Heavy Topspin – Page 43 – The Tennis Abstract blog

Podcast Episode 107: Book Club: Sudden Death, by Alvaro Enrigue

Episode 107 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, is our fourth book club episode, a discussion of Alvaro Enrigue’s novel, Sudden Death.

The book is set around the year 1600, and a central feature is a real tennis match between the Italian painter Caravaggio and the Spanish poet Francisco de Quevedo. Enrigue is fascinated by the various ways tennis pops up in the documentary record of the era, a mix of high and low culture, cutting across continents and national borders.

The novel is digressive, so we follow suit and stray far afield from the contents of the book itself. Carl 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.

Thanks for listening!

(Note: this episode is about 52 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)

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Expected Points, May 26: An Unorthodox Title for a French Tornado

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Bianca Andreescu continues her long-running clay-court winning streak, Alex Molcan gets an easy road to the Belgrade quarter-finals, and Corentin Moutet draws and quarters his way to an exhibition title.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 25: Vera Zvonareva Aims To Qualify Like It’s 2002

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Casper Ruud will be a top-16 seed with a top-10 game in Paris, Zvonareva is the top seed in Roland Garros qualies, and the development of Diane Parry’s game is taking place is full view.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 24: Denis Shapovalov Serves Big On Clay

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Shapo falls short of the Geneva title despite some outstanding first-strike tennis, Ana Konjuh takes an unlikely step in her comeback, and it was a big weekend for the Shelton family at the NCAA championships.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 21: A Rough Patch for Diego Schwartzman

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Schwartzman struggles on his favorite surface, Qiang Wang joins an exclusive club, and Pablo Andujar doesn’t discriminate based on age.

Scroll down for a transcript.

You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 20: The Rise of Paula Badosa

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Badosa could be the most dangerous floater in Paris, Pablo Cuevas looks to get his game back on track, and Caty McNally is a doubles wizard regardless of who she partners.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 19: A First-Rounder For the History Books

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: A round-of-32 match in Lyon sets a high standard of quality, Katerina Siniakova reminds us she can be dangerous once every year or two, and a small army of qualifiers make a mess of the draw in Belgrade.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 18: Coco Gauff is Almost There

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Gauff is even better than her ranking suggests, Benjamin Bonzi is the only true wild card at a French tournament that uses their freebies wisely, and at another men’s tournament this week, a 39-year-old is the top seed.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 17: A Close One for Nadal-Djokovic LVII

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: The Rafa-Novak final in Rome is tighter than usual, Iga Swiatek delivers an extremely unlikely result, and Baby Fed turns 30.

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You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.

Expected Points, May 14: The Opportunistic, One-Dimensional Reilly Opelka

Expected Points, my new short, daily podcast, highlights three numbers to illustrate stats, trends, and interesting trivia around the sport.

Up today: Opelka’s success in Rome suggests he has skills that the stats don’t bear out, and 60 years ago this week, an armada of past and future stars gathered on hard courts in Los Angeles.

Scroll down for a transcript.

You can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and elsewhere in the podcast universe.

The Expected Points podcast is still a work in progress, so please let me know what you think.