February ends with Andreeva’s arrival, players getting flewed out by Jessie Pegula, Stef’s mystery racquet saving his career, and Andrey live laugh loving in Doha (but in all seriousness, happy for him!). We’re also covering the WTA’s anti-purple rebrand alongside Billie Jean King’s “tear it all down” approach, Venus Williams’ momentary wild card to Indian Wells, and Serena coming to our town with the WNBA!

1:20 My favorite season: awards

5:25 Stef’s boat 

8:35 Something rotten in the state of Guerrero

15:35 Other results: Navarro, Djere, and Peggy’s private plane

20:30 Rublev wins Doha, opens up about learning to be kind to himself

23:40 Andreeva arrives as a genuine teen prodigy 

28:00 Who jumped out the gate in 2025?

32:20 Venus is back! Oh wait, no, she’s giving a talk in Denmark!

36:25 Indian Wells surface change - let’s wait and see, ok?

38:40 The WTA rebrand: no more charity language and no. more. purple. 

54:45 The WNBA (and Serena!) are coming to Toronto

Tennis, stop. Give us a minute, my God. The chaotic February schedule gives us a first-time 1000 title winner (Anisimova), a first-time ATP titlist (Fonseca), Ostapenko’s fifth unanswered defeat of Swiatek, and Bencic winning a big title soon after her return from maternity leave. While trying to keep track of tennis results, we also saw the resolution of the Sinner’s WADA appeal, the conclusion of the WTA’s investigation into Stefano Vukov, and Simona Halep's retirement. 

01:40 Anisimova wins Doha, Penko turns her year around

5:35 Fonseca’s first title, Schwartzman’s swan song, and will the South American swing go hardcourt?

11:40 Alejandro, por qué???

15:10 Last week: Bencic, Alcaraz, Shapo

19:40 The Sinner Agreement

31:05 US Open makes mixed doubles a glorified exhibition

40:55 Compton’s most famous daughter

47:05 Rybakina’s coach Vukov suspended for a year 

53:30 Simona Halep retires

62:20 We don’t need straight men’s takes on which men are hot

Madison Keys has been a major champion for over a week now! This episode isn’t really about that, but it bears repeating. Checking in on tennis in February, we’ve got Felix winning yet another indoor title, Mertens and Alexandrova making up for somewhat disappointing Australian Opens, and a whole heap of man drama at Davis Cup, featuring one of the only head-on collisions you’ll see in tennis and the current state of ATP umpiring. This episode covers lots of odds and ends including Petra’s imminent return(!), more from the AO men’s final protestor, Ymer’s unretirement, and the US Open’s expansion. 

0:35 WTA titlists Mertens and Alexandrova; Felix wins his second title of the year

6:55 Davis Cup: Garin gets literally run over by Bergs

17:40 Certainly not while wearing that moustache

20:00 Mikael Ymer did the opposite of “break up with your [tennis], I’m bored” 

20:55 Petra Kvitova is coming back, maple syrup magnate Vasek Pospisil is leaving

28:05 One more thing about Madi

34:20 Craig Tiley’s comments on the AusOpen protestor are … lacking 

39:35 The US Open’s manspread 

This was one of those rare finals weekends where pretty much everything we hoped for came true. A perennial fave of fans and her own coworkers, the one-time prodigy Madison Keys showed remarkable maturity and grit to win her first major title. She let go of the “need” to win a Slam, and then managed to defeat #2 Iga Swiatek and the 2-time defending champ #1 Aryna Sabalenka back-to-back. Jannik Sinner defended his title without facing a break point in the final. Tennis keeps trying to make his opponent happen, alas to no avail. Plus, we got cracker women's doubles matchups, Novak HIPAA-violating himself, and Sakkari attending the inauguration instead of winning tennis matches.

1:25 GoFundMe update: Thank you!!!

6:05 Once a tween prodigy, then a best-never-to-win, now a Slam winner

12:05 Madison said therapy works … can’t argue with that 

27:50 After a diversion, a few more notes on the women’s draw

33:40 The ceaseless pushing, literal and figurative 

38:00 “Australia believes Olya and Brenda”

46:45 Ben Shelton v. the media 

53:05 Women’s doubles: SMASH on the girls 

62:25 Call me OptaAce because I’ve got stats 

Just past the midway point of the 2025 Australian Open, the big favorites are mostly still here; a few NextGenners made a big splash in week one, including Joao Fonseca and the episode namesake Learner Tien. We'll take you through the draw, the first week highlights, the upsets, and the reverse hex I put on Alejandro ;)  As always, we spend a lot of time with all the extra stuff happening on top of the tennis: coaching pods, the Danielle Collins mini-controversy, Djokovic’s ‘boycott,’ Nick’s non-event, and a few notes on commentary.

1:55 The first week upsets (aka James was wrong about pretty much everything)

12:00 How the faves are doing? Monfils, Coco, Alejandro (you’re welcome)

24:15 The quarters and how we got here 

30:15 He came for the nepo baby and that was the last straw

33:30 Coaching pods! (At least they’re not mic’d)

38:50 The Danielle Collins (and Colleen?!) Fund

46:05 WADA will not appeal Swiatek’s case

50:30 Tony Jones gave Novak a grievance. Thanks a lot, Tony

55:05 Erin Routliffe with the quote of the tournament

57:25 The kits: Coco’s is a hit, but the Nike spaghetti straps … please 

And just like that, the 2025 Australian Open is nearly underway. It’s the 40th major we’ve covered as a podcast, and our draw previews are still as prediction-free as always. We touch on a few of the themes to watch out for in Melbourne – Sinner’s emotional state, Rybakina’s coaching situation, Novak as #7 seed and poisonee – but mostly this is a lighthearted preview with draw breakdowns and our most intriguing first rounds. 

GoFundMe: help fund our 2025 season!

3:15 Stories to follow: heavy metals, jumping ants

13:50 Comebacks and withdrawals

18:50 Women’s draw analysis: a tough one for Coco

27:40 Women’s bottom half: will Iga reverse her luck in Australia?

38:05 Men’s draw analysis: the top tier and the middlemen

54:50 Men’s bottom half: Djokovic as a #7 seed sounds wrong

Welcome to season 11 of The Body Serve! We're catching you up on the barely existent off-season, including the most important Joaos, Max Purcell turning himself in, and Jenson Broosky’s brave statement about autism. Even though one of us rejects any “2025” tennis that occurs before January 1, 2025, we talk through the season’s early results, including the United Cup fracas, the Opelka and Nishikori comebacks, and the shifting Big 4 allegiances due to the Murravic pairing. We also take on the decidedly more serious situation with Elena Rybakina’s former and would-be current coach, Stefano Vukov, who is currently under investigation by the WTA. Finally, we end with our 2025 breakout picks and a game that James was entirely unprepared for. Happy 2025!

1:05 GoFundMe update

4:05 First week results: Reilly, Kei, the pairing from hell, plus the top tier of the WTA smashes their first week

14:00 United Cup: the “drama” is honestly not that serious

23:30 Rybakina, Vukov, WTA safeguarding, and the childishness of “I told you so”

31:25 Max Purcell turns himself in for an anti-doping oopsie

35:55 Kyrgios’ obsession + Osaka’s allegiance to him (aka: I knew things would get rocky when he came for the nepo baby)

40:45 Jenson Brooksby tells the world that he has autism spectrum disorder

44:50 The Year of the Joao: Reis da Silva comes out as gay + Fonseca wins Next Gen Finals

50:15 Our breakout picks for 2025

54:50 James plays a game! Play along at home

We never knew how much we’d miss “hola a todos” until it turned into an adiós. Rafael Nadal Parera ended his tennis career at this year’s Davis Cup, leaving with with 22 major singles titles, a Career Golden Slam, every clay record you can think of, and a litany of quotable moments. We’ve been Rafa fans since the early days, when they said he was a dirtballer whose body would force him into retirement in his 30s. But it turned out Rafa was nothing if not adaptable -- a rational thinker whose love for the game made him a global superstar and helped build two of the sport’s most enduring rivalries. In this episode, we’re less interested in a chronological retelling of his career than complicating some of the cliches about him and talking about our favorite moments, Rafa’s inimitable Rafa-isms, and what made Nadal an athlete like no other.    

1:55 How we became fans

4:45 It’s not about stats, but here are some stats

10:00 Adaptability: the key to understanding Rafa as an athlete?

12:55 A quick career recap - the notable eras

32:35 Rafa as sufferer 

37:30 Fedal & Rafole: the cliches eventually fell away

43:45 Rafa as sex symbol 

52:05 (Not) talking about the GOAT conversation

62:25 Our favorite Rafa moments: the 2022 Australian Open was a gift

65:40 Rafa-isms : if if if …

Finally our 2024 season is coming to a close! Although bonus December content is coming soon, we finish regular coverage by wrapping the ATP season: it was basically the proof that Jannik Sinner’s late-2023 rise was for real, and that he and Carlos have taken the reins of the (mostly) post-Big 4 ATP. Just like the women’s wrap, we’ll take you through the events of the 2024 season, evaluate our picks for 2024 breakout players, and choose our ATP Award winners. We finish up with your memorable/funny/enraging moments (“do you want to change the lady?,” Indian Wells bee attack) and the many players saying goodbye to the sport. 

GoFundMe  

3:10 Where were we at the beginning of 2024?

10:30 Starting in Australia: Sinner risen

16:30 Clay: Rafa’s brief return, Watergate, and Carlos’ apology-fist pump-championship pipeline

22:20 Channel Slam and Novak’s white whale

29:20 Rafa’s retirement at Davis Cup

37:55 Off-court “drama” 

41:55 Our 2024 breakout players + thoughts on the ATP Awards

50:00 What will you remember? Bees.

53:25 Moments that pissed you off / made you laugh (sometimes both)

57:55 A ton of retirements this year, even beyond the big names

We were soooo close to wrapping this season, but we’ll always change the schedule for a doping story. The news of Iga Swiatek testing positive for a banned substance provoked shock, confusion, and even resignation among tennis watchers who are, by the day, becoming more versed on the fine details of doping cases. Our immediate questions were: Is the story plausible? Why is the suspension broken into pieces? When should news like this be made public? As always, we like to dive into the report itself, making sure we’ve got the facts straight before offering any hot takes. Later, we try to answer a few of our own questions, touching on player reactions and the danger of comparing one case to another. 

1:35 GoFundMe Update

3:25 Iga Swiatek tests positive for trimetazidine in Cincinnati, gets a 1-month non-consecutive suspension

9:05 A timeline to make sense of things

13:10 Iga’s team sends a boatload of evidence to the ITIA

17:30 What’s the difference between No Fault or Negligence and No Significant Fault of Negligence?

31:30 Public disclosure: balancing a player’s privacy with building transparency and trust 

36:05 Tara Moore has a more legitimate beef than most 

42:30 Simona said this case is identical to hers (it is not)  

This year in women’s tennis, the top tier took further steps to entrench themselves but the WTA retained its signature depth. Sabalenka, Swiatek, and surprise – Krejcikova – added majors to their hauls; Paolini and Zheng broke out in a big way; and Gauff managed to rewrite her season in the fall. We’ll take you through the highlights, the comebacks, the ‘remember whens,’ and moments both infuriating and hilarious. As usual, we also choose our WTA Award winners and do a self-assessment on our 2024 WTA breakout picks. Thanks for a great WTA season!

0:55 Launching our crowdfunding campaign!

3:00 The season’s major themes: Steadiness at the top (+ Babs!), the Zheng and Paolini breakthroughs, Coco’s two seasons, and many comebacks of varying success

12:20 Picture it: Australia, January 2024

17:20 Danielle makes a career-best run, Iga dominates clay

26:25 Babs snatches Wimbledon, Zheng ascendant

33:20 Aryna bookends her year at the US Open

38:30 Our choices for the 2024 WTA Awards

44:10 How did our 2024 breakout picks do?

47:55 Your most memorable moments: our listeners love Jasmine

50:55 Moments that pissed you off and moments that made you laugh: Babs and Qinwen keeping the girlies entertained  

64:35 Farewells and farewells for now