Tennis with an Accent

Tennis with an Accent welcomes 2020 Australian Open Doubles champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury to the show. Salisbury is making his debut on the show while the American Ram is making his 4th appearance. The conversation is a must listen for tennis fans as lot of top flight doubles nuances are uncovered. Salisbury also weighs in on how the partnership came together. The duo also share a collegiate tennis background and we uncover how their paths have been to get to the point of winning a major. Popularity of doubles is getting some air time on this edition of "Tennis with an Accent!" Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Former world number 2 and French open finalist Magnus Norman of Sweden is the podcast guest this week. Norman is also known as the man who converted Stan Wawrinka from a promising talented player to a great player. Under Norman’s watch Wawrinka has amassed a hall of fame career in which he has won three major titles by beating the likes of Djokovic, Federer and Nadal en-route. Norman gets candid about lot of things here from his open stance forehand, to rise of Wawrinka under his watch. He also weighs in on who he thinks has the most upside from the new talent on the tour? A lot of insight unpacked by the former world number two whose career was shortened by a hip injury in 2002. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

This weeks guest is ATP player Robin Haase of Netherlands. Haase currently tries to rebuild his ranking as he has been ranked as high as 33 on the ATP rank charts in 2017. He has won two career titles and has had wins over Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem and Alexandr Zverev. Haase gets candid in this podcast on various topics like ATP player council, Dutch tennis, his toughest opponent among big three and the revamped Davis cup among other topics. Haase also weighs in on popularity of ATP past the big three phase. A lot of detail unpacked by Robin Haase. This is a must listen for any tennis fan. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

In this week’s episode former top 10 player Tim Mayotte returns to the podcast to discuss the current status of American men’s players. The conversation is an extension of an earlier episode in many ways as movement and techniques take centerstage as we discuss the American men. Mayotte also speaks about various topics from the many complexities of the ATP tour Calendar to the underused strategies on court and to the ATP council position he ran for last year. In the second segment Matt Zemek and Saqib Ali talk about the sudden announcement from French Open management as they have declared a new date for the event this year. This is typical tennis chaos and TWAA weighs on the onset of this news. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Freelance journalist Ravi Ubha returns to the show to discuss the career of Maria Sharapova. Ubha has been covering professional tennis by wearing different hats like writing for outlets like CNN and doing play by play commentary on TV. He describes the various career graphs of Sharapova from winning the French open to becoming global superstar. He also unpacks how testing positive for Meldonium will impact the legacy of the Russian. Last but not the least where does Sharapova rank among the best players pantheon? Tune in to learn more of Ubha’s analysis. Second segment includes long time Russian tennis coach Boris Sobkin - who weighs in on the complex career of the Russian. We believed that a career like Sharapova needed more than one voice from the business of tennis to fully analyze the many facets of her complex journey. Hear it all on "Tennis with an Accent!" Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Tennis With An Accent contributor Briana Foust [@4TheTennis] joins Matt Zemek on this week's TWAA Podcast. Briana discusses the Dubai WTA final between Simona Halep and Elena Rybakina, exploring the emergence of Rybakina this season and the quality of Halep, who won a thriller to capture the Dubai championship. Bri also looks at the return of Kim Clijsters to the WTA Tour after an absence of more than seven years. She discusses some storylines before the tour moves to Indian Wells. Bri and Matt both discuss the practice of seeding players at various tournaments, and they react to Roger Federer's injury, which will keep the Swiss superstar sidelined through the French Open. All that plus a special announcement about Bri's spring schedule and Tennis With An Accent's early-April plans, on the new TWAA Podcast, presented by Red Circle! Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Carl Bialik of the Thirty Love podcast joins the show this week as the guest analyst. Bialik is a known voice on tennis twitter through his association with podcasting and tennis writing. New York Open was the central theme that Bialik helped explore for this edition of the podcast. He addressed few possible factors that can be associated with the lack of crowds at the New York Open - which wrapped up its third edition this past Sunday. Conversation also focussed on possible lack of star power of American male players to the tournament’s location in Long Island. And for second week in a row mercurial Frenchman Gael Monfils finds his way into the mentions as was a winner in back to back weeks. Matt Zemek joins Saqib Ali in the second segment of the show where the biggest comeback story in tennis for sometime is discussed. Yes - the return of Kim Clijsters. Zemek shares his first impressions of the Belgian star who returned to a tennis court after an absence of more than seven years. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

On a brand new "Tennis with an Accent," this weeks guest is Damian Kust. Kust is a freelance tennis writer from Poland, who is currently contributing for Last word on Tennis website. His coverage and commentary focusses on ATP Challenger tour along with the main tour. On this episode Kust talks about the many facets of the challenger tour - where the level of competition is not much different than the main tour. Conversation unpacks the success of Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland who is one the brightest talents in the sport along with the likes of Brandon Nakashima. Also mentioned are the last weeks winners - Jiri Vesely, Gael Monfils and Mohammed Safwat. Matt Zemek joins Saqib Ali in the second segment of the podcast to talk about the resurgence of Vasek Pospisil. Zemek also weighs in on Serena Williams loss in Fed Cup last week. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

To recap the first major of the season, Skip Schwarzman is the guest. He is @tennisskip1515 on Twitter. Skip breaks down the championship matches for both draws. He weighs in on the ability of Novak Djokovic to keep drawing upon his best tennis when the going gets tough in the biggest of tennis matches. Where does this win of Djokovic rank among his amazing feats? Tune in to listen! The conversation spends a good amount of time on the progress and development of Dominic Thiem as an elite hard court player. Other top men like Nadal, Zverev, Medvedev and Federer get graded in this episode for their performance during the fortnight. The first part of the podcast focusses on the maiden triumph of young American Sofia Kenin who defied many a tennis pundit to be the last women standing. Kenin's stellar run in Melbourne has forced her name in the mix of WTA’s young group of players who have all had success at the majors. Garbine Muguruza gets a deserved mention as well for her Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

The Tennis With An Accent Podcast, sponsored by Australia's Stats Insider, looks back at Week 1 of the 2020 Australian Open while briefly looking ahead to Week 2 in Melbourne Park. Andrew Burton, an in-house contributor and analyst for Tennis With An Accent, joins Saqib and Matt to discuss the men's and women's tournaments in Australia. Serena Williams lost. Ons Jabeur of Tunisia made the quarterfinals. Garbine Muguruza and Stan Wawrinka have come alive. The Big 3 are all still in the tournament, as Novak Djokovic remains the clear favorite on the men's side The big winners, the noticeable losers, and the matches not yet played -- they're all part of this mid-tournament discussion as the Australian Open heads toward its final, defining moments. That's the new Tennis With An Accent Podcast, sponsored by Australia's Stats Insider, at www.statsinsider.com.au. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

The 2020 Australian Open is about to get underway this weekend and Matt Zemek and Saqib Ali are back with a preview now that the draws are out for the Men and Women. Also, Nick Splitter joins the show to talk about the new features at the Stats Insider website has for in match stats and win probabilities for the first major. The main feature interview includes Tennis with an Accent’s Mert Ertunga breaking down both the ladies and mens draws on the eve of this important first major tournament of the season. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Happy New Year and welcome to the debut of the show with the first major of the year within sight. Listen as Julie Zhou talks to Matt Zemek in the first segment, as she gives a fan’s travel guide for Australian Open. It is a must listen for anyone who is making their first trip to Melbourne Park and it has lot of relevant information for returning fans as well. Second half of the podcast has Saqib Ali joining Matt to weigh in on the first installment of the ATP Cup, Andy Murray’s withdrawal from the Australian swing is also discussed. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

It's the latest edition of the worldwide Tennis Podcast. The guest is Rohan Bopanna. Bopping has been one of the premiere doubles players from India reaching as high as world number three in the ATP rankings. He has also reached the US open finals in 2010. Bopanna opens up about the challenges tennis faces in India, his academy, little coverage on Indian players on tv from ATP and grand slam action. He further dives in on topics such as live on tour, how he plans his schedule, tennis off season and his Coffee business. Its a must listen for any tennis fan. Hear it all on "Tennis with an Accent." Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Mert Ertunga of TWAA is back on the show. In this episode Mert and Saqib talk about the evolution of the ATP year end finals. Mert discusses how important this event was on the tennis calendar back in the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s and 90’s. The conversation tackles the challenges of playing 5 set matches in this event where the opposition has been top shelf for all players. Other topics discussed are the best Indoor player of all times, best year end championship matches to the current set of players who will take the court on Sunday at the O2 arena in London. Part 2 of the conversation has Matt Zemek weigh in on Ash Barty’s win in the WTA finale. Matt also drives home the point how the tennis administrative bodies have to make better decisions on court surfaces. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

On the latest edition of "Tennis with an Accent," host Saqib Ali has special guests. First, Ramone Sluiter - coach of Kiki Bertens and former ATP player talks about the changes in the game on the pro level. He also viewed the player council topics from a former players lens and most importantly spoke at length about her charge Kiki Bertens and her ascent up the ranks. Next, Sofia Kenin - the upcoming American tennis player talks to tennis with an accent about her impressive year so far where her rank and total wins for the season are heading in the right direction. Enjoy the latest coverage on conversation of the game, worldwide with "Tennis with an Accent!" Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Darren Cahill of ESPN joins the Tennis With An Accent Podcast. Darren Cahill is widely regarded as one of the foremost tennis analysts anywhere on the planet. He coached tennis greats Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Simona Halep, in addition to working with various other players through an Adidas training and development program. Cahill is a former ATP tennis player who reached the 1988 U.S. Open semifinals, losing to Mats Wilander. Cahill attained a career-high No. 22 world ranking. In this episode, Darren Cahill discusses his experiences as a player, coach and broadcaster, while also analyzing the 2019 French Open before the release of the draw. Cahill shares stories behind the scenes from a decades-long career in tennis through various vantage points. In a conversation with Saqib Ali, Cahill engages in personal storytelling while also explaining various aspects of tennis competition and tennis politics which fans don't get to see on the surface. Cahill lends his expertise to a wide-ranging series of topics. This is a must-listen for any die-hard tennis fan. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

On the latest edition of "Tennis with an Accent," hosts Saqib Ali and Matt Zemek take a look back at the clay court action in Madrid last weekend, and begin to look ahead to the second major of the year, the French Open. They are joined this week by Mert Ertunga, former Turkish men's professional star and contributor to TennisAccent.com, for his insight on the recent clay court action. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

This week on Tennis With An Accent, Saqib Ali is joined by Louisa Thomas, a published author and contributing writer at The New Yorker magazine, where she has written about tennis for several years. She had written about tennis at Grantland since 2011 before the website closed down. She and Saqib discuss WTA World No. 1 Naomi Osaka, whom she recently interviewed for Vogue Magazine, and the other players she likes to write about. Ms. Thomas speaks about magazine-based tennis writing, as a reality which is separate from deadline-based instant analysis or on-site reportage. Thomas also talks about women’s tennis as a source of empowerment for women, and on the complexities of today’s younger tennis personalities and the need to not lump all players into the same group. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Tennis With An Accent covers the global reality of tennis in various accents, and today’s accent is thoroughly Indian. Podcast host Saqib Ali, who grew up in India, talks to the venerable Indian tennis journalist Rohit Brijnath, who writes for The Straits Times in Singapore, at straitstimes.com. Brijnath has covered the Australian Open for the past 15 years and has covered multiple Wimbledons and French Opens in earlier years. He has traveled the world many times over, giving Indian tennis fans his signature perspective on the great tennis players of various generations. He engages Saqib in a rolling, free-flowing conversation stuffed with names. It is a comfort-food show for any Indian tennis fan who remembers the 1980s. Saqib and Rohit relive the days of the South Club in Calcutta and the Indian experience of lawn tennis. Saqib reminisces about the five-minute tennis capsules on the news at 7:05 and 8:05 p.m. Rohit recalls his days at Sports World Magazine, which preceded his current tenure at The Straits Times. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

On this edition of the Tennis With An Accent Podcast, Saqib Ali chats with tennis strategy analyst Craig O’Shannessy. During their half hour conversation, Saqib talks with Craig about how he got involved in tennis, his thought process in breaking down the game, his work with Novak Djokovic, projections on who could win the US Open this year and so much more. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Novak Djokovic is the king of men’s tennis after his victory at the Australian Open, and few people do a better job of covering Novak Djokovic than Saša Ozmo of SportKlub in Serbia. Tennis With An Accent welcomes Saša back to our podcast. Saša speaks with Saqib Ali about Djokovic and various other ATP topics in this show. Saša originally joined the TWAA podcast last June during Roland Garros. A lot has changed since then — for Djokovic and the ATP Tour as a whole. It is a great time to gain fresh insights on Djokovic during another ascendant period in a luminous and iconic career. The conversation starts with a few brief notes about topics other than Djokovic and his Australian Open championship. Saša discusses Serbia’s win in the preliminary round of the new Davis Cup (informally known as the Pique Cup). What will this event look like? What are the important questions the Pique Cup must address in order to establish itself as a respected and durable event in the larger framework of global tennis? How do the questions surrounding the Pique Cup relate to the ATP Cup which will debut in 2020? Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Do you remember television “crossover” episodes when two shows would merge into one during the same week? This week’s Tennis With An Accent Podcast is very much about tennis, but it is also a crossover episode with another Radio Influence podcast. Jim Fannin is a longtime tennis coach who currently works as a consultant to athletes across numerous sports. He is also the host of his own Radio Influence podcast, The Jim Fannin Show. He has a website of accumulated books and instructional CDs at JimFannin.com. This week, Jim is the featured guest at Tennis With An Accent. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations

Saqib Ali interviews the two-time Roland Garros finalist, former Stockholm tournament director, and present-day tennis entrepreneur Robin Soderlingabout a range of topics. It’s a conversation that die-hard tennis fans will greatly enjoy. Soderling carries special significance in the hearts of modern-day tennis fans, due to his place in history as a player who authored two of the most significant upsets in the sport: his 2009 Roland Garros win over Rafael Nadal and his 2010 Roland Garros victory over Roger Federer. The former made Soderling one of only two men to beat Nadal at the French Open (Novak Djokovic is the other). The latter triumph broke Federer’s streak of 23 straight major-tournament semifinal appearances, one of the iconic records in modern tennis. He gained a deserved reputation as a player who stood up to the Big 3 and played them without fear. This is why many fans greatly enjoyed what he brought to ATP tennis. It is also why his premature retirement due to health reasons in 2015 — he played his last tour match in 2011 — was so devastating for the global tennis community. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/tennis-with-an-accent/donations