The Body Serve

Checking in as we face week two of Wimbledon: 6 of the top 8 women are out, including the #1 and last year’s finalists, but we’re left with a surging Coco Gauff, a Linda Noskova ready to break out (again), a healthy Karolina Muchova, and a Naomi Osaka who’s trying to shed the hard court specialist mantle. On the men’s side, Sinner and Djokovic are on a crash course, our faves Felix and Alejandro a...

The 2026 Wimbledon tournament kicks off Monday, and along with it comes the disorienting experience of seeing the name Serena Williams in a singles draw again. Expectations are all over the place as she opens against the Australian Maya Joint. More broadly, the women’s draw is anyone’s guess, as the top players come in with less than optimal preparation but plenty of experience. On the men’s side,...

Grass season is about halfway done, and I don’t know what’s going on with the WTA (wishing them luck). Big results for Noskova – who just debuted in the top 10 – plus Robin Montgomery, Ben Shelton, Donna Vekic, and the Frans! The news that Serena Williams received the remaining Wimbledon singles wild card trumped everything this week, while her husband hung out at Trump’s UFC abomination. Recent W...

It’s been impossible to keep up with tennis news lately, with Serena’s return, the grass season starting, and the top players continuing to pressure the Slams on prize money and consultation. We had too much on our Roland Garros wrap agenda, so here’s the twin to episode 425. We talk about Serena’s long-simmering “comeback,” the product tie-ins with Ro and Zepbound, and her successful doubles matc...

Yes, we’re finally back to recap the second week of Roland Garros. That thing we were all dreading has happened, and now we can move on with our lives. First, let’s celebrate 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva for expertly managing this unfamiliar moment and bagging her first major; and the qualifier Maja Chwalinska, for reaching her first Slam final and storming into the top 25! As for the men, Madison K...

Back from our first trip to Roland-Garros, here is part 2 of our RG mid-tournament wrap, this one focusing on the tennis we saw, the happenings on-site, and how the chaotic first week played out more broadly. What’s it like to watch a tournament unfold in person while it’s already being branded online as chaotic and/or horrible? Well, sometimes your priority is just your next water refill. We’ll t...

We’ve just returned home from our first trip to Roland-Garros! We’re bringing you two mid-tournament episodes, this one to cover our experience at the tournament and in Paris overall, while the next will focus on the tennis itself. Hear about the RG dining and beverage experience (hello, galette-sausicce and the falafel hummus flatbread), our pilgrimage to the Rafa statue, the idyllic setting of C...

As The Body Serve heads to Paris for the first time, here’s our preview of the 2026 edition of Roland Garros, where Jannik Sinner seeks to make more history and a number of top women find themselves in position to snatch. As usual, we take you through both draws: a surprisingly balanced women’s draw (except for Iga -- sorry, girl) and a men’s draw with not much intrigue, at least on the surface. T...

Elina Svitolina wins her third Rome title with her most impressive run yet, while Jannik Sinner completes his box set of Masters titles and sets all sorts of records at the tiny age of 24. Daniil Medvedev tried his best to derail Sinner, and Casper went with a similar playbook – we shall see if prevailing through that rough semifinal will fuel Jannik further or give the other guys some hope (or bo...

Jannik Sinner extends his Masters series win streak and his utter dominance over That Guy, while Marta Kostyuk back handsprings through her unbeaten clay season, grabbing her biggest career title over a bereft Mirra Andreeva. Now in Rome, the top players are demanding a fairer prize money split and genuine player consultation with Slams; several top players even endorsed a boycott if they can’t ma...

Whether it was bad shrimp or a virus, the outcome – or the output, rather – was the same. Week one of Madrid was rocked by player illness and withdrawals, with Iga retiring for only the second time in her career and Coco getting sick on court before pulling through against Cirstea. We take a scattershot approach to Madrid, highlighting Pliskova, Jodar, and Grant (and a few lowlights). Plus, we tak...

Arthur Fils caps his successful comeback to the tour with the Barcelona crown, while official tennis outlets act h-word on main while they trade on his good looks. Ben Shelton wins his first clay title outside of Texas and marks a surprising milestone for US men. Clay queens Coco and Iga are down bad while Elena, Karolina, and Marta soar; and Carlos’ status is questionable for who knows how long....

In Monte Carlo, Sinner’s 4th consecutive Master’s title and reclaiming of the #1 ranking adds another wrinkle to the Sincaraz rivalry. We talk about our desire for a little less golden retriever energy from Carlos – or, at least one of us does – but ultimately an unfriendly rivalry is no longer advantageous for today’s player brands. Last week, Pegula defended her Charleston title, 3 Argentines ma...

Jannik Sinner wins the Sunshine Double without losing a set – a first! – and upends the mini-narrative that said Carlos was running away with the season. Aryna Sabalenka, for her part, snatches back momentum in the Rybakina rivalry and bests bugaboo Coco Gauff in the Miami final. The actual star of Miami turned out to be thirst magnet Arthur Fils, who reached the semis, stunned four-match-point-ha...

Sebastian Korda is making like Gloria Estefan and coming out of the dark: in a career interrupted by injuries, Seb follows up his Delray Beach title by sending #1 Carlos Alcaraz out of Miami. Iga Swiatek’s frustration continues as her countrywoman Magda Linette packs her up; shortly after, Iga does the same to coach Wim Fissette. On the docket we’ve also got the Matosevic doping story, Danielle an...

Indian Wells saw two new champs settling old scores – Sabalenka winning her first and upending a  worrying finals trend vs. Rybakina, and Sinner flying under the radar to grab the title over the more headline-grabbing Medvedev. Daniil has managed to refashion his game without losing the old antics, including asking for (and getting) a confounding hindrance call – and no, I don’t feel bad for Jack....

Sports and politics … it turns out they DO mix! A few dozen ATP players and staff are stuck in Dubai as a result of Trump’s attack on Iran, as the Mexican tournaments go forward without a hitch after last week’s unrest. On court, Medvedev wins a second Dubai title, Longhorn Stearns grabs Austin by the horns, Bucsa becomes the Spanish #1, and Darderi and Cobolli win Latin tournaments on two contine...

A gatekeeper, a consistent threat, not-a-pusher, and the social and political glue behind the scenes: Jessica Pegula has gone from tennis’s rich girl to a key piece of the bloc of players who reliably fight for the biggest titles on the WTA Tour. This week, she’s just won her 4th 1000-level title and has been announced as the chair of the new tour working group: the Tour Architecture Council. Else...

Welcome back to regularly scheduled podcasting! The tours have gone to South America, Transylvania, the Netherlands, Texas, and the UAE -- regional tours ftw, btw -- over the past two weeks. Karolina Muchova finally gets a big title, Mboko notches an incredible run to the Doha final, Zheng announces herself, Felix becomes king of Canada, and most importantly we’re back from Mexico, caught up on sl...

The first Slam of the year is in the books, and we’ve got the youngest Career Slam winner in the history of maleness, Novak’s 38th major final, and Rybakina continuing her hot streak and bagging her second Slam. We talk you through the scintillating men’s semifinals that injected the tournament with a much-needed spark. You’ll also hear about the smoking gun pickle juice bottle, That Guy’s tantrum...

It's not officially a Slam until Jelena Djokovic accuses Naomi Osaka of being so nasty and so rude while Jelena’s husband narrowly avoids a default for something completely of his own making (again). Anyway, how was your first week??? The Australian Open has given us some exciting breakouts (Jovic, Bartunkova, Tien again) and a marquee quarterfinal lineup, with the top 6 men and women through for...

We had a little time and a lot to cover, so why not jump in for a mid-first round Australian Open episode? First, we cover the upsets, injuries, and highlights of the first few days. It wasn’t a great day two for Canada. Jonathan brings you the in-depth coverage about Venus Williams you’ve come to expect. We also pick up stories on Frances’ gallon-a-day habit and nonfiction reading schedule, Naomi...

Who, if anyone, will challenge Aryna? Will the Alcaraz-Sinner machine make it nine in a row? What's Craig Tiley up to this year? We're dusting off the cobwebs to bring you our Australian Open preview, complete with draw analysis (if you want to call it that), major storylines, and a quick review of the “Opening Week” and the successful 1 Point Slam. Tune in to find out the new hottest man in the A...

We’re back from break with season 12 of The Body Serve! The off-season didn’t let up for a second, with its fair share of surprising breakups: Carlos and Juan Carlos, Naomi and Evolve, and Novak splitting from the players’ organization he co-founded. We also cover Potapova’s copypasta, Venus’ wedding, the ESPN commentary reshuffle, Iga’s viewing habits, and more off-season stuff. We look ahead to...

For our last episode of 2025, we each wrote our own separate agendas with the plan to just chat and see what happens. There’s some tennis, mostly not -- but we do cover that crass spectacle Evolve has been stumping over on right-wing media. We’ve got quick-fire complaints (It is that deep! Bring back gatekeeping in restaurant criticism!), favorite TV series of 2025, server rants, movie etiquette,...