The Tennis Tragic #075 / The Diamond Episode / David and Matte get together to celebrate their 75th episode with the Tennis Tragic! We revisit our dreams of making it to the Tennis Podcast Hall of Fame one day, while recognizing the reality that we're still just grinding away on the Futures Tour. It is both a time for renewal and a time for long fade-outs in the world of professional tennis. We…
The Tennis Tragic #074 / Hello Upended Earth / Matte and David gather in advance of Wimbledon 2026 to discuss the state of the world, and how everything is forever changed. The Knicks won the championship. Zverev won a Major. Nothing will ever be the same. Also: Roger does a Tennis Tarot reading for the All-England Club, big things are predicted for Muchova and Eala, and big first titles are won…
The Tennis Tragic #073 / Is There a God? / Will the Knicks win a championship for the first time in 53 years? Are we entering Zverev's Second Age of Darkness, or is this actually the first? Do the outcomes we observe indicate the presence or absence of a higher power? Also: Mirra thanks herself, David has a religious experience, Matte casts a spell for Cobolli, and we re-examine the power and…
The Tennis Tragic #072 / The King of Balls / David and Matte finally reconvene to discuss Marco Trungelliti's triumphant rise to glory (and fall to Jodar). Roger draws a three-card Tennis Tarot spread. Who is the real King of Balls? Which Rising Star will arrive too soon? And in a world where the Upset Game exists, will The Upset be the defining characteristic of the 2026 Roland Garros narrative?…
The Tennis Tragic #071 / We Digress / Butch Buchholz. Who is Butch Buchholz? Matte and David discuss recent events, including Sabalenka stealing the Upset Game title for David at Indian Wells, the Tennis Robot picking the Opelka Servebot at Miami, and various other tangential topics. Johnny Five, Cooperstown Tarot, sycophancy, "chalk", the Upset Game demographic, Slay the Spire 2, SOUL.md, Peter…
The Tennis Tragic #070 / The Crunching Sound / David and Matte leave voicemails for each other and accidentally make a podcast. Tsitsipas defeats Medvedev, which means nothing. David recounts his two weeks as a curling tragic. David and Matte discuss the merits of dentistry. Matte shatters his phone under a car while recording the sounds of his city. Mensik stuns Sinner, Denmark pretends it is a…
The Tennis Tragic #069 / Fading Into Her Prime / Matte and David find a little time to recap the 2026 Australian Open... eventually! But first... Matte tries to cast a spell, and fails to influence the #1 tennis tournament for vampires. David speculates about Sinner's potential dominance in ice tennis. We talk about cramp, ski jumping, the Super Bowl, the T20 World Cup, Serena's potential…
The Tragic Three reconvene for the first time in a long time, to pay tribute to Milos Raonic (sort of), marvel at Roger Federer (yet again), and unveil the 2026 Tragedy Watchlist as we move into the first Major of the year down under. We discuss Matte's unfortunate withdrawal from the One Point Slam, Alex's United Cup experience in Sydney, and David's brief dalliance with a 125 in Austin. We share…
The Tennis Tragic #067 / Bidi Labubu Badu / Matte and David meet to talk about the style selections on show at the 2025 US Open. First, Ian collects his plate graciously, while Adi slides into his World Number One ranking with a US Open trophy and an impassioned Rublev defense. Then, we break out the slide projector and chat Naomi's kit, Andre Swagassi, the Y3 "blur tool" design, Alcaraz as "happy…
The Tennis Tragic #066 / The Tribunal of Tennis Etiquette / Matte and David begin the hard work of establishing a committee for regulating behavior on a tennis court (and in the stands). Given their recent statements and actions, as well as their consistent efforts to model proper behavior for others, we feel that Jelena Ostapenko, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Daniil Medvedev should be on the board.…
The Tennis Tragic #065 / Return to Doubles Alley / The US Open spotlight shines brightest on the Mixed Doubles exhibition (tournament). Matte and David re-visit the dark and mysterious zone between the tram lines, while glancing back at the US hardcourt summer and peeking forward towards the upcoming major (a little). We get into the depths of the upset game, discuss radical-but-unlikely future…