation, a question raised by Andy Murray voicing his vague suspicions? Also, Serena Williams and her throne joined Beyonce...

It's our sesquicentennial! As Ben and Courtney commemorate 150 episodes (well, actually this is our 181st, but you know we're not much for counting correctly), they first take you on a trip to the south of France, where NCR's France correspondant  Carole Bouchard  wraps up the Monte Carlo Masters, where Nadal won on clay and it was somehow a surprise. Then, after a detour through Fed Cup, we pivot...

Today is Tax Day in the United States, and so we thought we'd take a dive into the fun and splashy topic of taxes! Joining Ben to talk about finances and bookkeeping in tennis is  Kelsey Anderson , the wife of top ATP player Kevin Anderson, who herself is a certified public accountant (though even she outsources some of the more complex tax stuff to an expert in tennis taxes). Tax laws that affect...

After the tennis world was glued to the unlikely location of a 6-0, 6-0 qualifying match at a $25k in Pelham, Alabama, Ben chats in this mini-episode with the reason for that fascination: Gail Falkenberg, who continues to compete in professional tennis at the age of 69. What has this 15 minutes of fame (including  coverage in the Wall Street Journal ) been like for her? What were her origins in te...

With one-quarter of this year behind us, Ben and Courtney assess the 2016 season so far, where surprises on the women's side are met with complete predictability for the men. Is the shakeup atop the women's game--including Victoria Azarenka's "Sunshine Double"--more a product of the field improving or Serena Williams slipping? And who, if anyone, can be considered a clay court favorite? On the men...

After an Indian Wells that wasn't much about tennis, Ben and Courtney hope to be able to move on in Miami...but not before trying to make sense of Novak Djokovic's clumsy PR maneuvers, and enjoying a seminar from Professor Billie Jean King.  Then, is anyone closing the gap on Novak Djokovic? How much concern is merited over Serena Williams' recent losing streak of sorts? Is it fair to panic? And w...

Back together at last, Ben and Courtney wrap up all the doings of Indian Wells for you, obviously first and foremost dealing with the controversial remarks of CEO and tournament director Raymond Moore (which led to his stepping down after we recorded). What do his remarks say about the current state of play between the ATP and WTA, especially as they concern gratitude or money or whatever? And how...

As the dust settles on a week that saw Maria Sharapova (and several busloads of other athletes) test positive for the newly-prohibited substance meldonium, Ben convenes a roundtable of tennis talkers to discuss the case and it's implications near and far. With friends of the show  Jon Wertheim ,  Carole Bouchard  and  Simon Cambers , we discuss the test itself, what it means to Sharapova's legacy,...

Talk about your emergency episodes. After Maria Sharapova dropped the bombshell that she had tested positive for a (recently) banned substance at the Australian Open, Ben discusses the facts of the case with doping expert  Richard Ings . Who is to blame here? What is the likely punishment? Was it fair to expect Sharapova to realize that something she had taken without incident for a decade was sud...

As February and its unexpected results take a flying leap, Ben and Courtney discuss the month that was, and who emerges strong (looking at you, Sloane). We then pivot a bit, as we do annually, to the Oscars, which had more of a tennis hook than usual because of the attendance of Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova. Tennis stars are popular, you guys! Then, we discuss why women's te...

This week, Ben and Courtney come to realize that things just aren't what they used to be. Like Rafael Nadal's tennis, which Courtney bore witness to this week in Rio, where he again looked mortal on clay. Also, Caroline Wozniacki's reliability, since she fell out of the top 20 for the first time in nearly eight years. And even with Nick Kyrgios winning his first title, is there a stable foundation...

February is a choose your own adventure sort of month in tennis, and Ben and Courtney have all sorts of fun on a windy path through results of debatable relevance. Are wins by players like Thiem, Klizan, Vinci and Venus meaningful? How about more dodgy losses for Nadal? And what is a fair level of hype to be putting on Taylor Fritz right now? Then we take a number like we never have before, and fo...

Ben and Courtney are delighted to be back stateside, and delighted that Andy Murray's child (it's a girl!) arrived at a convenient time. Less delightful is the latest corruption scandal in tennis, and Ben is joined by  Sean Ingle  of the Guardian to discuss his report into the silent banning of two chair umpires  for misconduct at the Futures level. Less ickily, Fed Cup happened this weekend, so w...

Another Australian Open, another Novak Djokovic title. Ben and Courtney know the unsurprisingness of it all is unsurprising, because it's becoming clear that Novak Djokovic is just in a league of his own. So, how will he do against a tougher opponent than any now on tour: history? And where does this tournament leave Andy Murray, besides once again cementing his trophy ceremony tearjerker crown? T...

Angelique Kerber stunned Serena Williams in three sets to become the 2016 Australian Open champion, and Ben and Courtney are here to take you through how it happened. Why did Serena keep crashing the net with no success? How will this change how Kerber is seen and what she can do in her career? How does Serena recover from this? Will this finally get women's tennis naysayers to shut up for a bit?...