No Challenges Remaining

Reunited for their first in-person show together in more than 18 months, Ben and Courtney chat in New York on the eve of the U.S. Open about storylines from the men's and women's draws, including: Who, if anyone, can derail Novak Djokovic? Why is Stefanos Tsitsipas a good draw for Andy Murray? What do we make of Barty's increasingly impressive reign at #1, and can Osaka or Andreescu contend withou...

Our guy Tumaini Carayol joins from Tokyo, where he's covering the Olympics for The Guardian , for a discussion of the happenings in tennis and elsewhere at the Games. What happened to Novak Djokovic, who was cruising toward a Golden Slam before suddenly crashing out with three defeats and a withdrawal in a nightmare 36 hour stretch? And how did Pablo Carreno Busta become the breakout achiever of t...

As the Olympic results surprise on the other side of the globe, we take a moment to check back in more locally on the tennis scene stateside, where the Citi Open in Washington is set to begin this weekend with Rafael Nadal as a surprise headliner. Tournament owner Mark Ein, who was a three-time guest on NCR last year as he discussed the uncertainty of having an event in the flux of the pandemic, j...

The Olympics are on the horizon at last in the Land of the Rising Sun, and so Ben is joined by Alex Gruskin of Cracked Racquets to break down the women's and men's singles draws for the fast-approaching Tokyo tennis turn-up. On the women's side, is Ash Barty ready to be seen as a dominant clear favorite in women's tennis yet? Or could other surging players like Barbora Krejcikova or Aryna Sabalenk...

Back stateside, Ben reconnects with Courtney to discuss the Wimbledon finals, which saw Ash Barty win her 2nd and Novak Djokovic win his 20th. On Barty, what does her win say about the current conversation around mental health? And on Djokovic, is he destined to win a Calendar Golden Slam? Also bits on Pliskova, Berrettini, and our thoughts on the increasingly large numbers of top players opting o...

On the eve of the finals, Ben and Tumaini Carayol catch up on the second week that was at Wimbledon, which has set up two pretty strong finals: Djokovic-Berrettini and Barty-Pliskova. Plenty else happened along the way to those showdowns, of course, so we discuss men's happenings including Federer's dramatic fade against Hurkacz, Felix Auger-Aliassime's strong showing,  and the wackadoodle fifth s...

Ben and Courtney convene for the last of what has been a tradition: a Middle Sunday episode from Wimbledon. What do we make of this tradition being phased out? And how about this first week at Wimbledon, which seemed to have found its footing as a great tournament after some early slips? We discuss our favorite moments so far, and how both the men and women are set up for the second week. Also, Co...

After five days together at Wimbledon Ben and Tumaini Carayol chat about what it's been like to be back at a Grand Slam in person for the first time in well over a year, what's the same, and what's different about being at the All England Club once more. We also discuss Andy Murray's fatalistic finish to his press conference, and what we can see among the many aging stars openly contemplating thei...

Wimbledon is back up and running, but many of the top players have been falling down. Serena Williams was the biggest casualty of the slick Centre Court, aggravating an injury that forced her out of her third round match. To get the low-down on the ground, Ben is joined for a quick chat by NCR's Charm City correspondent Pam Shriver for her take on the lush lawns, and what might be done to make the...

Ben and Courtney reunite from eight time zones apart to discuss the men's and women's draws at Wimbledon, where the tours return after two years away. We start with the men, where Novak Djokovic is a clear favorite. But the French Open taught us to be ready for surprises, right? The women's side is, as typical, quite wide open. And like the men, there's some incomplete data for these players on gr...

Novak Djokovic came back from two sets down to win the French Open final on Sunday, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets and putting himself in increasingly rare in men's tennis history. NCR's Middle East and North Africa correspondent Reem Abulleil joins to discuss what has made Djokovic so uniquely great and unflappable, and how big hopes for his near future should be. His ambitions, and his...

Barbora Krejcikova prevailed over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Saturday's unlikely French Open final, and Ben and Courtney are here to talk about what it all means. How was Krejcikova able to win this match? What does her win tell us about what it takes to win a Slam? What questions do we still have about her and her game? What does this win mean for the tour going forward? And what about that unus...

We will have our show on the women's final soon, but in the meantime we are delighted to share a bonus episode with Saša Ozmo , the Serbian reporter who has covered Novak Djokovic more closely than anyone on his ascendancy toward the front of most of the G.O.A.T. discussions. Ben and Saša discuss Djokovic's win over Nadal (and the importance of consolidating it), the ups and downs on his recent pa...

Novak Djokovic dealt Rafael Nadal only the third defeat of his Roland Garros career on Friday, knocking out the 13-time French Open champion in four sets, in a match that had people calling it one of the greatest of all time during the epic third set. Andrew Eccles of The Spin joins to discuss how this match ranks in the pantheon, what Djokovic did to defy the odds, how surprising the result is, a...

Greece is the word at the 2021 French Open, with two semifinalists in Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas. Sakkari lost in an epic semifinal on Thursday against Barbora Krejcikova (who plays Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the final), while Tsitsipas hopes to make his first Slam final with a win on Friday. To discuss the Greeks, we are joined with the Athena of tennis media, Vicky Georgatou , who is...

What semblance of stability there had been in the women's draw disappeared with Iga Swiatek's loss on Wednesday to Maria Sakkari, making it four first-time Slam semifinalists in the final four of the French Open. Hall of Famer Pam Shriver joins Ben to discuss the women's draw, and the high-quality tennis that has led to an unlikely semifinal slate which also includes Barbora Krejcikova, who defeat...

In the most highly anticipated quarterfinal, Stefanos Tsitsipas dispatched his rival Daniil Medvedev in straight sets. Ben is joined by The Guardian's Tumaini Carayol , NCR's Spain and Sub-Saharan Africa correspondent, to discuss Tsitsipas' big win, how it sets up the men's draw, and how much sizzle there really still is to the Tsitsipas-Medvedev beef. We also discuss Tsitsipas' semifinal opponent...

Ben and Courtney reconvene to discuss the eight women and eight men left standing after four rounds at Roland Garros, and how things might play out from here. We start with Andy Murray fave Iga Swiatek, the last to book her spot, who is becoming an increasingly prohibitive favorite. How will she handle that role? And what of the other women in the top draw who can trouble her? And how might things...

It was a day of easy parallels at Roland Garros, with 39-year-olds Roger Federer and Serena Williams both bowing out, albeit in different fashions. Federer withdrew from the French Open hours after his late-night win over Dominik Koepfer, having gotten the match practice he wanted before the grass season where he plans to peak. Serena played, but was outplayed by Elena Rybakina, who handed in a pr...

Ben and Courtney cross the 300 threshold at long last, inspired by the truly Spartan effort of Maria Sakkari. After a bit of chatting and reminiscing about the milestone, Ben and Courtney talk to Maria about her warrior mentality, where that has to give way to taking it easy, finding the right coach, having a mom who played on tour, and making friends and keeping connections to home on this travel...

We have a two-part episode today for you! First, Ben and Courtney chat in press with Sorana Cirstea, who is back into the second week at Roland Garros for the first time since 2009. Where did this good form come from, and what advice would she give to young players?  Then, Ben is joined by Ricky Dimon for a slew of prop picks about Day 7 happenings at Roland Garros, both off court and on. Will Iga...

Ben and Courtney reunite to look back on the first two rounds that have been completed at Roland Garros in the men's and women's draws. We start with the men, but the big story from Day 5 was undoubtedly the injury of Ash Barty, which forced the 2019 champion out of the tournament. What were the signs this was coming? Is Iga Swiatek reaching Nadalesque levels of dominance and inevitability already...

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova has been winning matches at Grand Slams for a long time, and she makes an overdue visit to NCR after winning her second round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday. Ben and Nastia discuss changes in her motivation over her career, what she's looking for in a coach, trying to keep her individuality in a cookie cutter world, mental health in tennis, and, most crucially, how ou...

As the clay dust settles from Naomi Osaka's turbulent departure from Roland Garros, we turn back to the players still standing at Roland Garros, none of whom stand taller than Reilly Opelka. Opelka, who won his first round convincingly over Andrej Martin, joins Ben to discuss things including the advantages of being a big hitter on a small court, playing anti-tennis, his love of museums, and his a...

It was a sad day at Roland Garros on Monday as Naomi Osaka's stand against mandatory press conferences ended with her withdrawal from the tournament, posting an eloquent statement that cited not wanting to be a distraction as well as mental health struggles that have included long bouts of depression. To discuss this somber news, how this impasse arrived, and what if anything could have been handl...