Podcast Archives - Heavy Topspin: Recent Episodes
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This year, I ranked the top 128 players of the last 100 years. I wrote long-form essays about each one, which I’ve published over the last eleven months. You can see the introduction to the project here, jump into the middle with Helen Jacobs, or skip to the end and read about the greatest player of all time, Rod Laver.
Carl Bialik joined me for a podcast episode to mark the end of the project. We solicited questions, and many of you came through–we ended up with a list of over 200 questions! Spoiler alert: Even after three hours, we didn’t get through them all. I may write something in the next couple of weeks touching on some of the questions we didn’t have time for.
We talk about the algorithm, players with controversial rankings (or no rankings at all), reactions to the project, and much, much more. The full list of questions, with time stamps, is below. Surely, though, you’ll want to listen to the whole thing. Thanks to Carl for hosting and organizing the episode, and to all of those who made suggestions.
Thanks for listening!
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode116.mp3(Note: this episode is about 2 hours, 54 minutes minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use the feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Music: Everyone Has Gone Home by texasradiofish (c) copyright 2020. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: spinningmerkaba
The algorithm
- What is and isn’t your ranking system, concisely? (00:04:30)
- Why did you settle on the three main components? (00:08:10)
- Is the 128 your answer to the GOAT debate? (00:12:30)
- Are there ways you’d consider improving the algorithm? (00:14:20)
- Do Suzanne Lenglen and Bill Tilden have a disadvantage in the algorithm (compared to modern players) because there weren’t a lot of established players with “deep” Elo rankings for them to beat? (00:15:35)
- Did you change any rankings based on what you found after you started to research players? (00:20:30)
- You mentioned that a few players got a slight bump thanks to off-court contributions/legacy. Which players (other than Ora Washington), and how much? (00:22:45)
- How soon will the pre-Open era men’s Elo ratings become public on the website? (And other info including all data for selecting/ranking 128) (00:25:40)
- Do you feel different about your methodology after researching all 128 players than at the start? (00:28:25)
- Is it a weakness of the algorithm that the importance of the tournament and round doesn’t make a difference to the impact of a match on Elo? (00:31:40)
- Why put men and women on the same list? (00:35:15)
Second-guessing
- Who is the most underrated player in tennis history? (00:39:00)
- Who is the most overrated player in tennis history? (00:41:50)
- What do people most often get wrong when trying to rank the GOATs? (00:43:10)
- What player ranking (either in absolute terms or relative to another player) do you disagree with the most? (00:47:40)
- Who didn’t make the cut who most surprised you? (00:51:15)
Hypotheticals
- From the 128 algorithm is there any indication how the level among the (1926-68) pro men’s players compared to the amateur players of the time? (00:53:40)
- Do you think the men’s pro game served to delay the start of the open era? Or is it possible that without the pro game, tennis might never have gone open, and become like so many Olympic sports that have no money – such as skating or many track and field events? (00:57:55)
- With the return of career length to pre-1970 levels, is it fair to say that the inability of the top players in the 1980s and ’90s to stay at the top was due to rapid changes in equipment technology? (that have since slowed down) (01:00:35)
- Modern players have both better equipment and better coaching/training/analytics than past players did. Which do you think gives modern players a greater advantage over their past peers, equipment or coaching/training/analytics? (01:03:35)
Laver and Graf
- What happened to Laver at Slams after 1969? (01:05:05)
- Realistically how possible is it for Djokovic to catch up to Laver? Working on the assumption he won’t be improving on his peak metrics at this stage of his career, how many 2019-2022 type seasons does he need to put up to close the gap? (01:07:20)
- If Monica Seles had not been stabbed, do you think Graf would still have been the top woman in the 128? (01:09:00)
- What do you think would happen if Graf were to play Helen Wills or Suzanne Lenglen? (01:11:15)
Rankings of note (or not)
- Michael Stich (01:13:25)
- David Ferrer (01:15:30)
- Pam Shriver (01:16:20)
- Gabriela Sabatini (01:18:00)
- Marat Safin (and Kuerten and Kafelnikov) (01:20:00)
- Adriano Panatta (01:22:25)
- Amanda Coetzer (01:24:00)
- Barbara Schett (01:25:45)
- Carlos Alcaraz (01:25:00)
- Dominic Thiem (01:28:05)
- Angelique Kerber (01:28:50)
- Iga Swiatek (01:29:10)
- Doubles specialists (01:30:25)
- Wheelchair players (01:31:25)
- If Ora Washington merited a spot, are there pre-integration Black men players who belong on the list as well? (01:32:35)
Essays and research
- Which player do you think overcame the most to get to the top? (01:34:35)
- Which match do you most wish you had attended? (01:37:35)
- Why are there so few LGBT men in the 128? And why are the ones we know about (Tilden, von Cramm) from so long ago? (01:38:55)
- What was your least favorite newspaper or writer or other source? (01:41:50)
- There are only six black athletes in the 128 and another seven or so who might be identified as people of color by some standard. Does tennis have a racism problem? Is it improving? (01:44:30)
- Why do you hate Justine Henin so much? (01:47:10)
- Who is your favorite pre-WW1 women’s player and why? (01:51:30)
- Which tennis era did you most enjoy researching and writing about? (01:53:45)
- What player would you most have liked to write an essay about, but didn’t get the chance to because they didn’t make the list? (01:57:55)
Reactions
- Do you receive a lot of criticism when fans think you’ve placed their favorite player too low? (02:00:35)
- Which player’s placement generated the most controversy? (02:03:05)
- Have you gotten any reactions from players themselves? (02:04:35)
- What has been the oddest reaction to a post? (02:05:30)
- How many people do you think have read every word? (02:06:30)
- Have you heard from Joe Posnanski about the project? (02:08:35)
Jeff, post-128
- Has the 128 scratched an itch and can you now stop thinking about the best of all times as much? (02:09:20)
- What are your goals for the tennisabstract.com website? (02:12:55)
- What advice would you give yourself in January, looking back? (02:14:40)
- Do you foresee re-running the 128 calculation ever again? More than once? (02:20:45)
- What number do you wish you’d done? (02:22:15)
- How much will you miss doing the 128? (02:25:25)
- How proud are you of the result? (02:26:50)
- Will you publish the results and essays in a book? (02:33:25)
- Who would you like to thank for support in this journey? (02:35:30)
- What will you do next? (02:41:25)
Jeff McFarland is the proprietor of the analytics site Hidden Game of Tennis, and like me, he has tried his hand at various mathematical approaches to rank the best players of all time, in both tennis and baseball. We start this jumbo episode by talking about Jim Courier–#107 on my Tennis 128 list–a player with … Continue reading Podcast Episode 115: Jeff McFarland on Jim Courier and GOAT Algorithms
Serbian-American writer Ana Mitrić joins me to discuss the latest entry in my Tennis 128, Goran Ivanišević. Ana was a Goran fan even before she took a broader interest in tennis, and she is particularly sensitive to how the breakup of the former Yugoslavia affected players on all sides of the conflict. We talk about … Continue reading Podcast Episode 114: Ana Mitrić on Goran Ivanišević and Tennis in the Former Yugoslavia
In 1973, New York Times reporter Grace Lichtenstein was approached to write a book, A Long Way, Baby, about the fledgling women’s professional tour. It turned out to be a pivotal season in the sport’s history, and the book concludes with an in-person account of the famous Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean … Continue reading Podcast Episode 113: Grace Lichtenstein on A Long Way, Baby and Women’s Tennis in 1973
In this episode, Tennis Abstract Podcast veteran Carl Bialik joins me to talk about 1970s women’s tennis. The occasion for the discussion is the 115th player on my Tennis 128 list, Rosie Casals, and we also (sort of) bring back the book club to talk about Grace Lichtenstein’s 1974 book, A Long Way, Baby: Behind … Continue reading Podcast Episode 112: Carl Bialik on Rosie Casals and A Long Way, Baby
Tim Böseler is a senior editor at Germany’s Tennis Magazin, where he writes about all things tennis. Tim joins me for the latest episode of the Tennis Abstract Podcast to talk about Michael Stich, the man ranked 123rd on my Tennis 128 list. We discuss the German tennis scene before Stich arrived, how Stich was … Continue reading Podcast Episode 111: Tim Böseler on Michael Stich and Serve-and-Volley Tennis
Long-time Tennis Abstract Podcast favorite Carl Bialik joins me to discuss player #127 on The Tennis 128, Stan Wawrinka. We consider how Wawrinka improved so late in his career, what role Magnus Norman played in the transformation, how good the backhand really is, how he might have fared in other eras, and much more. It’s … Continue reading Podcast Episode 110: Carl Bialik on Stan Wawrinka
The podcast returns for 2022 from a long layoff to welcome back Joe Posnanski, author of the Baseball 100 and many other wonderful books. Joe covers all sports on Substack, where you can subscribe, even if he doesn’t write about tennis as much as he ought to. We start by talking about all things Australian … Continue reading Podcast Episode 109: Joe Posnanski on the Australian Open and GOAT Lists
My latest episode features Gerry Marzorati, author of the new book Seeing Serena. You might also know him from the pages of The New York and Racquet magazine, as well as his earlier book, Late to the Ball. The book follows Serena Williams throughout the 2019 season as she seeks her first grand slam title … Continue reading Podcast Episode 108: Gerry Marzorati on Serena Williams and Tennis Coverage in the 21st Century
Episode 107 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, is our fourth book club episode, a discussion of Alvaro Enrigue’s novel, Sudden Death. The book is set around the year 1600, and a central feature is a real tennis match between the Italian painter Caravaggio and the Spanish poet … Continue reading Podcast Episode 107: Book Club: Sudden Death, by Alvaro Enrigue
Episode 106 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, is our recap of the Monte Carlo Masters, where Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal bowed out early, and Stefanos Tsitsipas showed us just how good a clay-courter he could be. We have lots of questions, and offer at least a … Continue reading Podcast Episode 106: Monte Carlo Simulations Aren’t As Good As the Real Thing
The next pick for the Tennis Abstract book club is Álvaro Enrigue’s 2013 novel Sudden Death. Enrigue is Mexican, and he writes in Spanish. An English translation was published in 2017. How could you not want to read this? Sudden Death begins with a brutal tennis match that could decide the fate of the world. The … Continue reading Book Club Selection #4: Sudden Death, by Álvaro Enrigue
Episode 105 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, takes on the third pick of our book club, Arthur Ashe’s 1993 memoir, Days of Grace. The book gives us a chance to get inside the mind of one of the most important figures in tennis history. He was the … Continue reading Podcast Episode 105: Book Club: Days of Grace, by Arthur Ashe
Episode 104 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, is our recap of the Miami Open, with a particular focus on the Italian teenager who reached the final there. Jannik Sinner has a relatively weak first serve, but seems to do everything else right. We talk about how to … Continue reading Podcast Episode 104: The Present and Future of Jannik Sinner
This week’s episode features Katrina Adams, author of the new book Own the Arena: Getting Ahead, Making a Difference, and Succeeding as the Only One. As a former player, coach, and commentator, and as the first African American to serve as president of the USTA, Katrina has a unique perspective on the world of professional … Continue reading Podcast Episode 103: Katrina Adams on Role Models, Grassroots Development, and Tennis Governance
Episode 102 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast welcomes back Erik Jonsson (@erktennis), previously heard on Episode 77 of the show in November of 2019. Erik is a longtime Challenger and prospect watcher, and he shares his thoughts on Lorenzo Musetti, Aslan Karatsev, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Sebastian Korda, and more. We talk about how to … Continue reading Podcast Episode 102: Erik Jonsson on the Rising Wave of Stars in Men’s Tennis
This week’s guest is Larry Olmsted, author of the fascinating new book Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding. Larry is on Twitter as @TravelFoodGuy, and you can find out more about the book at his site. While there’s not much tennis in the book, the topic should be of interest … Continue reading Podcast Episode 101: Author Larry Olmsted on the Benefits of Sports Fandom
Episode 100 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast, celebrates our milestone 100th episode with a lightning-round mega-mailbag through 100 questions, many of them submitted by our listeners. The questions truly run the gamut of all things tennis, from our favorite players to watch, to the best umpires on … Continue reading Podcast Episode 100: 100 Questions for Episode 100
This week’s guest is Julie DiCaro, author of the new book Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America, which comes out on Tuesday. I learned a lot from reading her book, and recommend it to anyone who is interested in the problems with sports media and the struggles that women face in every … Continue reading Podcast Episode 99: Author Julie DiCaro on Serena Williams, Women in Sports, and the Limits of Sports Media
The next pick for the Tennis Abstract podcast book club will be Days of Grace, Arthur Ashe’s 1993 memoir. I trust that readers are familiar with Ashe–if you’re not, now’s a good time to learn more about one of the most important figures in tennis history, the first Black superstar in the men’s game, and … Continue reading Book Club Selection #3: Days of Grace
Episode 98 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, recaps the second installment of our book club, on Couples, a 1968 novel by John Updike. Even though it came recommended as a “best tennis book,” Couples didn’t turn out to have much tennis in it at all. We talk … Continue reading Podcast Episode 98: Book Club: Couples, by John Updike
This week’s guest is Matt Futterman, reporter for the New York Times and author of Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed and Players: How Sports Became a Business.
Matt, who spent 15 days in hotel quarantine so that he could cover the Australian Open, talks about his time in isolation and what is was like to emerge into a semblance of normal life. He explains why sports aren’t really sports without fans, how close the Australian Open came to not happening, and why Sofia Kenin isn’t a bigger star.
I also take advantage of Matt’s extensive knowledge of distance running to ask whether the unique schedules of marathoners provide any insight into how tennis players can better manage the pandemic, how tennis pros can gain some of the benefits of being part of a team, and which active player would run the fastest marathon.
Thanks for listening!
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode097.mp3 (Note: this week’s episode is about 48 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Music: Everyone Has Gone Home by texasradiofish (c) copyright 2020. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. Ft: spinningmerkaba
Podcast housekeeping:
- In case you haven’t heard, I’m one month into a short (~4 minutes) daily podcast called Expected Points. Here’s today’s episode.
- The TAP book club will reconvene next week with our next selection, John Updike’s 1968 novel, Couples. Read along with us, share your thoughts, and suggest topics/questions/comments for our discussion in a future episode. (Yes, I know I said “next week” last week, too. This time I mean it. Probably.)
Episode 96 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast welcomes Dave Seminara, author of the entertaining new book Footsteps of Federer: A Fan’s Pilgrimage Across 7 Swiss Cantons in 10 Acts, which comes out next week. Dave is also the author of two previous travel books, and another one, Mad Travelers: A Tale of Wanderlust, Greed and the Quest to Reach the Ends of the Earth, due out this summer.
We talk about how Roger Federer is typically Swiss (and how he is not), how his Swiss admirers differ from his legions of fans elsewhere around the world, and how Switzerland’s network of small-town clubs sets the country apart. Federer fans will definitely learn some new things about their hero thanks to Dave’s digging.
He also shares the stories behind some of his quests to track down sources for his tennis articles–it turns out that finding a 60-year-old Togolese Davis Cupper can be just as tricky as getting Federer to open up about his past, and it was a close-run thing to place an article about a 643-shot rally in the New York Times on its 25th anniversary.
As fellow travel buffs, we venture into that territory as well, talking about tactics for budget travel in Switzerland, how Switzerland compares to Norway, and just how far some people will go to check a rare destination off their list.
Thanks for listening!
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode096.mp3 (Note: this week’s episode is about 68 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Podcast housekeeping:
- In case you haven’t heard, I’m 23 episodes into a short (~4 minutes) daily podcast called Expected Points. Here’s today’s episode.
- The TAP book club will reconvene next week with our next selection, John Updike’s 1968 novel, Couples. Read along with us, share your thoughts, and suggest topics/questions/comments for our discussion in a future episode.
Episode 95 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast welcomes Joe Posnanski, senior writer at The Athletic and author of several books, including The Soul of Baseball, The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, and the forthcoming Baseball 100. Joe is a long-time tennis player and fan who has often written about tennis.
Joe and I cover a lot of ground in 75 minutes, starting with a discussion of Djokovic’s and Osaka’s wins at the Australian Open. He talks about what might be stopping the younger generation of men from dethroning Djokovic and Nadal, why Naomi Osaka is different, how much credit to give to coaches, and whether the outstanding crop of young American women is underreported. Joe also shares his thoughts about how to compare players across eras, whether we ought to pay more attention to the amateur era, and what he’d write about if he could spend more time writing about tennis.
Thanks for listening!
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode095.mp3 (Note: this week’s episode is about 75 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Podcast housekeeping:
- In case you haven’t heard, I’m 20 episodes into a short (~4 minutes) daily podcast called Expected Points. Here’s today’s episode.
- The TAP book club will reconvene next week with our next selection, John Updike’s 1968 novel, Couples. Read along with us, share your thoughts, and suggest topics/questions/comments for our discussion in a future episode.
Episode 94 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast, with Carl Bialik, of the Thirty Love podcast, is all about injuries.
Carl and I use the fitness sagas of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal as a springboard to talk about injury management–the way in which players handle constant nagging injuries, whether that means adapting their tactics, changing their pace, rearranging their schedule, or just plain suffering. We also wonder how much undisclosed injury and fatigue affects match results, or if commentators focus too much on questions of physical readiness at the expense of talking about the tennis itself.
Thanks for listening!
In housekeeping notes:
- If you’re not already listening to Expected Points, my 3- or 4-minute daily podcast covering the latest numbers in tennis, you should be. Click for today’s.
- The TAP book club will reconvene in a few weeks with our next selection, John Updike’s 1968 novel, Couples. Read along with us, tell us what you think, and suggest topics/questions/comments for our discussion in a future episode.
- Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, Carl’s and my Covid-19 podcast. Later today, we’re releasing a new episode about hygiene theater and Covid absolutism, in which we talk a lot about measures that have long been known to be effective, but are frustratingly absent from most official recommendations and public discussion.
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode094.mp3 (Note: this week’s episode is about 49 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!)
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Episode 93 of the Tennis Abstract Podcast welcomes Bill Connelly, who wrote about Novak Djokovic this week at ESPN. You might know Bill from his coverage of soccer and college football, including his two books, Study Hall and The 50 Best* College Football Teams of All Time.
Bill, who dug into Match Charting Project data for his piece, explains how Djokovic tactically differs from the competition, how his game has changed over the years, and whether the nature of his game makes it tough to fully appreciate. I also encourage him to speculate about whether Novak will reach 20 slams, and if that would make him the greatest of all time.
Also on the agenda: whether tour-wide parity is better than dominance, how ESPN (and tennis media in general) could cover the sport differently, and why there are so few people who love both tennis and college football.
Thanks for listening!
http://tennisabstract.com/podcast/TennisAbstractPodcast-episode093.mp3 (Note: this week’s episode is about 48 minutes long; in some browsers the audio player may display a different length. Sorry about that!
Click to listen, subscribe on iTunes, or use our feed to get updates on your favorite podcast software.
Podcast housekeeping:
- In case you haven’t heard, I’m now doing a short (~4 minutes) daily podcast called Expected Points. Here’s today’s episode.
- The TAP book club will reconvene in a few weeks with our next selection, John Updike’s 1968 novel, Couples. Read along with us, share your thoughts, and suggest topics/questions/comments for our discussion in a future episode.
- Fans of the TA podcast will also want to check out Dangerous Exponents, Carl’s and my Covid-19 podcast. This week, we talked about the Russian, Chinese, and Indian vaccines.
