The Main Draw

The Main Draw is back with some bold predictions for the Australian Open—will only children have an advantage? We also conduct a proper breakdown of vanity racquets, and satisfy our fan by doing what we do best, evaluating tennis fashion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris joins a courtside Caitlin to talk about the Paire 11, bubble drama, and embracing your inner villain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Come for the obligatory talk about Novak Djokovic's disastrous Adria Tour, stay for the detours into Scientology, GOOP and Tr*mpism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and his son discover a strangely fulfilling way to watch tennis during the pandemic, and we revisit the greatness of Mal Washington, Stan the Man and Goran Ivaneisevic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and Caitlin introduce the self-growing lawn tennis solution, long for the days of surface specialists and talk about which men on tour are pretty, like women. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sure we love tennis here at The Main Draw, but we mainly like tennis style—and today we go deep on sneaker culture and why so few sneakers that look good with jeans work well on court (and vice versa). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By semi-popular demand, we provide you with the HOTTEST OF TAKES about how tennis can improve in the wake of this year's bananas US Open. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Novak superfan, friend of the pod, and host of the tremendously popular Vox show Today, Explained,Sean Rameswaram shares how his feelings on Nole have evolved in our Wimbledon recap episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caitlin gives a report from the road at Roland Garros, slags on dumb journalist questions while Chris makes dated predictions about French Open winners and losers that will make no sense by the time you listen. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and Caitlin expound on the futility (or is it beauty?) of trying to improve way past your prime, and talk through their own individual meltdowns and panic attacks on the court. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caitlin talks with Sean Kent, host of the Tennis Nerd Podcast (who's also a host with the most who'll make you chicken fried steak and biscuits) about learning to love the game, shitty commentators and Trader Joe's. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No it's not this one. Co-host Chris is a Peabody nominee for a show he produced about the Civil War, but we BET being a part of the 5th or 6th most popular tennis podcast (out of 10) didn't hurt. What we're saying is we have range.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Caitlin and Chris gloss over the happenings from the Sunshine Double to bring you essential anecdotes about Gigi Fernandez' temper, which old person Caitlin WOULDN'T lose to, and yellow vs. green. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and Caitlin ditch the Australian Open recap to focus on tattoos, hotel bathroom products and a the hottest of takes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a thorough examination of sportsmanship, bananas and civil disobedience, Caitlin & Chris return to familiar waters in discussing the Australian Open's showcase of pink and thicc arms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Journalist Claire Suddath takes us behind the scenes of her Racquet magazine feature on the sept- and octogenarian stars of the women's recreational tennis scene, as well as her affinity for old people's stories in this very special episode. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thirty Love's Carl Bialik sets aside his Twitter beef with Caitlin and joins us to fix all the problems. Hint: it involves doubles, gimmicky formats and copious amounts of data! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who knew talking about Toni Nadal's Whatsapp tennis academy would inspire a dark visit with Caitlin's tennis demons? Plus, a new May/December challenge, your Project Voltron responses and some resolutions for the new year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and Caitlin (finally) address their many glaring inaccuracies/haters, and come up with a dream participatory scenario... Project Voltron. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We waited so long to release our latest episode, we might as well just talk about 2018. Caitlin shares a shocking (panhellenic) revelation, Chris rebrands the Australian Open, and we recap 2017 as only the Main Draw can haplessly do. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#pedpod marches on—hear about Caitlin's triumphant Meldonium Phase 1, and hear about what's planned for Phase 2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We celebrate the warrior woman in the return of our "popular" segment where we salute the greats who never quite reached the top, and bleeding edge news from the juicing front, from Caitlin's Meldonium adventure to tortellini. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A chance encounter gives one of us a shot at performance-enhanced greatness. But at what cost? Plus: we rave over WTA TV and give an update from the start of American hardcourt season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sure, we talk about Wimbledon, but The Main Draw is for people who like to imagine which tennis stars will populate James Bond's universe or make up the next Battle of the Network Stars. You're welcome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much better is seeing tennis live in person? It's hard to overstate. Caitlin's back from London with a blow-by-blow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris and Caitlin grapple with being too good looking to develop other skills, blast Johnny Mac's unnecessary Serena comments and celebrate the purest tennis experience of them all: grass. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We take on all of the happenings OFF the court, such as: What do you do when the elder statesmen of the game don't behave? Where are each of us on our own personal parabolas? And forget the television, the best commentating is on the radio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's the most wonderful time of the year—The French Open—when the clay is red, the socks are dirty and the air is filled with accordion music. We check in with Novak Djokovic superfan Sean Rameswaram to get hyped about Roland Garros. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We dig into the cover story from Racquet's third Issue with writer Sarah Nicole Prickett. What follows is a wide-ranging discussion about sexuality, the depiction of women in media and adult learning! Plus, Chris has a brilliant suggestion for Nole's new coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We rake the pro players (and ourselves) over the coals for a look at what constitutes being a good sport, what doesn't, and who's on the right side of history along with actor/producer/director/part-time sock model Wes Needham. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After three years of The Main Draw, the public has taken notice, and they don't like what they're hearing. Chris and Caitlin issue retractions and apologies about hair rankings, pronunciations and Cincinnati. Featuring Valerie David from Tennis Inside Out, and favored spouse of the pod, Caitlin's wife Clare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, The Main Draw does what it does best: Fashion critiques and locker-room cattiness. We examine the return of '80s shorts, Maria's reception on the tour and practice our Swiss German ahead of Monte Carlo. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No, it isn't a Sarah McLachlan album. Come for the gendered examination of tennis' next generation, from Nick Kyrgios to Johanna Konta, stay for Caitlin's wooden-racquet hot take. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We get personal with essayist Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who talks about her love/hate relationship with the tennis lifestyle and the perks of being a celebrity profile specialist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You can't talk about tennis without talking about the literary giant. We invite two amazing writers - Sasha Frere-Jones and Sam Riches - to talk about grappling with the DFW legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Main Draw is back after a lengthy hiatus, celebrating everything from our geriatric Australian Open finalists to a whole new season of comebacks, hair emergencies and sartorial splendor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We spend the last episode of the year talking about some 2016's shadier stories - from an alleged Djokovic affair to a full-scale Nadal hair emergency - and preview what we hope is the terrifying return of Maria Sharapova. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We offend Uzbekistan, talk about Racquet magazine's debut, and offer some suggestions for new looks Maria Sharapova can employ upon her return to the tour next year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Monfils' rope-a-dope to Tomic's fan engagement strategy, we post-mortem the bad behavior on the men's side of the US Open and celebrate new world number 1 Angelique Kerber. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We celebrate Juan Martin del Potro's deep run at the US Open, advocate getting rid of five-set matches, and talk about how fun tennis is in Spanish. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We discuss our own least favorite commentator moments - from Charlie Rose's asking Rog how to hold a racquet to Dick Enberg's Oh My - with our friend Erik Fabian. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A battle of nations? More ancient greek poetry? Tennis moved to ice courts and played during the winter? A thorough examination of all the things we could do to make tennis matter at the international olympic games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We check in on the Coupe Roger (and spill a LOT of tea) with our friends from the North, The Body Serve hosts James Rogers and Jonathan Newman. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We spill the tea and do a Wimbledon walk through of our own, with Grand Slam sanitation expert Katie Rogers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eurosport's Anders Rasmussen joins us to preview The Championships at Wimbledon, and we offer some bold proposals to fix tennis on TV once and for all! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One just won a Grand Slam for the first time, the other is totally blowing this doping stuff. We have some thoughts on both, as well as some FREE advice for Novak Djokovic to win American hearts and minds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A late-career surge from Richard Gasquet has French hearts aflame at Roland Garros, and we talk about the Williams Invitational, Serena and Venus' VIP tennis/ping-pong/dance competition. Plus: bonus parenting advice from C&C. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the many ways Europe is better than America? It takes tennis tv coverage seriously. Plus, Caitlin makes a new friend in Sweden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're launching a tennis quarterly magazine, and YOU can be on the podcast. Plus, talking French Open and we give Andy Murray a new coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get off our lawns and help us figure out how to stream tennis on our computers, or join our campaign to draft DeadHead NBA announcer - and all around zen poet - Bill Walton into tennis commentating. The game needs it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.