No Challenges Remaining

Ben is joined by Ava Wallace of The Washington Post to discuss their hometown tournament in DC, and how this place still manages to charm and shine as a uniquely accessible and diverse place on tour despite the challenges of a rusting stadium.

We discuss the big players this week as well, including the impressive comeback of Venus Williams, local hope Hailey Baptiste, and top American men Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, and Taylor Fritz.

Thank you for listening! Our Patreon is back up and running to ensure NCR keeps going and stays ad-free, and we hope you can join in supporting NCR! And we especially thank our GOAT backers: Pam Shriver and J. O'D.

And please check out Ben's new writing home, Bounces! And Ava's work at The Washington Post!

Ben and Tumaini are joined for their Wimbledon finals show by Giri Nathan, who literally wrote the book on the Sinner-Alcaraz rivalry that featured its latest chapter in the Wimbledon final. 

Before discussing Sinner and Alcaraz and their continuing takeover—and Sinner finally getting another win in his column—we start with the women's final, in which Iga Swiatek blanked Amanda Anisimova 6-0, 6-0. What do we make of Swiatek's dominance?

Also, which of Swiatek, Alcaraz, and Sinner will complete their Career Slam first?

We also chat about the widely-discussed wildcard misadventure of Bill Ackman in Newport, which Giri wrote about at Defector. 

Thank you for listening! Our Patreon is back up and running to ensure NCR keeps going and stays ad-free, and we hope you can join in supporting NCR! And we especially thank our GOAT backers: Pam Shriver and J. O'D.

And please check out Ben's new writing home, Bounces! And Tumaini's work at The Guardian! And buy Giri's book!!

Ben and Tumaini, on the mic once more together, recap the business end of Wimbledon, where one final is already set on the women's side and two blockbuster semifinals are set for the men. 

We start with the women's side, on which Amanda Anisimova is making her first major final after beating Aryna Sabalenka (who had herself a much more composed press conference this time). We then discuss, to Tumaini's delight, how he was right and Ben was wrong about Swiatek's grass possibilities this season. 

We then turn to the men, where Taylor (Harry) Fritz is going to face Carlos Alcaraz (Garfia) and where there will be a Sinner-Djokovic rematch. Who should be the favorite in that second semifinal, and are injuries a concern?

Thank you for listening! Our Patreon is back up and running to ensure NCR keeps going and stays ad-free, and we hope you can join in supporting NCR! And we especially thank our GOAT backers: Pam Shriver and J. O'D.

And please check out Ben's new writing home, Bounces! And Tumaini's work at The Guardian! 

Ben is joined for the final time during this Wimbledon by Ricky Dimon, to discuss the fourth round matches that were played and how the quarterfinals and beyond are shaping up.

We start with the bleakest moment in recent tennis memory, when Grigor Dimitrov was up two sets to none on an injured Jannik Sinner, only to suffer his own sudden acute pectoral injury and be forced to retire mid-match for the fifth major tournament in a row.

We then discuss Sinner's not-great health outlook as well, and then shift to the rest of the happenings in the middle round of Wimbledon, including the wildness of the utter failure of automated electronic line calling on Centre Court during Pavlyuchenkova-Kartal. 

Thank you for listening! Our Patreon is back up and running to ensure NCR keeps going and stays ad-free, and we hope you can join in supporting NCR! And we especially thank our GOAT backers: Pam Shriver and J. O'D.

And please check out Ben's new writing home, Bounces! And Ricky's writing at TennGrand! 

Ben is back with Ricky Dimon to discuss a third round at Wimbledon that was much less tumultuous than the previous two rounds, and the second week outlook for the tournament that it set up.

On the women's side, is it Sabalenka or the field? And is the men's side still looking like likely chalk of Sinner-Djokovic and Fritz-Alcaraz semifinals?

Thank you for listening! Our Patreon is back up and running to ensure NCR keeps going and stays ad-free, and we hope you can join in supporting NCR! And we especially thank our GOAT backers: Pam Shriver and J. O'D.

And please check out Ben's new writing home, Bounces! And Ricky's writing at TennGrand!