Hold On to Your Racket with Josefina Gurevich and Shravya Pant

Doping drama has overtaken the tennis world, just in time for the best and most chaotic Grand Slam of the year – the US Open. We unpack Jannik Sinner's drug test scandal and explain why we stand by his appeal and explanation, in addition to the exciting tennis awaiting us in the Big Apple. From scenes at US Open fan week visit to our picks to win (Aryna, we're looking at you), tune in to our annual US Open preview episode.

Soccer wasn’t the only championship played on grass this weekend! From Carlos’ clean victory over Nole to Barb’s impressive and emotional tribute to her late mentor, we’re back from our (not so) brief hiatus to celebrate another memorable Wimbledon. Tune in to enjoy some tennis and laughs as you get ready to impress the lunchtime conversation with your athletic acumen.

Hold On to Your Racket is back! …And with an exciting WTA Finals preview. Set in Cancun, this exciting event celebrates an entire season of phenomenal women’s tennis. We cover everything from the controversy over the tournament’s stadium construction to breaking down each participant’s 2023 season. Tune in for a glittering in-depth preview!

It has been way too long!! Do not worry, the Hotties are back with some WTA Final action and Hot Headline catch-up. We just took an intermission to settle into our very demanding academic lives, but we promise the podcast is not going anywhere. Very eager to get back into the groove, we start by discussing some Halep drama regarding her not being aware of taking an illegal enhancing substance (??), then the three babies born to former #1 players, and the other baby born in October belonging to Gael and Elena…very, very busy season. Then we jump straight into Tennis Talk with the tournaments we’ve missed: Iga avenging her loss to the dreaded Barbie K. in San Diego and FELIX ABSOLUTELY KILLING IT with three consecutive titles. All that’s left for us is waiting for Paris Masters and enjoying some Fort Worth magic. Tune in for a revival like no other!

It’s a magical weekend at the US Open as we’ve got two exciting finals upon us. We discuss what to expect with Carlos’ electrifying game, Iga’s continued dominance, Casper’s solid play and admirable humility, and Ons’ impressive consistency on the big stage. With a new era of ATP tennis peaking through and 2022's top two in form WTA players facing off in the last grand slam of the year, the US Open once again does not disappoint! Be sure to also tune in for Hot Headlines, where we bid a final farewell to Serena and discuss Fiona Ferro’s brave words about being sexually assaulted by her former coach. Last few nights of tennis in the Big Apple; show us what you got.

We are so excited to share this interview with you all. For the first time in HOTYR history, we got to sit down with a real life professional tennis player (yes, they actually exist): Robin Montgomery! What better perspective to hear from than a fellow tennis obsessed GenZ-er? We discuss Robin’s young tennis career, including her impressive 2021 US Open girls singles and doubles championship double whammy and the transition from the junior to the pro circuit. We discuss the day in the life of a pro athlete, building a supportive team, and the WTA's mental health efforts, as well as Robin’s favorite memories on tour, including the times she got to hit with Venus and Naomi, World Team Tennis, her US Open main draw experience, and being graced by a particular Italian’s presence. It’s always a pleasure to highlight GenZ talents, and we are so grateful to have gotten the chance to speak with Robin – enjoy!

Another classic episode of HOTYR with your two favorite teenage mutant ninja turtle hosts, minus the mutant ninja turtle part. This episode has an extra layer of pizzazz because Shravya made a little trip up to Toronto to watch some tennis, so we have some up-close and personal accounts of the tennis in the Maple Leaf Country. We open up with a heartfelt discussion of an icon leaving the sport, that icon being Serena Williams. We go into her article with Vogue, and what role gender has played in the circumstances that led her to choose between her family and her athletic career. A really prevalent issue today, we feel it is important to highlight that Serena’s freedom to make the choice to retire was awarded because of how hard she has worked for it. Either way, definitely a tough conversation to have considering we are saying goodbye to the woman who has shaped the modern tennis world; simply put, there will never be another Serena. We could talk about Serena for hours on end, but we then get into some Canadian Masters tennis thats taking place right now and who to look out for as we move into the semis in both Montreal and Toronto (especially PCB aka Mr. Solid). From British baes to Brazilian breakouts, this bonkers bunch brings the banter.

Seriously…we thought we were done with the dirt. Nevertheless, we persisted. This GenZ tennis podcasting duo is back to chat some of the best tennis highlights, both on and off the court, of the past two weeks. Recent action has shown us Musetti magic, Bernarda on fire, Fran’s title debut, Domi’s return to form, and some strong play from Anett, Matteo, and Casper; faves doing well all around! Off the court, we have some important developments to discuss, namely Daria Kasatkina and Andrey Rublev’s bombshell YouTube interview. The Russian tennis stars discussed issues ranging from Russia-Ukraine to homosexuality, with Kasatkina coming out as gay and Rublev discussing his openness towards changing citizenship if it means being able to play on the pro circuit without facing restrictions. We talk about the role of independent media, censorship, and the press in Russia, all topics that became relevant to the tennis world following this vlog. We also chat about the success of Iga Swiatek’s charity event for Ukraine, Serena and Venus’ impending returns to the US swing, a certain petition for a certain unvaccinated someone, and a hardcourt swing wishlist…Soak up the July sun with this episode as we eagerly await the US Open swing – enjoy!

A monumental episode for Hold On to Your Racket! ONE. HUNDRED. EPISODES. We hit this big step in the HOTYR journey with a stellar episode. We discuss mostly Wimbledon, since it is currently happening in case you didn’t know. We start it out with some unfortunate withdrawals due to Covid from Matteo and Marin, then close out Hot Headlines with some talk about what Iga has been doing with her spotlight. She’s been organizing a charity to aid with Ukrainian relief efforts. Of course, the talk of the United States is the decision to overturn Roe v Wade. As the podcast has evolved, we’ve made an effort to implement current affairs into tennis and tennis news as well as results, this includes our experience as GenZers growing up in the modern world, so we felt it was the right thing to do - discussing the current situation. After that we dive into Wimbledon talk and who has the best chances on both sides. In true HOTYR- fashion we dedicate just a bit more time to the WTA rundown. Tune in! This one’s historical! *note: we made an error when discussing ADF’s match. He received a point penalty when he was facing match point, not when he had match point.* *note: we also misunderstood the scheduling of Raducanu’s match. She opened on Monday, not Tuesday, which is when the tradition for the women’s defending champion is supposed to be. Iga Swiatek received the honor.*

Roland Garros has ended and we are here to wrap it up. We discuss some notable headlines, ranging from WTA players speaking out about menstruation to protestors walking on to Court Philippe-Chatrier to fabricated locker room beef. We also chat about Rafa’s historic #22 in 2022 and Iga’s continued win streak, while highlighting the impressive runs of Coco, Casper, and more. Also catch a glimpse of the latest updates on Josefina’s love life ;) Enjoy.

We’re coming close to a huge HOTYR milestone: 10k plays!! Very exciting and what an episode to close it out… juicy hot headlines and an in-depth Clay Slam preview await. We hit it off with the big topic: the ATP and WTA stripping Wimbledon of ranking points in response to their Russian/Belarussian player ban. We discuss the impact and grounds behind this move and what role politics play in the sports world today. In addition to that, we emphasize a few exciting announcements, including the Elina-Gael baby news. The other big discussion in Hot Headlines is the stigma that players, especially male, have to keep up the appearance of seeming invincible. This conversation is brought about by Rafa’s decision to play through his chronic foot pain in the French Open. We close out the episode with a nice preview of the French Open WTA and ATP draws, quarter-by-quarter. Top contenders, such as Iga…and Iga, Novak, Tsitsipas etc. are mentioned here, as well as the usual dark horse highlights. Tune in for all the latest French Open and tennis world updates in one listen!

After a bit of rest since our last episode, we are back! Thank you to everyone who tuned into Episode 93 and shared the love; we really appreciate it and are excited to welcome some new listeners to HOTYR! This episodes dives into the ATP And WTA clay season action so far, particularly in Madrid, but we also explore some important off-court discussions. For example, what’s up with the Wimbledon ban? Is it effective? How can the tennis world ensure that we’re being empathetic towards Ukrainian players (and people) while also acting fairly? What role does sport play in politics? After that fruitful discussion, the two of us move on to what we feel is one of the most important conversations we’ve had on the podcast. We discuss Pam Shriver’s recent Telegraph article about her emotionally abusive relationship with her coach, Don Candy, when she was 17 years old and he was 33, highlighting some of the feelings she experienced during (and in the aftermath of) their relationship and messages she shared for young women, as well as our own ability to relate to some of what Shriver was discussing. Hang around for a Naomi shoutout and a celebration of one of our favorite ATP dilfs. Enjoy!

It’s clay season, baby! We discuss the biggest ongoing and upcoming clay tournaments of recent, Charleston and Monte-Carlo, predicting our clay standouts (and dropouts…) of the season. We also talk the PMou coach poach, Serena’s comeback at Wimbledon, Matteo’s unfortunate injury, and Ons’ impressive return to form. We’re one with the clay today! Just listen to Josefina - you can hear it in her voice ;) Enjoy, hotties.