Category: Podcast

Podcast Episode 89: Rebuilding the History of Women’s Tennis

Episode 89 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast reverses roles, with Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, interviewing Jeff about his recent efforts to add pre-Open Era women’s tennis data to Tennis Abstract.

High-level tennis did not begin in 1968 with the introduction of Open tennis, but official statistical records often give the mistaken impression that it did. We talk about the existing state of the data, the players whose reputations rest heavily on pre-Open Era accomplishments, and the value of simply getting historical records into an accessible format. We also cover two very different #1s, Althea Gibson and Margaret Court, and dip into what people get right and wrong in the Serena-vs-Court debate.

You can read a lot more about the new data here at the blog–yesterday I posted about the 1963 season, and you can also check out a one-page portal to that year’s data here.

Also, a reminder: In a couple of weeks we’ll be talking about our first book club pick, A Handful of Summers by Gordon Forbes. Let us know if you have thoughts about the book, questions for us to discuss on the show, or suggestions for future book club selections.

Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl and I are doing. We released episode 7, about mutations and the vaccine rollout, today.

(Note: this week’s episode is about 50 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Dangerous Exponents: A Covid-19 Podcast

Pardon the non-tennis interruption!

Carl Bialik and I–the duo that has brought you the Tennis Abstract podcast–are five episodes into a new show, Dangerous Exponents: A Covid-19 Podcast. We’re attempting to bring our usual analytical approach to issues related to the pandemic, while acknowledging that we’re not doctors, epidemiologists, or anything except for inquiring minds with a penchant for research and some skill at separating valuable research from the rest.

Our most recent episode is on herd immunity: Is there really such a thing, how do we get there, and how will we know we have? Previously, we covered the question of holiday gatherings; the role of exponents R0, Rt, and K; the latest on vaccines; and the trade-offs involved in keeping schools open. Each installment runs approximately 45 minutes.

You can find the episodes and subscribe in all the usual spots, such as iTunes and player.fm.

As we develop this new podcast, we’d love your feedback. If you’ve listened to one of our previous episodes, or after you listen to the new one, please take a moment and answer a few questions to help us hone our efforts.

Thanks for listening!

Introducing the Tennis Abstract Book Club

Carl Bialik and I are kicking off a new feature on the Tennis Abstract Podcast: a monthly* book club featuring various classics and curiosities in the game’s literature.

* probably

Our first selection is A Handful of Summers, by Gordon Forbes. Forbes, who died last week, was a long-time tour player from South Africa, and his book is widely considered to be among the best tennis memoirs. Here’s Steve Tignor raving about it.

We’re still working out exactly what it means to have a podcast book club, so feel free to make suggestions. At minimum, we hope you will:

  • read along with us;
  • send us questions, comments, and the like via Twitter;
  • listen to the resulting episode in mid-January.

Our list of future book selections is already spiraling out of control, but we also welcome tips for future picks.

Those of you who are interested in the literary and historical aspects of the sport will find plenty to enjoy in the archives of our podcasts. I’ve spoken with three authors this month (ep 85 on World Team Tennis; ep 87 on Lottie Dod; ep 88 on A People’s History of Tennis) and Carl has been interviewing writers for years (such as Peter Underwood and Julie Heldman, to link just two).

We’ll have our discussion of A Handful of Summers on the podcast in about a month, so you have plenty of time to read the book. At that time, we’ll also announce the next selection.

Happy reading!

Podcast Episode 88: Author David Berry on His People’s History of Tennis

Episode 88 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast welcomes David Berry, author of the book A People’s History of Tennis.

The conversation, like his book, spans the entire history of tennis, with a particular focus on the ways in which the sport isn’t conservative at all. As Berry explains, women were a crucial part of lawn tennis from the very beginning, and a key decision in the game’s first decade ensured that the men’s and women’s games would remain intertwined. We also discuss the role of the local tennis club, the importance of public parks tennis around the world, and the fascinating yet mostly forgotten years of “Worker’s Wimbledon.”

It’s been a good year for tennis books, and of the ones I’ve read, Berry’s book is the best. The scope is ambitious, and I guarantee you will discover corners of the sport’s history you didn’t know anything about. Yet it’s a concise, quick read. Check it out!

Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl Bialik and I are doing. We released episode 4, about the virus in schools, earlier this week.

(Note: this week’s episode is about 60 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 87: Author Sasha Abramsky on Lottie Dod, the Little Wonder

Episode 87 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features Sasha Abramsky, author of the book Little Wonder: The Fabulous Story of Lottie Dod, the World’s First Female Sports Superstar.

Our wide-ranging chat covers many aspects of the life and times of this 19th century superstar, from her global legions of fans, to her “Battle of the Sexes”-style challenges 80 years before King-Riggs, to her unprecedented and varied string of sporting successes. We also touch on the relative dearth of tennis historiography, the chronological gap between Dod and the next generation of female athletic superstars, and whether there is a natural intersection between progressive politics and the compelling stories of tennis history.

This was a great conversation about a part of tennis history we don’t hear nearly enough about, so I hope you’ll check it out. And for the full account of Lottie Dod, be sure to pick up your copy of Sasha’s book.

Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl Bialik and I are doing. We released episode 3 yesterday.

(Note: this week’s episode is about 60 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 86: A New Documentary on Guillermo Vilas and the No. 1 Ranking

Episode 86 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features Jeff and co-host Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, discussing the new Netflix doc Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score.

The Argentine star was a multi-slam winner in the 1970s, yet he never reached the top of the official ATP ranking list. The film covers journalist Eduardo Puppos’s quest to prove that Vilas deserved to be #1. Over the course of the episode, we ponder the importance of the top ranking, the vagaries of the ATP ranking algorithm, how Elo rates Vilas’s peak years, and the ATP’s response to Vilas’s case for the top spot. We didn’t love the documentary, but the issues it raises are fun to debate.

Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl Bialik and I are doing. Episode 3 will be available later today.

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this week’s episode is about 48 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 85: Author Steven Blush on 1970s World Team Tennis

Episode 85 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features Jeff with guest Steven Blush, author of the recent book Bustin’ Balls: World Team Tennis 1974-78: Pro Sports, Pop Culture, and Progressive Politics.

We talk about how drastically WTT has changed from the early days, the crucial importance of Billie Jean King and the 1973 Battle of the Sexes, and how WTT fit into the 1970s cultural milieu. As Steven tells it, the original WTT was revolutionary, even “proto-woke,” with a place for everyone, setting men and women on equal footing, and welcoming everyone from Black NBA star John Lucas to (eventually) transgender trailblazer Renee Richards. This is an in-depth look at a neglected but fascinating part of tennis history.

I had a great time recording this episode, so I hope you’ll give it a listen. And, of course, Steven’s book makes the perfect Christmas gift for the tennis fan in your life.

Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, the new Covid-19 podcast that Carl Bialik and I are doing. We released episode 2 yesterday.

(Note: this week’s episode is about 63 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 84: Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, and a Tactically Brilliant Future

Episode 84 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features Jeff and co-host Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, celebrating a fantastic championship match to end the 2020 ATP season.

We discuss Medvedev’s tactical savvy and physical versaility, along with over- and under-rated parts of Thiem’s game. Also on the agenda:

  • Are Medvedev and Thiem a clear “second group” behind Djokovic and Nadal but ahead of the rest of the pack?
  • Will Medvedev have a better career than Alexander Zverev or Andrey Rublev?
  • What constitutes tactical perfection? How could we measure it?
  • Are we biased toward all-around players when listing the strongest tacticians?
  • Is it possible for a 30-stroke rally to be tactically strong?

Finally, if you like hearing us talk about stuff, you’ll be glad to know that we’re launching a non-tennis podcast called Dangerous Exponents, on all things (well, some things) Covid-19. We recorded a pilot episode today, which should be available shortly. I’ll post it here and on Twitter when it’s released.

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this week’s episode is about 43 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 83: Is the Practice Court Broken?

Episode 83 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast features co-host Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, and guest Jeff McFarland of Hidden Game of Tennis. This week we dip our collective toe into a debate in the tennis coaching world.

With rallies short and aggressive, should players be using practice time differently? What types of skills can still be improved, once a player has reached the top? What tactics can a coach teach their charges, and which ones are too deeply ingrained in the physical nature of hitting the shots? The line between technique and tactics may not be a clear-cut as we think.

Is a 3- or 4-shot rally qualitatively different from a 5- or more-shot rally? How would you teach Madison Keys to retain the positives of her aggressive style while dialing back the aggression a bit? We offer more questions than answers, which seems appropriate for a topic that is far from settled, and is likely to remain controversial for years to come.

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this week’s episode is about 67 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.

Podcast Episode 82: ATP Cup and WTA Season Preview

Episode 82 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast tests out a new format for the new year, featuring co-host Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, and guest Jeff McFarland of Hidden Game of Tennis.

The three of us dig into the new ATP Cup, considering whether the format is appealing to players and fans, how we should feel about odd matchups between players hundreds of ranking places apart, and–most importantly–what captains should be doing with the stats available to them.

We also look at the top of the WTA ranking table, considering whether Ashleigh Barty will continue her reign for another twelve months, or if Bianca Andreescu–or Karolina Pliskova–will topple her. We also debate where Caroline Wozniacki stands among Open-era greats, as one of the few women to hang on to the number one ranking for more than a full year.

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this week’s episode is about 66 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.