The Body Serve

Linda Noskova is your Wimbledon champion, the 3rd Czech woman in 4 years! Her imposing power, resilience, and capable hands pushed her past Karolina Muchova, who managed to save 5 championship points in the second set but couldn’t stem the tide. Jannik Sinner defends his title, rarely summoning his best but doing enough to beat an inspired That Guy and prevent what would have been a cursed and vexatious Channel Slam. In doubles, Patten takes aim at the ATP in his victory speech, Ostapenko gets blamed for something she didn’t do (for once), and Guo/Mladenovic knock out the top seeds and eventually win the title. We also chat about Czech tennis history and the everlasting effort to identify why they’re so good, plus the decades-long saga of the All England Club’s plans to expand its site and what still stands in the way. 

0:40 Linda Noskova wins Wimbledon at 21

7:45 My ex-friend

10:15 Other notes from women’s second week: Gauff-Muchova and more

16:55 What’s the deal with Czech tennis?

23:00 Jannik Sinner averts disaster, but the Monster has already been created

34:35 What’s next for Novak?

38:35 Henry Patten takes on the ATP + other doubles results

44:45 Wimbledon expansion: locals say Not On My Church Road

Checking in as we face week two of Wimbledon: 6 of the top 8 women are out, including the #1 and last year’s finalists, but we’re left with a surging Coco Gauff, a Linda Noskova ready to break out (again), a healthy Karolina Muchova, and a Naomi Osaka who’s trying to shed the hard court specialist mantle. On the men’s side, Sinner and Djokovic are on a crash course, our faves Felix and Alejandro are beefing (hopefully briefly), and Grisha breaks our hearts. We spend some time on Serena’s comeback, which has, predictably, opened old wounds and reawakened old trolls. Overall, what do we make of her performance, and what do we hope for her presumed next stop? Spare a thought for Auntie Venus, who just wants to play some doubles.

2:05 The quarterfinal match-ups

7:25 Grass is an outlier

13:50 Notes on the women’s draw: Naomi stuns Aryna

22:30 Coco wins under the buzzer

28:30 Serena’s comeback

42:00 Men’s tournament: don’t trust the Sinner flop allegations; a “pretty match”

48:40 Our faves were fighting

54:50 Zeynep Sonmez’s loophole

58:10 Player protest starts then stops

The 2026 Wimbledon tournament kicks off Monday, and along with it comes the disorienting experience of seeing the name Serena Williams in a singles draw again. Expectations are all over the place as she opens against the Australian Maya Joint. More broadly, the women’s draw is anyone’s guess, as the top players come in with less than optimal preparation but plenty of experience. On the men’s side, former world #4 Jack Draper breaks out of the injury asylum only to see Taylor Fritz in the first round. Sinner looks to be the prohibitive favorite with a very small second tier – Djokovic, Fritz, Shelton, and? – fighting for a shot.   

1:45 This week’s results: Draper is back, Naomi in her first grass final 

5:15 Notable qualifiers and not-qualifiers 

7:30 Women’s draw: “tough draws” fall apart all the time (solace for Iga fans?)

23:05 Men’s draw: Sinnerstan  

39:15 The most random et ceteras and one big lie

Grass season is about halfway done, and I don’t know what’s going on with the WTA (wishing them luck). Big results for Noskova – who just debuted in the top 10 – plus Robin Montgomery, Ben Shelton, Donna Vekic, and the Frans! The news that Serena Williams received the remaining Wimbledon singles wild card trumped everything this week, while her husband hung out at Trump’s UFC abomination. Recent Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova was given a 4-year suspension for refusing a doping test in December, a decision that will almost certainly be appealed. Lastly, we give some final thoughts on the Knicks and go down the Stevie rabbit hole again.

1:00 Yep, that singles wild card was for #thismama 

14:10 Berlin bagel + it was a good week to be a Fran

24:30 Previous week’s results: s-’Hertogenbosch, Stuttgart, Queen’s

27:30 Diving into Marketa Vondrousova’s 4-year suspension 

36:30 Alexis, your presence wasn’t actually required

40:50 Corentin Moutet gives up his prize money for what, exactly?

43:00 Catching up with the Knicks and Victor Wembanyama 

48:20 Remembering Peabo and igniting the Stevie discussion again

It’s been impossible to keep up with tennis news lately, with Serena’s return, the grass season starting, and the top players continuing to pressure the Slams on prize money and consultation. We had too much on our Roland Garros wrap agenda, so here’s the twin to episode 425. We talk about Serena’s long-simmering “comeback,” the product tie-ins with Ro and Zepbound, and her successful doubles match with Canadian star Victoria Mboko. We also check in with the ongoing player response to prize money increases (as a proportion of tournament revenue) and what could come next. Finally, we give our unorganized thoughts on the Rafa doc, check in with a kind Reddit user, and give you a Knicks segment that is now -- thankfully -- a time capsule of life before Jalen Brunson was an MVP and NBA champion!

1:30 The "wildfire" … was warranted 

11:30 Serena and Vicky ace their first (and only) test

23:10 Is this comeback meant to be a proof of concept for GLP-1 use?

33:10 Wimbledon prize money -- will the increase be enough for “Project Red Eye?”

40:00 Netflix’s Rafa documentary was a somewhat harrowing experience

49:30 Admitting I was wrong is important!

52:40 A quick Knicks segment (now a time capsule)