Episode 59 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, re-evaluates Rafael Nadal’s status as clay-court favorite after his semi-final loss to Dominic Thiem in Barcelona. We also consider what Daniil Medvedev is doing right, even if it didn’t work against Thiem. We compare Medvedev’s accomplishments to those of another Russian, Karen Khachanov, and consider which set of skills is likely to lead to a better career. The same type of comparison is worth making for Istanbul finalist Marketa Vondrousova, whose counterpunching style differs from many of her teenage peers.
Finally, we dive into the muck of Justin Gimelstob’s assault case and tennis’s typically incoherent response.
Thanks for listening!
(Note: this week’s episode is about 72 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
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