The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast

Rennae and Caitlin sit down with Nick Pachelli, author of the tennis world's most coveted coffee-table travel book The Tennis Court, to discuss his favorite travel destinations, which locations might appear in a hypothetical sequel book, and which tennis personalities we all think would make for the best travel companions. Let us know your picks in the comments/reviews!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will 2024 be Iga's year of purging demons so 2025 can come back stronger? What was with Paula Badosa's strange US Open ender? Yes, Rennae and Petko finally discuss some of the men and what they might get up to next year (including Rybakina's new coach, Goran)! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: former tennis player and host of "The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast," Rennae Stubbs! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!  "The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.  Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.  Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hello, Puzzlers! Puzzling with us today: former tennis player and host of "The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast," Rennae Stubbs! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites, like anagrams and palindromes, as well as quirky originals such as “Ask Chat GPT” and audio rebuses. Subscribe to The Puzzler podcast wherever you get your podcasts!  "The Puzzler with A.J. Jacobs" is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and is a co-production with Neuhaus Ideas.  Our executive producers are Neely Lohmann and Adam Neuhaus of Neuhaus Ideas, and Lindsay Hoffman of iHeart Podcasts. The show is produced by Jody Avirgan and Brittani Brown of Roulette Productions.  Our Chief Puzzle Officer is Greg Pliska. Our associate producer is Andrea Schoenberg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Andrea discuss which WTA Players are (or should be) putting in the hard yards in the offseason, and whom we've had to block for making us feel bad for training too hard! Will this year be the comeback for Maria Sakkari we'd all love to see? Can Coco build on her end of year momentum? Is Qinwen Zheng the best clay rival for Iga? All this and more in the WTA edition of the 2025 predictions year end spectacular (sans Caitlin, who went to eat cookies).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the purpose of exhibitions? How is an off season best used? Should NFL players wear helmets? We tackle all of these burning questions and more with our very own Angela Merkel, Andrea Petkovic, who has been elected against her will to serve as global tennis commissioner.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Any podcast can discuss the latest headlines about Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner's positive tests for banned substances, but can they come up with alternative universes of tennis, where ALL drugs or NO drugs are allowed? We discuss wild hypotheticals, sympathize with players forced to run their own businesses (and pharmacies) and call for a little more star power in 2025 player boxes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That's right, Petko is back with sizzling hot takes (and grammatical innovations) about the smattering of finals (ATP & WTA, BJK and Davis Cup) to the retirements and coaching unretirments that have everyone talking. Is tennis like a drug? Was Bob Bryan right to bench his doubles specialists? Does Jannik Sinner deserve to be considered for the Sportsmanship award? All this and more in this tour de force episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae sits down with business leader Ilana Kloss and the woman the team competition is named after at the namesake event—the Billie Jean King Cup—live from Malaga, Spain, to talk about the explosive growth in women's sports and highlights from the most important team competition in tennis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A rollicking romp through both the WTA Finals and early rounds of the ATP Finals, with necessary fashion and photo portrait critiques, with side quests into movie recommendations and bonus advice for wannabe commentators. We'll see you on Threads to discuss!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After holding ourselves to a minimal amount of external processing about the election—we discuss the beginnings of the WTA Finals, the Paris Masters showdown between Karen Khachanov and Ugo Humbert as well as some things tennis can learn from baseball.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Shelton! Frances Tiafoe! Please learn how to volley—Rennae will be hosting an ATP clinic on the matter. In the meantime, we discuss the rise of French giant Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard and how some players are using the Asia to springboard back into form—looking at you, Sofia Kenin. Plus foodpix and reader questions, of course.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yes, Rennae talks about the New York Liberty again, but it's the last week (for the next year, anyway, let's hope). We shout out the great Ningbo final moments, the weird Six Kings event, as well as tackle... you guessed it, reader questions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Caitlin break down two GREAT finals between Sinner and Djokovic, and Sabalenka vs. the (slightly prickly?) Qinwen Zheng in China, plus: how not to hit 19 double faults in a match, we say goodbye to Rafa and feeling like you got in the wrong line at security.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Eliza Wastcoat joins Rennae to talk about the notable results stemming from Asia—including some controversial umpiring and surprising results seeing Coco Gauff prevail over Karolina Muchova in Beijing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Caitlin have a solution for the Jannik Sinner steroid saga: Involve us. What could possibly go wrong? Plus: We cover all the latest from Asia, talk about our aging bodies and take reader question.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We didn't watch you, but we DO have a lot of opinions about how to pull off the perfect exhibition! Plus: reader questions, Racquet's story of transformation after tumult in the New York Times, and Rennae loves the WNBA.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Caitlin can't resist hopping on the coaching carousel for a minute to speculate about how and why partnerships come together and resolve—in particular the news of Naomi Osaka and Wim Fissette's parting and the rumors of her new pairing with Patrick Mouratoglou. Plus, we talk about being the main character on Twitter, or what's left of it, and the insanity of the pro schedule.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Petko, Rennae and Caitlin wrap up the US Open and get into the meat of the on and off court storylines: the winners, most improved and... least improved. Also, Nick Kyrgios commentator vs. Nick Kyrgios the Tweeter, Brad Gilbert coaching panel and the secret Honey Deuce hack only two of us knew about.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae is joined by fellow legendary player, broadcaster and coach of Donna Vekic Pam Shriver to recap week one of the US Open, including some big upsets and late nights. Plus: A look ahead to week two, and some coaching BTS you won't want to miss!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gang is back together in studio to preview the US Open—Caitlin predicts the Dobel twins, Aryna and Taylor, Rennae's got Carlitos, but don't count Sinner out, despite recent controversy. And Andrea (of Substack) breaks down the actual Sinner details as objectively as possible.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Caitlin are reunited, and it feels fine—as we do our first official podcast as part of the iHeart & Deep Blue Women's Podcast Network live from Fanatics Fest. We recap our respective Summers, discuss Carlitos' eviction from his own brain, and welcome storied writer Foster Kamer, author of the Issue No. 25 cover piece about Andre Agassi's return to tennis, to talk... you guessed it, Andre Agassi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae Stubbs & Sam Querrey recap the 2024 Olympic Games and break down the hard court season, from Novak's redemption to what it will take for Naomi Osaka to right the ship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk about Novak Djokovic making his schedule this year around winning Olympic gold, how a doubles gold with Nadal would mean more to Alcaraz than singles gold and does "the fastest person on Earth" beat any other title? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode they analyze the Semifinals at Wimbledon and recap the Quarterfinals. From Novak Djokovic's fiery win against Holger Rune and subsequent walkover over Alex de Minaur, to Emma Raducanu's tournament, which included withdrawing from the mixed doubles draw after pairing with Andy Murray and everything in between. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Petko are live from the player's area wrapping up a wild (and week) week one at Wimbledon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode they break down the Wimbledon draw & preview the tournament. Plus conversation around the US Olympic tennis team & Rafa playing doubles in Paris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At long last, Caitlin joins the show to educate Rennae on the difference between a fact and an opinion, plus we love the Olympics, Carlos Alcaraz and maybe the new French Open broadcasters? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae Stubbs & Sam Querrey react to the historic wins by Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open finals, plus Jewell Loyd, current Seattle Storm guard, 2-time WNBA champion & Olympic gold medalist join the show to talk about the pressure of being the best, her love of racquet sports and the difference of the Olympics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode they talk to former World Cup alpine ski racer and Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn about her love of tennis, her friendships with Roger Federer & Jannik Sinner, and how she and Roger exchange advice on skiing and tennis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode they talk to Grand Slam champ Andy Roddick, host of the new podcast Served and one of the smartest (and funniest) folks in tennis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode they talk about Rafael Nadal’s first round loss to Alexander Zverev, at perhaps his final RG appearance? They share their favorite Rafa stories, as well as discuss other big winners (and losers) coming out of Round 1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—and on this episode, we do a full draw breakdown ahead of the tournament, with world number five player Jessica Pegula. Starting with Rafael Nadal's opener against fourth seed Alexander Zverev, and what makes Iga so hard to play on clay? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year tennis is going from Paris to Paris between the French Open and the Olympics both taking place at the legendary Roland Garros. Co-hosts Rennae Stubbs and Sam Querrey talk to tennis legends and legendary voices—starting with French Open Mixed Doubles Champion and Olympics anchor Mary Carillo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 6'6" Californian joins the pod to talk about his career notching massive wins of the likes of Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, and lifting the world's largest trophy at Queen's Club, as well as break down the Rome tournament results ahead of Roland Garros. Plus, we get the backstory behind the viral Vine that had everyone looking for plastic horse heads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and Andrea are back to recap a wild two-week Madrid tournament, which saw a resurgent Ons and Madison Keys, a shaky Coco and a bevy of injuries and withdrawals on the men's side. But we celebrate mercurial poet Andrey Rublev, who picks up his biggest title to date as well as an all-time classic final between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka, which was great from first ball to last! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fresh off a two-week commentating stint down in Miami, Andrea Petkovic joins Rennae to discuss Danielle Collins otherworldly run, Sinner CRUSHING everyone, and salute Grigor Dmitrov back into another final (and back into the Top 10)! Plus: another devastating injury for Andy Murray, where exactly is Gauff Coco and a big bounceback for Elana Rybankina after a tough Indian Wells.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From service motions to weather, our favorite duo is back to break down the entirety of the BNP Paribas Open—the good, bad and the ugly. Plus: a new vow to record more regularly now that their competitive juices are flowing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Petko's in town to record her audiobook and she Rennae catch up on the week in tennis news while back together—and in the closet—in New York. Shoutout to guest editor Jesse Kotansky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our daily AO recap podcast comes to an end—and sitting in for esteemed Cultural Attaché Andrea Petkovic while she's on a plane home is Caitlin, who does her best German accent. Hats off to edgelord Daniil Medvedev, who played more tennis than anyone else this tournament, and to an incredible effort from Jannik Sinner (Andrea says her wifi is Jannik Sinternet, and we believe her) who is now on the level. We assess who's fuming and prepping for the next tournaments and give a hearty thanks to the many, many, many listeners who reached out and gave the show love—we'll try to do more daily episodes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—and here they break down the tactical mismatch of the women's final over beers (tequila, sponsors get at us), with some tough love about how Qinwen Zheng's game can level up. With personal anecdotes featuring chopped linden trees, Justine Henin's post-championship serve-and-volley practice, and some harsh words for the women who could've prepped better coming into the Australian. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—starting with the Jannik Sinner/Novak Djokovic clash featuring scar tissue, lazy eyes, the loss of fast-twitch muscles and, most importantly, King Henry the 5th. Then, we shift focus to the man who either has a chip missing, or has an extra chip, in Daniil Medvedev who clawed his way back from being down two sets to love to win wars of attrition in backhand rallies against a player from Germany. Like and subscribe. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—international scheduling considerations mean late nights for the women's semis, and our intrepid and sleep-deprived correspondents were up all night calling em. First the high-quality US-Open-Final rematch between Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff, then we celebrate Zheng Qinwen's mentally tough celebration—and her stats as a great frontrunner—and applaud a tremendous effort from Dayana Yastremska to come out firing despite coming through qualies past 7,000 opponents. From battling through period cramps to the silhouette test, it's a great time for women's tennis! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—starting with the baffling result from the Alex Zverev/Carlos Alcaraz match and what happens when you have all the talent in the world but no gameplan! Hint: for Alcaraz against Zverev, it's an inside-in forehand à la Ana Ivanovic. Breaking down the Daniil Medvedev comeback against Hubi Hurkacz—and taking the odds that he'll be extra motivated by his (completely inaccurate) portrayal as a villain in Netflix's Break Point. Plus: Is Dayana Yastremska about to pull an Emma Raducanu? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—Aryna Sabalenka is looking SCARY good, so much so than anything short of a herculean effort by Coco Gauff means she should be returning to the finals. Previewing a blockbuster showdown between Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner—it's the men's match we've all been waiting for, and the one we deserve! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—Day 9 brought us Dayana Yastremska's big moment against Viktoria Azarenka, Oceane Dodin carrying on like a porkchop in her loss to Qinwen Zheng, to go with a plate full of potatoes on Carlos Alcaraz's plate. Our hearts are always with the players who win in an ugly manner, and we'll leave you with a pod maxim: In a world full of pushers, be a hitter. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—Rublev plays through cramps to beat an in-form De Minaur, breaking down tactical investments that pay off later in the Tsitsipas/Fritz match (hint: Serve and volley leading to opponent shanks). Unless one of these men can stop Djokovic, the ATP might as well rebrand to “Novak+” and we bathe in the pearls of sweat and whiff of fragrance from Jannik Sinternet’s continued march to glory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—and only one of them can pronounce Qinwen Zheng's name! Our correspondents load on deserved praise for Linda Noskova's takedown of world number one Iga Swiatek, tiny lionhearted Jasmine Paolini and the athleticism (if not results) of Tommy Paul. Plus: Is Miomir Kecmanovic—aka Mishmir Kecman—the world's greatest female player? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—and Day 6 brought us some easy wins from Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka, and is Novak Djokovic so good that he can to engineer his peak for week two of a Slam? Probably. Hats off to Adrian Mannarino for a big win against Ben Shelton—and how good do Jannik Sinner and Alex DiMinaur look? Very. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rennae and our cultural attaché Andrea Petkovic are in Melbourne and bringing us daily dispatches from the AO—and it's hard to imagine a better day of tennis than what Rod Laver Arena provided on Day 5. From the Iga Swiatek/Danielle Collins rollercoaster to the marathon Meddy comeback to the truly most insane 42 point tiebreak between Rybakina and Blinkova, day five took our intrepid correspondents into the cold water. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.