Podcast Episode 106: Monte Carlo Simulations Aren’t As Good As the Real Thing

Episode 106 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, is our recap of the Monte Carlo Masters, where Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal bowed out early, and Stefanos Tsitsipas showed us just how good a clay-courter he could be.

We have lots of questions, and offer at least a few potential answers. How much do we need to revise our assessments of Djokovic and Nadal after their early losses? 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?

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this week’s episode is about 61 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

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Music: Everyone Has Gone Home by texasradiofish (c) copyright 2020. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: spinningmerkaba

Podcast housekeeping:

  • In case you haven’t heard, I’m 62 episodes into a short (~4 minute) daily podcast called Expected Points. Here’s today’s episode. I’m also doing a daily baseball podcast with the same format during the MLB season–check out The Opener.
  • The TAP book club continues next month with Álvaro Enrigue’s novel Sudden Death. We’ll chat about it in an episode next month, and you can read more about it here.

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