During this Australian Open/Sunset of Democracy, we are being bombarded with false narratives and memory erasing. In tennis, we are currently getting "Madison Keys is playing better because she's married now", and "Novak Djokovic was treated so unfairly when he tried to enter Australia" (under false pretenses). And regarding our perennial (dis)favorite Danielle Collins, the story is "Danielle's gonna Danielle! Gotta love it!"

Fight for the truth!

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak, Threads at @perfectmatchpodcast, Instagram at @perfectmatchpodcast

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It's 2025! 🤮 But a Brazilian player inadvertently became the first male player on tour to come out as gay, so there's that! Also, we talk grievance nonsense from Kyrgios and Djokovic about the supposed doping "scandal". Also, Elena Rybakina's disturbing drama with her former/current(?) possibly problematic coach? He's currently banned from all WTA matches because of an investigation into their dynamic, so we dig into that as well.

And it's the Australian Open! We discuss who we like to win, best ways to watch and all that.

We're all headed into this terrifying year together, so let's get it started! We have no choice!

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @perfectmatchpodcast.com or @shellsteak, Threads at @perfectmatchpodcast, Instagram at @perfectmatchpodcast

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Oh, Jon Wertheim, 60 Minutes Correspondent, former Sports Illustrated Executive Editor, former(?) Tennis Channel Commentator, what have you done? Oh, you got caught on a hot mic during a live broadcast of the WTA Final saying something untoward about a top female player's looks? This sounds bad. Like, very bad.

But it raises questions about how we all navigate our private vs. public realms. We see people on TV and we talk about how they look. We mirror and we judge. We don't necessarily feel great about it, but it's human nature, probably.

In this episode, we dig into the Jon Wertheim suspension from the Tennis Channel, Jannik Sinner's latest unlucky turn with his ongoing doping investigation, and the exploding world of Bluesky! Follow us there, please!

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Bluesky at @tennis-dirt or @shellsteak, Threads at @perfectmatchpodcast, and Instagram at @perfectmatchpodcast

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With All Hallows' Eve upon us, we dig into our fears: specifically our greatest fears for the world of tennis (and one about the future of this country, ahem). Prepare yourself for the prospect of the servebots taking over tennis 😱 Novak Djokovic winning another slam 👻, Danielle Collins winning her first slam 😈, and Donald Trump becoming president again 🤡😳🤮.

Rather than follow us on socials and all that bliz blaz, go out and vote for Kamala Harris for President 🌊

God help us all.

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Note: as the tennis season winds down, so is our podcast season. We may be dropping in for a quick chat here and there, but we will be back in full force in the days leading up the Australian Open in January. See you on the other side!

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In light of Saudi Arabia's recent "Six Kings Slam" tournament for men and the WTA Finals in Riyadh coming up, along with Danielle Collin's announcement that she's not actually retiring (surprise, surprise!), we decided to rebroadcast an episode from April, in which we decry the Saudi influence in tennis and question Danielle Collins' good faith.

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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In which we address The Handshake: that perfunctory, sometimes awkward moment at the net when the players pretend to be aligned on the outcome of the match. You win, you are overcome by joy, you feign empathy with your opponent. Or sometimes, you don't!

Today, we will explore some of the lowlights: the sarcastic digs, the bitchy rejoinders and the handshakes that didn’t happen – and why what happens at the net matters so much.

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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This time we consider the Tennis Grunt: the sometimes loud (and often unpleasant) noises that male and female players make when hitting the ball. The Grunt is much more problematized on the women's side than on the men's (and Michele has THOUGHTS about this), but it can't be denied that players make more noise than they used to!

We go into the history of the Grunt, it's appearance in an old Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, and a recent integration into the notification system in the "gay dating app" Grindr.

Today we're Serving Grunt and we're glad you're hear for it (ahem, sorry).

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

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This time we are very happy to welcome Scott Lazer, the director of the beautiful short film “Ball People”, about the young and not-so-young people who tried out for the 2022 US Open Ball Crew. Scott is an award-winning filmmaker and creative director who has directed multiple documentaries, dramas and commissions, including “West by God” which won a Special Jury Award in 2022 at SXSW, and “Commute” which won Best of the Year at the 2021 Vimeo Festival & Awards.

We talk about "ball kids" generally, the unique inclusion of adults in the Ball Crew at the US Open, Scott's winding journey making "Ball People", and a bit of tennis in general.

As always tell your friends, rate this podcast, and send us feedback at https://www.perfectmatchpodcast.com/

You can also follow us on Threads at @perfectmatchpodcast, Instagram at @perfectmatchpodcast, YouTube at @PerfectMatchPodcast and X at @perfectmatchq.

Note: this episode was recorded prior to the disastrous impact of Hurricane Helene on North Carolina and surrounding areas. Our hearts go out to Scott and his people who are suffering there now. You can donate to relief efforts by going to the Red Cross' Hurricane Helene Relief Fund or a charity of your choice.

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