The Tennis Podcast

With contributions from Billie Jean King, Mary Carillo, Pam Shriver and Pat Cash, we tell Evonne Goolagong’s story, including her upbringing in New South Wales and the discrimination she faced, her early discovery of tennis, her poetic style of play, her Grand Slam successes throughout the 1970s, her crowning achievement by winning Wimbledon as a mother, her charity work for indigenous Australians...

Catherine is joined by David and Matt to react to her big interview with Billie Jean King. Picking up on some of the points raised by Billie Jean, we discuss the way she makes us feel when she talks about tennis, the way she forces us to challenge our preconceptions, the emphasis she puts on the importance of knowing your history, the lessons she can teach us about not alienating your audience, th...

This episode is a conversation between Catherine Whitaker and Billie Jean King.  Through stories about the Battle of the Sexes, the Original 9, the awarding of equal prize money at the US Open in 1973, her time spent with Bud Collins, and knowing Althea Gibson, Billie Jean connects the past with the present, explaining why it’s so important to know your tennis history and how it impacts the m...

Positive covid cases, more than 70 players facing two weeks stuck inside without any practice, and mice in hotel rooms…it all calls for an emergency pod.  Catherine and David convene to discuss the situation in Melbourne. How has it all got out of control so quickly? What is Tennis Australia’s role now? How much sympathy do we feel for the players in all of this? And does it change who should...

The first titles of the 2021 season have been won and players are now flocking to Australia for two weeks of quarantine. But not everything is going according to plan, with Andy Murray isolating at home after testing positive for covid-19 and Tennys Sandgren boarding his flight to Melbourne despite returning a positive test. We react to those two bits of news and discuss where it leaves the Austra...

We’re only halfway through the first week of the new season but there’s already plenty for us to cover, including the fine form shown by Maria Sakkari and Aryna Sabalenka in Abu Dhabi, a curious collapse from Sofia Kenin, news of a separate Australian Open quarantine in Adelaide for top players, David Ferrer and Alexander Zverev’s split, Dayana Yastremska's provisional suspension after a positive...

In this episode we navigate Billie Jean’s mischief to cover the matches we’ve seen and the storylines that have arisen in Abu Dhabi so far, more news about the Melbourne swing prior to the Australian Open, and confirmation of some WTA quarantine practice pairings.  We also pay tribute to Bob Brett and Tom Perrotta, who the tennis world sadly lost this week.  The Tennis Podcast is present...

We’re starting the new year with a bumper edition of the pod to conclude our countdown of the best ever moments of tennis aggro. The Top 5 looks like this:  5 - Andy Murray, “Shut up!” & “Everyone hates you” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo_E_azZOoc & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-XiZF08DY8 4 - Jeff Tarango defaults himself at Wimbledon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzQ2-E...

The moment has arrived. After 780 episodes, the time has finally come to dedicate a couple of pods to some of the best ever moments of tennis aggro. In part one of our countdown:  10 - Serena/Jankovic, Dubai 2014: http://youtu.be/rZCOCPbIPKc 9 - Errani/Cornet, “Why you say vamos?”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLRV7QCs5L0&ab_channel=nobodycares 8 - Kim Sears, Parental Advisory Explicit...

Our third and final instalment of Sliding Doors tennis sees us talk about a medley of moments which have shaped Roger Federer’s career, the period Serena Williams missed after stepping on glass in 2010, and a world in which Billie Jean King didn’t win the Battle of the Sexes.  We also discuss the news that Federer will miss the Australian Open and that Andy Murray will start his 2021 season i...

We’re back with a Christmas Eve special to discuss more Sliding Doors moments from tennis history. Would Tim Henman have won Wimbledon in 2001 if it hadn’t rained during his semi-final against Goran Ivanisevic? Could Juan Martin del Potro have turned the Big 4 into a Big 5 if his career hadn’t been interrupted by injuries? And how would tennis have been different if the conditions - especially at...

This week we’re taking an in-depth look at some Sliding Doors moments in tennis history. In part one, how would Rafael Nadal’s rivalry with Roger Federer have been different if Nadal had been a natural right-hander? Would Martina Hingis have won the calendar Grand Slam if she hadn’t fallen off a horse prior to Roland Garros in 1997? And how might Monica Seles’ career have unfolded if she hadn’t be...

In the second half of our ‘Lost in Time’ series, we focus on the opportunism and sudden decline of Juan Carlos Ferrero, the way in which Hana Mandlikova’s achievements were swallowed up by the era defined by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, the gold-medal winner Miloslav Mecir who bamboozled other top players, and how the tennis media did Dinara Safina - and the women’s game - a disservice by...

This week we’re celebrating former players who have been, in one way or another, ‘lost in time’ or under-appreciated.  In part one, we discuss Manuel Orantes’ clay court dominance in the 1970s, Mark Edmondson’s Australian Open victory while ranked 212th, how Mary Pierce’s abusive father overshadowed her three peaks, the way in which Arantxa Sanchez Vicario did a lot more than finish in second...

In this episode, we speak to Chris Kermode to look back on his time as ATP CEO, discuss what he did and still hoped to achieve in the job, reflect on the reasons for his departure, and consider the issues tennis is facing during the covid-19 pandemic.  Approx Time Stamps:  Start to 7:45 - Catherine, David and Matt catch up 7:45 to 38:10 - Chris Kermode interview 38:10 to end - Reaction&n...

The time has come for our final look back on 2020 as we hand out our annual awards. Categories include player, match, uplifting moment, peak weird moment, pandemic faux pas, most missed, shock, and podcast moment. You can expect tributes to Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin, Dominic Thiem, Coco Gauff, Rafael Nadal and women’s semi-final night at the US Open, as well as takedowns of the Adria Tour...

Part two of our 2020 review begins with a reflection on our Tennis Re-Lived episodes covering the Olympics, Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe. What stood out? And what did we learn?  We then move on to the return of tour tennis in August by looking back on how we felt at the time and how it would end up differing from our expectations.  Next, we go over the main storylines from the US Open -...

We realise that re-living 2020 probably isn’t high on your list of priorities, but we can promise that this week’s podcasts are not all doom and gloom as we look back on this strange but momentous tennis year and the way we covered it as a podcast.  In this episode, with the help of clips from throughout the year, we reminisce about the Australian Open, the warning signs in February and March...

In this bonus edition of the pod, John Millman speaks to David and Catherine from his hotel room in Sydney where he’s quarantining for 14 days following the end of the season and his return to Australia.  John talks candidly about his experience of travelling the ATP Tour throughout the pandemic, the mental toll of being in quarantine without even being allowed to open a window, his role on t...

Daniil Medvedev has never followed the crowd, and the manner in which he brought the curtain down on London’s 12-year hosting of the ATP Finals suggested he isn’t about to start now. In an eighth and final edition of The Tennis Podcast from The O2 this week, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts talk about the final between Medvedev and Dominic Thiem, what went on afterwards, what the res...

Novak Djokovic led Dominic Thiem 4-0 in a deciding set tie-break, Rafael Nadal served for the match against Daniil Medvedev, and Thiem will now face Medvedev in the final. What happened and why? Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts try to work it out. The heartbreak of Joe Salisbury is covered, as are concerns over the Australian Open. And then there’s the moment that Catherine Whitaker...

If the pod team could have chosen the semi-final line-up at the start of the tournament, it’s likely these four names would have featured.  But who will come out on top? After much deliberation, Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts make their picks. They also cover some important press conferences involving Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, relate some weird, wonderful, heartbreaking a...

Rafael Nadal has never won the ATP Finals. Not yet, anyway. After a three-set tussle with Stefanos Tsitsipas, we assessed his performance, considered the way in which he causes Tsitsipas problems, and then reported on the Greek’s press conference in which he described the mental challenges posed by ‘bubble life’. The drudgery of dead rubbers gets the treatment, the chopping and changing of doubles...

A match hyped to the hilt ended more abruptly than expected, and Catherine Whitaker, David Law and Matt Roberts were able to talk about Daniil Medvedev vs. Novak Djokovic soon afterwards. Where was the match won and lost? How come Djokovic lost seven games in a row? And does this make Medvedev the favourite for the title? The podcast trio discuss all of that, and also cover Alexander Zverev vs. Di...

On-court, lack of fans aside, today was a joy to behold for the tennis world. Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal fought out an instant classic, and then Stefanos Tsitsispas and Andrey Rublev went at it in the evening.  Off the court though, there are concerns for the viability of the Australian Open.  In the latest daily edition of The Tennis Podcast, Catherine Whitaker joins from inside the...