Ep 26: Reasons for Optimism

FromThe Tennis Abstract Podcast

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Ep 26: Reasons for Optimism

FromThe Tennis Abstract Podcast

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Length:

62 minutes

Released:

May 21, 2018

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Jeff and Carl recap last week's action in Rome, looking at the strongest performances and considering what they have to tell us about the fortunes of some top players at Roland Garros.

Released:

May 21, 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
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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
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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
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Ep 15: We're Back!: Two months of tennis in one pod episode. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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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
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Ep 19: Comeback Stories: All those players who were out? They're coming back. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 31: US Open Week Two: Only sixteen players are left, and Federer isn't one of them. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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Ep 17: US Open in Review: The ranking tables are in disarray, and we're here to help. by The Tennis Abstract Podcast
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 26: Reasons for Optimism

Ep 26: Reasons for Optimism

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from The Tennis Abstract Podcast

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