Ben and Tumaini wrap up their coverage of this French Open with a look at the generation-leading champions who won it, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz. Swiatek, who won her fifth Slam, has established herself as the best player in many generations, drawing comparisons to stars like Justine Henin with her fourth win in Paris. What can she do to play …

Ben checks in with Tumaini in Paris to discuss all the happenings of the business end of a sometimes fun, often frustrating French Open. We start with the women, where Iga Swiatek is set to face Jasmine Paolini in the final. Both great stories on their own, as we discuss, but will the final itself be a memorable one? We then tuck into the men, amon…

Ben and Lindsay Gibbs of Power Plays are celebrating together in Tennessee and also discussing what they see in tennis, when it comes to how the women's game may be missing out on the cultural wave that other women's sports are riding in 2024. What separates the trajectory of women's tennis from the momentum brought by Caitlin Clark to basketball a…

Ben checks in with Tumaini at Roland Garros to discuss the match of the tournament so far, in which Naomi Osaka was just one point away from stunning the huge favorite Iga Swiatek before the three-time champ rallied for a late escape. How does this surprisingly strong performance set up Osaka for the remainder of her season? And is it a cause for c…

Ben and Ricky Dimon debrief on what very much looked like Rafael Nadal's last match at the French Open, in which the 14-time champion played decently but was clearly overmatched by fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev. We discuss the match, and hear from Rafa himself on what his future might hold. If not answers, there was some clarity in his remarks tha…

Ben and Tumaini reconvene for a quick-paced look through the French Open draws, looking at the top lines stories from the wide-open men's draw and the Swiatek-steered women's side. We start with the headline first round match between Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev, a daunting test for the 14-time champion against an opponent who brings on-court …

Ben and Tumaini catch up on the Dinara Double, in which Iga Swiatek "won Rome and Madrid" while on the men's side a whole bunch of draws fell apart and the top of the men's ladder looked shakier than it has in years. We talk about Swiatek launching herself into a new orbit, the upper hand she has on Sabalenka, and wax poetic about the current glori…

To dive further into "Challengers," the much-buzzed-about tennis movie coming out this Friday, Ben chats with the movie's screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes about his inspiration to tell a story about the unique emotional landscape of tennis. We discuss the infamous match that planted the initial seed of desperation, the details tennis heads are appreci…

Ben and AJ Eccles attended screenings of the new movie CHALLENGERS this week, and are here to discuss this bold new entry into the growing tennis movie canon (NB: we very carefully avoided any significant spoilers until a very clearly marked intermission at the 41-minute mark). Directed by Luca Guadanigno and starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mi…

Ben and Tumaini reconvened this week to react to the news that the WTA Finals are going to Saudi Arabia, a move that felt unfathomable five years ago but has more recently felt inevitable. What do we make of the news? Should women's sports be held to a different standard when it comes to selling out? And what does the deal say about both the recent…

Ben and Tumaini answer listener questions and recap the month that was in March, where Indian Wells and Miami formed the Sunshine Double and changed some of the forecasts of the sport. We start with Indian Wells, where Swiatek and Alcaraz won their second titles and Novak Djokovic lost early and bailed on the swing. We then head to Miami, where Dan…

Picking up where we left off on the last episode, Ben and Tumaini cover several other big stories from the first part of this season. We talk about the diverging fates of Brits in tennis, as Andy Murray sets a dispirited retirement date while Katie Boulter surges to a new high. We then spend quite a while on the health of women's tennis as a produc…

Ben and Tumaini had a lot to catch up on this week, so we are splitting this episode into two parts. The first part, here, begins with the Court of Arbitration for Sport issuing a radical reversal of the first decision on Simona Halep's positive test, which means Halep can return to tour immediately. We don't have all the answers yet, but what does…

Ben and Tumaini turn to the women (and the miscellany) in this second Australian Open wrap show. This one was more straightforward, resultswise: Aryna Sabalenka was the best player, by a lot, defending her title in emphatic fashion. What do we make of her consolidation as a champion? And where is the sport at now, geopolitically? We also cover the …

Jannik Sinner is the winner of the Australian Open, dethroning the Djokovic dynasty and prevailing in a thrilling comeback final to claim his first Slam win. We discuss Sinner's ascendance and what the defeats mean for the two men, Djokovic and Medvedev, whom he beat to clinch this title. We also discuss other various things on the men's side of th…

Coming full circle, NCR begins its 13th(!) season with our look at the Australian Open draws. Ben and Tumaini start with the men. Who can meaningfully challenge Novak Djokovic? And then we talk about the women. Have you heard that Ben wrote a book about Naomi Osaka? We really think you'll like it, and we thank you for buying it! We'll be back with …

At last it's finally publication day for Ben's new book, the biography Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice! After months of copious plugs on the show, we are excited to finally be able to talk about the book in more depth and detail, with the tremendous help of NCR's intrepid correspondent Reem Abulleil who interviews Ben ab…

Ben and Tumaini have a lot to cover as they try to make sense of the year in women's tennis and explain the forces behind the stormy finish to the year, on-court and off-court, and where it leaves the sport going forward. After a brief discussion on the last couple events of the men's calendar—including if Jannik Sinner was right to keep Novak Djok…

With Ricky Dimon in town to run his sixth Marine Corps Marathon, he joins Ben for their annual wrap show on the year that was in men's tennis, which was another season of Novak Djokovic, now 36, lording over a much younger field. Ben and Ricky get somewhat granular, going over the top seventeen men in the rankings and spending a few minutes on each…

Ben and Tumaini read the 126-page decision in the tribunal's decision to convict former No. 1 Simona Halep on two charges of intentional doping, and give you a deep dive into the details of the document and expound on what it all means. In the first half of this episode we get into the details so you don't have to, explaining the reasons why the tr…

Ben and Tumaini wrap the US Open finals in their eighth show of the tournament, starting with Coco Gauff fulfilling the years of hype and hope by winning her first grand slam title. What did this win show us about a player we first met when she was a young teenager of 13 or 15? And what are the perils of such expectations? We then get into Djokovic…

Ben and Tumaini discuss the four semifinals that were, and all the storylines they contained, before looking ahead a bit to the fast-approaching US Open finals. First, what do they think of the protest that lengthily interrupted Coco Gauff's win? What is the message tennis should take from that moment? And how was Madison Keys derailed from her zon…

Ben is joined by Blair Henley, the star interviewer on tennis courts around the world, to talk about her new role as an announcer inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the many different roles she's had at this US Open. What are the challenges of being the "Voice of God" at the world's biggest tennis stadiums? What makes on-court interviewing such a uniq…

Ben and NCR's Youth correspondent Alex Gruskin discuss Ben Shelton's big win Tuesday night over Frances Tiafoe in the US Open quarterfinals, a big result both within the American tennis ladder and in the big picture of the ATP generations game. Has Shelton's generation (Alcaraz, Sinner, Rune, etc) already passed Tiafoe's generation (Tsitsipas, Rubl…

Ben and Tumaini convene in the late hours of the night after Jelena Ostapenko thunderously knocked out Iga Swiatek, emphatically ending both Swiatek's title defense and her 75-week reign at the #1 ranking. Given Ostapenko's talent and head-to-head record, should this be considered a "bad loss" for Swiatek? Can Ostapenko win the tournament? How does…

For our fourth daily show from the US Open, Ben is joined by tennis writer AJ Eccles to discuss his return to live tennis at the US Open last night, and what the sport looks like from inside the stadium. What did it feel like being back at a crowded tennis tournament after years away? What are the differences between watching live and watching on T…

Ben is joined by David Waldstein of The New York Times, who recently wrote about the disconnect between the US Open and its neighbors, the Latino communities of Corona and other neighborhoods like Elmhurst and Flushing. Why is the US Open so walled off from these communities? What could be done to make them more connected and invested in one anothe…

Ben and Tumaini reconvene on Day 2 of this US Open to talk about players retiring at this US Open, including Barbora Strycova (who you'll hear), CoCo Vandeweghe, and Jack Sock. But mostly, we talk about John Isner, the towering American who had an outsized impact on the sport while being popular among his peers but polarizing among fans. You'll hea…

Ben and Tumaini are back together again at the US Open, for the first of what will be daily shows here! We discuss the big story off-court, which is the Saudi bid to move into women's tennis, as well as some of the big headlines on court on Day 1, where Maria Sakkari and Holger Rune were the notable upset victims. Also, how relevant is American ten…

As he wraps up the book he's been writing about Naomi Osaka (pre-order now, please, thank you!) Ben is back on site at the ATP-WTA tournament in Washington, where he did a short-but-sweet interview with Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion who remains a remarkably engaging presence on the tour as she looks for ways to rediscover her domina…

Ben and Reem Abulleil chat about the big stories of the business end of Wimbledon, starting with the massive narrative potential of the men's final. Does Carlos Alcaraz's win over Novak Djokovic in the final represent a passing of the torch, or something less drastic? How surprised were we by this result? And how could this be a good thing for Djok…

With their preamble out of the way, Ben and Tumaini Carayol (*who is audible in this fixed, reuploaded audio!) dig into the 2023 Wimbledon women's and men's draws to discuss the favorites and other notable names among the 256 players competing for the singles crowns at SW19. Both respective top seeds, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz, have their stoc…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol sat down to record a draw show, but there was enough other stuff they wanted to touch on beforehand that they're breaking it into a separate prologue episode for you to enjoy here as an amuse bouche! On Wimbledon qualifying, Caroline Wozniacki's comeback announcement, the WTA's announced commitment to equal prize money by 20…

Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek both won their third French Open titles this weekend at Roland Garros, separating them from their respective fields in meaningful ways, and Ben and Tumaini Carayol discuss them and more! First on Djokovic, we discuss how his reaching the summit of his 23rd Slam changes (or doesn't change) the GOAT debate, and what the…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol dust off the NCR machine to bring you a look at the 2023 French Open women's and men's draws, breaking down the contenders and darkhorses while touching on several of the big stories of the past few months while the show has been on hiatus (Relatedly, Ben's forthcoming book on Naomi Osaka is now available for pre-order!) Can…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol wrap up the year's first Slam with two hours of chatting across all sorts of topics. First, we discuss the breakthrough win of Aryna Sabalenka, who conquered her demons (and braved new frontiers in her iconic trophy photo shoot). With so much power and talent now under control, how far can she go? And what did this win over …

Ben and Tumaini Carayol break down the women's and men's draws at the year's first Grand Slam event, and also discuss some of the early season storylines like United Cup and Netflix's "Break Point" that have dominated discussion in the build-up. Is Iga Swiatek clear favorite to win this tournament against the field, or are rising threats like Jessi…

To start our 12th(!) season of NCR, Ben and Reem Abulleil preview and review the highly anticipated Netflix tennis docuseries "Break Point," which features a group of young challengers on the tours in the first half of the 2022 season. Ben and Reem (who also reviewed the show for The National) discuss the sport's hopes for the show to recreate the …

Ben is stepping back briefly from book writing hiatus on the occasion of being joined by Ricky Dimon of The Grandstand for a look back at the year that was in men's tennis, and how it's setting up for the finals. We talk about each of the top eight guys, and also Novak Djokovic, whose Wimbledon title will leapfrog him into the field in Turin. It's …

Ben and Tumaini Carayol reconvene a bit after the U.S. Open to reflect on the tournament that was, with two winners who capped off great seasons with their first titles in New York. And they've only just begun? First, Iga Swiatek won on the women's side, overcoming a doubt-filled lead-up and solidifying her position as a bona fide star in the sport…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol are courtside at the U.S. Open to give you the outlook on how the year's last Grand Slam and Serena Williams' last tournament is shaking up. We start with the women, where we discuss Iga Swiatek cooling off from her lava-hot spring swing, her complaints about the balls, the Azarenka-Kostyuk situation, Emma Raducanu, Osaka-Co…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol convene to discuss Serena Williams, the greatest women's tennis player of our lives, calling time on her career. Well, she didn't exactly call Time; she called Vogue, and penned a first-person cover story explaining her thoughts and making it clear that she believes the end of her career is in sight. Ben and Tumaini discuss …

Ben and Tumaini Carayol (before he turns into a pumpkin) wrap up the Wimbledon that was, which featured both some feel-good and some uncomfortable storylines across the fortnight. We begin with the women, with Elena Rybakina making good on her potential and breaking through for the title with a win over Ons Jabeur. We talk about the Kazakh tennis s…

On the 100th birthday of Centre Court, Ben is joined by Alexandra Willis, the director of communications and marketing for Wimbledon, and the two of them take a walk into Centre Court's most hallowed places. Along the way, we discuss Wimbledon's continuing balancing between retaining history and progressing to the present, plans of growth ahead, an…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol are back together again at Wimbledon for another look ahead at a Grand Slam draw, looking at the men's field, the women's field, and a concerning hole on the side of Court 14. After a general look at the draw balance--and the intrigue missing from the field because of the ban of Russian and Belarusian players--Ben and Tumain…

As Emma Raducanu readies for her first Wimbledon as a Grand Slam champion, Ben chats with Mike Dickson, the man who literally wrote the book on the young British sensation's origin story and remarkably meteoric rise to stardom last year. Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Came Home tells the story of Raducanu's origins and walks through the brief career sh…

Ben and Tumaini Carayol meet back up just hours after the men's final at Roland Garros to discuss Rafael Nadal's record extending 14th title here and Iga Swiatek's streak extending 35th win and second French Open title. We start with Swiatek, who has just been so dominant. Is the field anywhere close to her now? What will it take for a challenger t…

We are delighted to return to you, and to return to Paris, and to return our favorite annual episode title! Ben and Tumaini Carayol start this French Open draw show with a bit first on the big news of the day, which was the ATP and WTA deciding to withhold ranking points from this year's Wimbledon Championships because of the tournament banning Rus…

Wimbledon took the drastic step of banning all Russian and Belarusian players from this year's tournament, escalating the impact that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has had on the world of tennis. Tumaini Carayol joins Ben to discuss this decision, where it fits into the British political context, and how it might further divide an already fractious …

Taking the face of your tennis scrolling into your ears, Ben is joined by José Morgado, the Portuguese reporter and commentator who has become the most complete and comprehensive stop on Tennis Twitter for news and information about this never-stopping sport. José discusses the state of tennis in Portugal, how he got into the sport, building a pres…