No Challenges Remaining

Ben and Tumaini reconvened this week to react to the news that the WTA Finals are going to Saudi Arabia, a move that felt unfathomable five years ago but has more recently felt inevitable. What do we make of the news? Should women's sports be held to a different standard when it comes to selling out? And what does the deal say about both the recent past and near future of women's t

Ben and Tumaini answer listener questions and recap the month that was in March, where Indian Wells and Miami formed the Sunshine Double and changed some of the forecasts of the sport. We start with Indian Wells, where Swiatek and Alcaraz won their second titles and Novak Djokovic lost early and bailed on the swing. We then head to Miami, where Danielle Collins won the biggest titl

Picking up where we left off on the last episode, Ben and Tumaini cover several other big stories from the first part of this season. We talk about the diverging fates of Brits in tennis, as Andy Murray sets a dispirited retirement date while Katie Boulter surges to a new high. We then spend quite a while on the health of women's tennis as a product, which seems to be getting left

Ben and Tumaini had a lot to catch up on this week, so we are splitting this episode into two parts. The first part, here, begins with the Court of Arbitration for Sport issuing a radical reversal of the first decision on Simona Halep's positive test, which means Halep can return to tour immediately. We don't have all the answers yet, but what does the dramatic disparity between th

Ben and Tumaini turn to the women (and the miscellany) in this second Australian Open wrap show. This one was more straightforward, resultswise: Aryna Sabalenka was the best player, by a lot, defending her title in emphatic fashion. What do we make of her consolidation as a champion? And where is the sport at now, geopolitically? We also cover the strong runs of Coco Gauff and Zhen

Jannik Sinner is the winner of the Australian Open, dethroning the Djokovic dynasty and prevailing in a thrilling comeback final to claim his first Slam win. We discuss Sinner's ascendance and what the defeats mean for the two men, Djokovic and Medvedev, whom he beat to clinch this title. We also discuss other various things on the men's side of the tournament (we also recorded a w

Coming full circle, NCR begins its 13th(!) season with our look at the Australian Open draws. Ben and Tumaini start with the men. Who can meaningfully challenge Novak Djokovic? And then we talk about the women. Have you heard that Ben wrote a book about Naomi Osaka? We really think you'll like it, and we thank you for buying it! We'll be back with you with more shows during the tou

At last it's finally publication day for Ben's new book, the biography Naomi Osaka: Her Journey to Finding Her Power and Her Voice! After months of copious plugs on the show, we are excited to finally be able to talk about the book in more depth and detail, with the tremendous help of NCR's intrepid correspondent Reem Abulleil who interviews Ben about the book, his process, and som

Ben and Tumaini have a lot to cover as they try to make sense of the year in women's tennis and explain the forces behind the stormy finish to the year, on-court and off-court, and where it leaves the sport going forward. After a brief discussion on the last couple events of the men's calendar—including if Jannik Sinner was right to keep Novak Djokovic in contention in Turin—we

With Ricky Dimon in town to run his sixth Marine Corps Marathon, he joins Ben for their annual wrap show on the year that was in men's tennis, which was another season of Novak Djokovic, now 36, lording over a much younger field. Ben and Ricky get somewhat granular, going over the top seventeen men in the rankings and spending a few minutes on each, assessing their years and their