Ep 25: Number Ones, Present and Future

FromThe Tennis Abstract Podcast

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Ep 25: Number Ones, Present and Future

FromThe Tennis Abstract Podcast

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Length:

72 minutes

Released:

May 14, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Jeff and Carl debate whether Simona Halep is a "weak" No. 1, look at the competition, and marvel at the latest dominant performance from Alexander Zverev.

Released:

May 14, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Jeff Sackmann talks tennis and analytics with a rotating cast of experts and superfans.

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Ep 8: Zverev's Title, Emerging WTA Favorites, and a New Match Format: A youngster finally wins a big ATP event, Elina Svitolina steps up, and the stage is set for the French Open. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
70 min listen
Ep 16: The Second Half of our Second Week Chat: Rublev, Shapovalov, and the big names we're missing. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
37 min listen
Ep 9: Roland Garros Preview and the Value of Surface-Specific Forecasts: Nadal goes after his 10th French Open title, and research proves that the women's title is up for grabs. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
69 min listen
Episode 2: Doubles, Wild Cards, and the Role of Megastars: Doubles analytics gets top billing this week, followed by Maria Sharapova and plenty of dreaming about restructuring the sport. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
58 min listen
Episode 1: Indian Wells, Miami, and the Renewal of Federer-Nadal: Carl and Jeff cover the events of the March Sunshine Double, and dig into the nitty gritty of the Roger-Rafa matchup. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
57 min listen
Ep 12: Fed's Match Points, Vika's Return, and Wimbledon's Seeding Formula: Grass is back, and tennis's most unpredictable surface gives us a lot to talk about. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
70 min listen
Ep 10: On and Off Script at Roland Garros: Rafa and Simona live up to early billing, but the rest of the field has been filled with surprises. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
55 min listen
Ep 39: Khachanov's Paris Title, and WTA Finals in Review: A new face on the men's tour, and a best-yet title for Elina Svitolina. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
61 min listen
Episode 3: Champions Young and Old: This week's topics: Surprise WTA titlists, forking paths from youth success, and a Monte Carlo preview by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
57 min listen
Episode 4: La Decima, a Wild Fed Cup Weekend, and Sharapova's Return: This week's topics: Nadal and the underwhelming competition, Ilie Nastase overshadowing some memorable Fed Cup tennis, and a changing of the guard on the WTA tour. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
58 min listen
Episode 5: Sharapova in Stuttgart, Nadal in Barcelona, and a Dose of Doubles: This week's topics: Sharapova, Siegemund, Nadal, wild cards, drop shots, and doubles. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
64 min listen
Ep 11: The French Open in Review: The King of Clay wins another crown, and the WTA gets a new superstar by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
79 min listen
Ep 7: Champion Simona, King Rafa, and Memories of Pico: Halep defends her title, Nadal remains unbeaten, and Juan Monaco calls it a career. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
63 min listen
Ep 15: We're Back!: Two months of tennis in one pod episode. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
34 min listen
Ep 6: Djokovic Goes Coachless and Sharapova Looks Dangerous in a Patchy Madrid Field: Madrid is wide open, with WTA seeds falling in the first round and Djokovic raising even more questions about his future. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
59 min listen
Ep 19: Comeback Stories: All those players who were out? They're coming back. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
72 min listen
Ep 14: Wimbledon Preview: Everything to watch for at Wimbledon this year. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
71 min listen
Ep 21: Talking About Talking About Tactics: Alex De Minaur is young, smart, and fast, and he gave us a lot to talk about. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
94 min listen
Ep 31: US Open Week Two: Only sixteen players are left, and Federer isn't one of them. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
60 min listen
Ep 17: US Open in Review: The ranking tables are in disarray, and we're here to help. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
69 min listen
Ep 40: Fed Cup, the ATP Tour Finals, and a Sandbox Full of Rule Changes: Federer and Djokovic duke it out in London, while the youngsters contested different formats last week. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
57 min listen
Ep 54: Miami At the Half-Way Point: Federer and Djokovic work harder than expected, but they'll still in the Miami mix, unlike Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Naomi Osaka, and Sloane Stephens. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
64 min listen
Ep 29: A New Davis Cup and a Career Golden Masters: A new look for the tennis calendar, while familiar names keep winning. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
66 min listen
Ep 13: Kvitova vs Barty, Serena vs McEnroe, and Federer vs The Field: How the Wimbledon draw is shaping up, and what to think about McEnroe's comments about Serena. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
76 min listen
Ep 22: Davis Cup, Present and Future: Rafa's back, Russia crashed, and the ITF is about to do something unwise. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
60 min listen
Ep 38: A Look at the WTA Finals Field in Singapore: Even with Simona and Serena on the sidelines, there's plenty of interest at the season-ending championships. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
65 min listen
Ep 37: Djokovic and Halep Pad Their Career Totals: Another Masters title for Djokovic, and another ranking milestone for Halep. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
62 min listen
Ep 44: Andy Murray's Retirement and an Australian Open Preview: The men's big four is reduced to three, while the big names on the women's side easily number in double digits. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
67 min listen
Ep 33: Farewell, Davis Cup World Group Playoffs: A report from Austria, and an explainer on the new Davis Cup format. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
61 min listen
Ep 35: Here Comes Aryna Sabalenka: The WTA's new star lifted another trophy last week, and she increasingly looks like the strongest player in a fractured field. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
59 min listen
$Ep 35: Here Comes Aryna Sabalenka: The WTA's new star lifted another trophy last week, and she increasingly looks like the strongest player in a fractured field.$

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Ep 116: Tennis 128 Wrap-Up: This year, I ranked the top 128 players of the last 100 years. I wrote long-form essays about each one, which I've published over the last eleven months. Carl Bialik joined me for a podcast episode to mark the end of the project. We solicited questions, and many of you came through--we ended up with a list of over 200 questions! Spoiler alert: Even after three hours, we didn't get through them all. I may write something in the next couple of weeks touching on some of the questions we didn't have time for. We talk about the algorithm, players with controversial rankings (or no rankings at all), reactions to the project, and much, much more. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 115: Jeff McFarland on Jim Courier and GOAT Algorithms: Jeff McFarland is the proprietor of the analytics site HiddenGameOfTennis.com, and like me, he has tried his hand at various mathematical approaches to rank the best players of all time, in both tennis and baseball. We start this jumbo episode by talking about Jim Courier--#107 on my Tennis 128 list--a player with a reputation that outstrips his career record, though both are outstanding. Jeff weighs in on the Courier-Chang comparison, and we talk about how Jimbo's inside-out forehand changed the game. We consider whether the early 1990s were a deceptively weak era, how much weight the slams deserve, which current players are most like Courier, some possible limitations of Elo for GOAT rankings, and--in more than one and half hours of tennis talk--a whole lot more. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 114: Ana Mitric on Goran Ivanisevic and Tennis in the Former Yugoslavia: Serbian-American writer Ana Mitric joins me to discuss the latest entry in my Tennis 128, Goran Ivanisevic. Ana was a Goran fan even before she took a broader interest in tennis, and she is particularly sensitive to how the breakup of the former Yugoslavia affected players on all sides of the conflict. We talk about the state of Yugoslav tennis before the wars, Goran's status in his native Croatia, and how his attitude to the conflict differed from older players. We also discuss how Ivanisevic attracted so many fans despite a one-dimensional game that was often boring in less-mercurial hands, why his outspokenness didn't seem to turn people off, and what he now brings to Team Djokovic. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
69 min listen
Ep 113: Grace Lichtenstein on A Long Way, Baby and Women's Tennis in 1973: In 1973, New York Times reporter Grace Lichtenstein was approached to write a book about the fledgling women's professional tour. It turned out to be a pivotal season in the sport's history, and the book concludes with an in-person account of the famous Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. The subtitle of the book is, "Behind the Scenes in Women's Pro Tennis," and Grace got to know the players--including Billie Jean--well enough to deliver exactly that. In our conversation, we talk about how the book came about, how it was received, and what press coverage was like for women's tennis in 1973. We also discuss how Billie Jean King has changed in the last half-century, the difficulty of covering tennis in such an intimate way today, and what it would take to write a behind-the-scenes look at a contemporary player such as Serena Williams. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 112: Carl Bialik on Rosie Casals and A Long Way, Baby: We're up to #115 in The Tennis 128, my year-long countdown of the greatest players of the last century. Carl joins me to talk about #115 herself, Rosie Casals. We also do a book-club episode of sorts, discussing Grace Lichtenstein's 1974 book, A Long Way, Baby, which covered the 1973 WTA season, including plenty of great material on Casals. Carl and I talk about whether the 2020s game would allow for such an insider's account of a year on tour, why players seem less unique than Rosie and her peers did, and whether Casals's reputation does her justice. We consider whether today's game would be better off with top players who are more committed to competing week-in, week-out, whether 1970s-style barnstorming would open up new markets for tennis, and why Margaret Court got massacred on Mother's Day and Billie Jean straight-setted the same opponent a few months later. Also, Jeff answers a few questions about The Tennis 128 so far. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 111: Tim Boeseler on Michael Stich and Serve-and-Volley Tennis: Tim Boeseler is a senior editor at Germany's Tennis Magazin, where he has been covering the sport for years. Tim joins me to talk about Michael Stich, the man ranked 123rd on my Tennis 128 list. We discuss the German tennis scene before Stich arrived, how Stich was more than just a serve-and-volleyer, and the nature of his relationship with Boris Becker--not a close one, but one that allowed them to team up to win a gold medal. We also get into the serve and volley and the strategy's best-known current exponent, Maxime Cressy. We talk s-and-v strategy, both for guys like Cressy and for other players who might benefit from mixing it up a little bit more. Finally, we dig into the nuts and bolts of how the German tennis federation works, and how it is changing. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 108: Gerry Marzorati on Serena Williams and Tennis Coverage in the 21st Century: Gerry Marzorati is a contributor to The New Yorker and Racquet magazine, and he's the author of the new book Seeing Serena, which follows Serena Williams throughout the 2019 season as she seeks her first grand slam title as a mother. We talk about the challenges and opportunities of getting to know players through press conferences, the role of print media when players can speak directly to their fans, and how Serena compares to other mega-icons. Gerry expands on his contention in the book that Williams is the most consequential player in tennis, perhaps of all time, as someone that not only set records, but changed the way the game was played. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 107: Book Club: Sudden Death, by Alvaro Enrigue: A digressive novel centered on a 16th-century real tennis match inspires a discussion that strays far afield from the contents of the book itself. Carl Bialik and I get into the advantages and difficulties of writing blow-by-blow descriptions of points, how many numbers is too many numbers, the various ways theatrical productions depict tennis, and why tennis fans seem so insecure. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 106: Monte Carlo Simulations Aren't As Good As the Real Thing: How much do we need to revise our assessment of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal after their early losses in Monte Carlo this year? Carl Bialik and I discuss the week that was in the principality from many angles, starting with those two key upsets. Is Stefanos Tsitsipas now the biggest threat to Nadal at Roland Garros? Has Djokovic fallen back to the pack? Has Rafa lost a step? Is Dan Evans someone worth watching on clay now? Can a slice backhand ever be a weapon on a slow surface? What can flat hitters do to overcome their disadvantage on clay? We have lots of questions, and offer at least a few potential answers. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 25: Number Ones, Present and Future

Ep 25: Number Ones, Present and Future

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from The Tennis Abstract Podcast