No Challenges Remaining

Ben and Tumaini are recording out on Court 6, where a safari of intrepid influencers are trespassing and posing to their hearts' contents as we break down the semifinals on the men's and women's side.

In the all-American semifinal, Ben Shelton bested Frances Tiafoe, with big serving and greatly improved returning. What are his chances of reversing a rough head-to-head against Zverev in the final? 

And on the women's ...

Ben and Tumaini are tired but wired to talk about the U.S. Open quarterfinals, particularly Tuesday's slate which turned into the longest day in U.S. Open history.

We discuss Sabalenka d. Noskova, Tiafoe d. Michelsen, and Shelton d. Alcaraz particularly, and also then the issue around late finishes and how it should or shouldn't trigger a reckoning abut best-of-five. (We don't agree on this!)  

Thank you for lis...

Ben and Tumaini return to Grandstand to record this episode shortly after show favorite Botic van de Zandschulp (known here as Bob van de Slap) wins through to the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a five-set comeback win over Arthur Gea.

We talk about Naomi Osaka's loss and the stubborn 5.5 year ceiling in Grand Slam tennis (more on that on Bounces soon), plus more on Zheng Qinwen, Elena Rybakina, and the Taiwanese feud of fa...

Ben and Tumaini are on Court 5, this time, watching Ben Shelton practice returns as they talk about the middle stages of the U.S. Open, including third and fourth round matches.

We discuss topics including Carlos Alcaraz leveling up, tough losses for Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys, big wins for Frances Tiafoe and Linda Noskova, the great Jovic-Eala match, Serena fleeing the scene after her tough loss and not doing press, a...

Ben and Tumaini are back together, this time as they watch the zenlike experience of powerwashing the Grandstand court.

We cover various second round topics, including Fran Jones' remarkable story, Aryna Sabalenka snapping at a reporter, ITIA investigating the DraftKings party, Gael Monfils' seeking an office job, Felix Auger-Aliassime's benefit of the doubt, Rafael Jodar's inexperience, Ben's bucket list schedule-making ...

Ben and Tumaini are back in the media garden outside of Ashe to discuss the nearly completed first round of the U.S. Open, in which Carlos Alcaraz made an impressive comeback and Novak Djokovic suffered a slow and painful exit.

We also discuss Arthur Fils' surprise loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas, a nice win by Gael Monfils, Elena Rybakina playing through pain, and Naomi Osaka's latest fashion statement. 

We also discuss ...

Ben and Tumaini are back together in New York, ready to break down the U.S. Open men's and women's draws, and all the stories therein.

We discuss Sabalenka's struggles, Rybakina's chance at the No. 1 ranking, Gauff's resurgence, Noskova's (lack of) motivation, and more.

On the men's side, we discuss Djokovic's great chances, what to expect from Alcaraz, Djokovic's great chances, both Tiafoe and Fils coming off their histo...

In the second (and longer) part of their recording session this week, Ben and Tumaini fanned out into a range of recent events topics from the last month of tennis, catching up on what's been both a busy yet also quiet stretch of the season. 

We start with the uncertainties around Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz for New York, after both missed both Canada and Cincinnati. We also discuss Alcaraz's cornrows (remember ...

Catching up after a month away from the mic, Ben and Tumaini discuss events and characters of the past month, catching up with recent events in Cincinnati.

And we had so much to say about the present states of the defining players of our tennis lives, Venus and Serena Williams, that we decided to make this lengthy first topic of discussion into a standalone episode. 

Venus and Serena brought us both into tennis; how ...

In their last Court 15 recording of the fortnight, Ben and Tumaini talk about the women's and men's finals at Wimbledon, in which sleeper pick Linda Noskova recovered from what could've been a nightmare hiccup to win the all-Czech women's final over Karolina Muchova, and Jannik Sinner won a serving contest against Alexander Zverev.

We discuss getting to know Noskova (Knowskova?) and where she goes from here, and how impor...

In a rare before-sunset recording, Ben and Tumaini talk about the women's semifinals at Wimbledon, in which sleeper pick Linda Noskova rolled and Coco Gauff lost a heartbreaker against Karolina Muchova after having a match point and what might've been an easy forehand.

We preview the all-Czech women's final, and then transition to the men, who are still yet to play their semifinals.

We discuss Arthur Fery's fairytale run,...

After being delayed by a day by a Wimbledon Fery-tale, Ben and Tumaini returned to Court 15 at Wimbledon once more to cover the third round and the top half quarterfinals, which concluded with Novak Djokovic's epic win over Felix Auger-Aliassime in more than five hours.

We discuss the men, including those guys, Arthur Fery, Taylor Fritz, and more. We break for the Djokovic and Auger-Aliassime press conferences.

We then di...

Ben and Tumaini returned to Court 15 at Wimbledon once more to catch up on the third round, and a behind-the-scenes debate that's generated a lot of conversation: the ATP's proposals to reduce the footprint of doubles.

We discuss the business realities and the arguments that doubles players and fans are fielding to push back in this uphill battle, given recent realities of the tour. 

We then dive into the Wimbledon r...

Ben and Tumaini went back to their spot on Court 15 at Wimbledon to chat about the second round action, which was without any massive shocks but still entertained and intrigued.

We start with the men and the great Shintaro Mochizuki, who is into the third round of a Slam for the first time. We then cover Djokovic crushing Tsitsipas, the big win by Grigor Dimitrov (whose presser is an intermission in this episode), as well...

Ben and Tumaini found a spot on Court 15 at Wimbledon to chat about the first round action at the Championships, which reached its climax with Serena Williams' highly anticipated return to singles.

We talk about what looked great from Serena, what didn't, and what it was like to witness and experience her again after all these years, even if it was just one match because of how well Maya Joint played. 

We also discus...

Ben and Tumaini are back together once more, this time at Wimbledon, where there's lots of stories in both draws, including Serena Williams' return to singles.

We start, though, with the news of 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova getting a four-year ban for refusing a drug test late last year. What was she thinking? Why was this ITIA decision inevitable?

We then jump into the draws, starting with the women where ...

Ben and Tumaini are no longer together in Paris, but catch up on the finish in France as well as the event that had Tumaini rushing back to London: Serena Williams' return to professional tennis.

We start with Serena's comeback with Tumaini's perspective from on the ground at Queen's Club: how did she look after four years away? What's it like being back in her orbit? Where does she go from here?

We then look back at the ...

Ben and Tumaini discuss the eight quarterfinals played at Roland Garros and the semifinals that are now set up, starting with the men and going in reverse chronological order.

We start with Arnaldi winning The Battle Of The Matteos, setting up an all-Italian semifinal against Flavio Cobolli after Cobolli handed Felix Auger-Aliassime a bitter defeat. On the bottom half, we discuss Jakub Mensik stepping up against Joao Fons...

Ben and Tumaini are back after the third and fourth rounds of what's turned into a wild and thrilling French Open, particularly on the men's side where the post-Sinner free-for-all has produced stunning full-length battles over and over and over again.

We discuss Fonseca d. Djokovic, Jodar and the ball girl, Arnaldi d. Tiafoe, and Zverev's clear status as the favorite to win.

We also discuss the women's side exits of Coco...