Jeff is joined by Carl Bialik and Jeff McFarland, dipping our collective toe into a debate in the tennis coaching world. With rallies short and aggressive, should players be using practice time differently? What types of skills can still be improved, once a player has reached the top? What tactics can a coach teach their charges, and which ones are too deeply ingrained in the physical nature of hitting the shots? Is a 3- or 4-shot rally qualitatively different from a 5- or more-shot rally? How would you teach Madison Keys to retain the positives of her aggressive style while dialing back the aggression a bit? We offer more questions than answers, which seems appropriate for a topic that is far from settled, and is likely to remain controversial for years to come.

The Tennis Abstract Podcast

Ep 83: Is the Practice Court Broken?

Jeff is joined by Carl Bialik and Jeff McFarland, trying out a new format for a new year. We dig into the new ATP Cup, considering whether the format is appealing to players and fans, how we should feel about odd matchups between players hundreds of ranking places apart, and--most importantly--what captains should be doing with the stats available to them. We also look at the top of the WTA ranking table, considering whether Ashleigh Barty will continue her reign for another twelve months, or if Bianca Andreescu--or Karolina Pliskova--will topple her.

Ep 82: ATP Cup and WTA Season Preview

Jeff welcomes guest Joshua Robinson (@joshrobinson23), European sports reporter for the Wall Street Journal and co-author of the book The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports. We hear from Josh in between his trips to the Gulf, just back from the boxing prize-fight at Diriyah Arena, where the first professional tennis tournament was played in Saudi Arabia. We talk about why oil-rich states use athletic spectacles to "sportswash" their reputations, and what it means for the sporting organizations and athletes that help them do it. We also consider the effect on fans, with what Josh calls "Qatar-ification"--events produced in oft-empty arenas for far-off audiences, in a climate wholly unsuited to the sport. It's easy to ignore this stuff during exhibition season, but these are important issues that transcend sport.

Ep 81: Joshua Robinson on Diriyah Cup and the Ethics of Sports in Saudi Arabia

Jeff chats with Martin Ingram (@xenophar), a PhD student in statistics and author of a recent academic paper presenting a new approach to predicting tennis match outcomes. We talk about his model, what makes it different from other common approaches to match prediction such as Elo, and the simplifying assumptions that make it possible. Martin explains the benefits of a technique that allows to incorporate the effects of surface and even specific tournaments, while considering what data we might include in a more comprehensive model.

Ep 80: Martin Ingram on Predicting Match Outcomes, Bayesian Style

Jeff talks with Paul Timmons (@PaulT_Tennis), author of the My Tennis Adventures blog, about the failures of the ITF to provide a logical structure for up-and-coming players. We cover the gender inequality that makes it much more difficult for women to make a living at the equivalent of the ATP Challenger level, the federations that centralize when they should be localizing, and the inevitability of match-fixing when live data provides so much of the sport's revenue. We also touch on several up-and-coming players, the likely next men's major winner, and why the Davis Cup Finals--for all its flaws--is superior to the upcoming ATP Cup.

Ep 79: Paul Timmons on the Broken Structure of Pro Tennis

Jeff is joined by Peter Wetz (@sPETEcore), making his third appearance on the show. Peter and Jeff take a deep dive into the first edition of the new Davis Cup Finals, talking about Rafael Nadal's dominance in both singles and doubles, the surprise heroics of Vasek Pospisil, and why the #2 singles players may be the key to a side's success. We also take a close look at the format, which despite some obvious flaws, gave us a week of gripping tennis.

Ep 78: The Davis Cup Finals

Jeff chats with guest Erik Jonsson (@erktennis), of Tennisportalen and Sourcepodden, about last week's ATP NextGen Finals, which included up-and-coming Swedish star Mikael Ymer. We talk about the stunning rise of Jannik Sinner, the progress shown by Alex De Minaur, and we consider the advantages and disadvantages of a whole slew of the rule innovations that are employed at the NextGen event in Milan. We also delve into Mikael Ymer's potential, whether older brother Elias could still become a top-100 player, and if there is any reason why so many prominent umpires hail from Sweden. Finally, we chat about Erik's Tennis Hipster Handbook, and we wonder whether it's possible to follow tennis anymore without Twitter.

Ep 77: Erik Jonsson on Swedish Tennis and the NextGen Finals

Jeff and Carl review the memorable US Open men's final, featuring a resurgent Daniil Medvedev and a resilient Rafael Nadal, both of whom emptied their tactical toolboxes in Sunday's five-hour marathon. We cover Nadal's path to the all-time grand slam lead, whether Medvedev can become the tallest #1 of all time, and whether fellow first-time semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini is in the same league as the Russian. On the women's final, we consider whether Serena Williams offered a fair assessment of her own game, and just how high champion Bianca Andreescu can climb.

Ep 76: US Open Recap

Jeff and Carl start by previewing the new Tennis Abstract player pages, which you can expect to see roll out over the next few days. Look forward to tons of new stats, plus new ways of looking at traditional numbers. Most of the episode is devoted to our US Open preview. We consider much Novak Djokovic's chances are hurt by the draw, in particular his likelihood of facing Daniil Medvedev again in the quarter-finals. We highlight some notable early-round matches in both the men's and women's draws, and talk in further depth about Coco Gauff, Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Karolina Muchova, and Su-Wei Hsieh.

Ep 75: US Open Preview

Jeff and Carl resume last week's conversation about Daniil Medvedev's tactical choices, now that he took down Novak Djokovic with big second serving en route to his first Masters title. We also consider whether Medvedev's generation is more aggressive than the ones that came before, notwithstanding the Russian's predilection for 30-stroke rallies. We also consider the decisions that led to a best-ever title for Madison Keys, a player who thrives with high-risk, powerful shotmaking, but dialed things back a bit in Cincinnati. We wrap up with an overview of my new Match Charting Project-derived stat leaderboards and a first-hand glimpse of the new WTA event this week in the Bronx.

Ep 74: More Aggression For Medvedev, More Control For Madison Keys

Jeff and Carl dig into the unique tactical approach of fast-rising Daniil Medvedev, who reached the Montreal final last week but failed to make a dent against Rafael Nadal. We consider the importance of point-finishing skills, the declining role of surface speed, as well as Bianca Andreescu's sudden return to the top of the women's field.

Ep 73: Rogers Cup Review, on Rafa, Medvedev, Andreescu, Serena, Kenin, and More

Jeff and Carl discuss the awkward position of World Team Tennis, which is loaded with stars but has a hard time succeeding outside the structure of the tennis tours. On court, they look at the spectacular serving performance of sub-six-foot Alex de Minaur, another disappointing loss for Alexander Zverev, and a shock comeback from Cedrik-Marcel Stebe.

Ep 72: The Unbreakable Alex de Minaur, the Unfocused Alexander Zverev, and the Unaffiliated World Team Tennis

Jeff is joined by guest co-host Jeff McFarland this week, and the two Jeffs take an analytical dive into the tennis institution, looking at who deserves to be there, who doesn't, and how we ought to decide. We also discuss Jeff M's work on various ways to quantify career accomplishments.

Ep 71: An Analytical Approach to the Tennis Hall of Fame

Jeff and Carl attack the five-hour Djokovic-Federer men's final from all sorts of angles, including Novak's excellence on key points, Fed's surprisingly decent backhand, and the first, awkward tiebreak at 12 games all. We also question how much of the lopsided women's final result could be attributed to Halep peaking, and how much to an off-day for Serena Williams.

Ep 70: Djokovic, Federer, Simona, Serena, and a Wimbledon Finals Weekend to Remember

Jeff and Carl recap the first week of Wimbledon, with a focus on the oustanding debut of 15-year-old Cori Gauff. We also talk Kyrgios-Nadal, Murray-Serena doubles, the possibly slower surface, and Raonic the decent returner. We also offer forecasts for each of the 16 fourth-round matches, along with Elo- and market-based predictions for each one.

Ep 69: Middle Sunday Check-Ins on Gauff, Nadal, Murray, Serena, Barty, and the Draw

Carl Bialik and Jeff Sackmann talk tennis with an analytical bent.

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The Tennis Abstract Podcast

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