Welcome to season 11 of The Body Serve! We're catching you up on the barely existent off-season, including the most important Joaos, Max Purcell turning himself in, and Jenson Broosky’s brave statement about autism. Even though one of us rejects any “2025” tennis that occurs before January 1, 2025, we talk through the season’s early results, including the United Cup fracas, the Opelka and Nishikori comebacks, and the shifting Big 4 allegiances due to the Murravic pairing. We also take on the decidedly more serious situation with Elena Rybakina’s former and would-be current coach, Stefano Vukov, who is currently under investigation by the WTA. Finally, we end with our 2025 breakout picks and a game that James was entirely unprepared for. Happy 2025!

1:05 GoFundMe update

4:05 First week results: Reilly, Kei, the pairing from hell, plus the top tier of the WTA smashes their first week

14:00 United Cup: the “drama” is honestly not that serious

23:30 Rybakina, Vukov, WTA safeguarding, and the childishness of “I told you so”

31:25 Max Purcell turns himself in for an anti-doping oopsie

35:55 Kyrgios’ obsession + Osaka’s allegiance to him (aka: I knew things would get rocky when he came for the nepo baby)

40:45 Jenson Brooksby tells the world that he has autism spectrum disorder

44:50 The Year of the Joao: Reis da Silva comes out as gay + Fonseca wins Next Gen Finals

50:15 Our breakout picks for 2025

54:50 James plays a game! Play along at home

We never knew how much we’d miss “hola a todos” until it turned into an adiós. Rafael Nadal Parera ended his tennis career at this year’s Davis Cup, leaving with with 22 major singles titles, a Career Golden Slam, every clay record you can think of, and a litany of quotable moments. We’ve been Rafa fans since the early days, when they said he was a dirtballer whose body would force him into retirement in his 30s. But it turned out Rafa was nothing if not adaptable -- a rational thinker whose love for the game made him a global superstar and helped build two of the sport’s most enduring rivalries. In this episode, we’re less interested in a chronological retelling of his career than complicating some of the cliches about him and talking about our favorite moments, Rafa’s inimitable Rafa-isms, and what made Nadal an athlete like no other.

1:55 How we became fans

4:45 It’s not about stats, but here are some stats

10:00 Adaptability: the key to understanding Rafa as an athlete?

12:55 A quick career recap - the notable eras

32:35 Rafa as sufferer

37:30 Fedal & Rafole: the cliches eventually fell away

43:45 Rafa as sex symbol

52:05 (Not) talking about the GOAT conversation

62:25 Our favorite Rafa moments: the 2022 Australian Open was a gift

65:40 Rafa-isms : if if if …

Finally our 2024 season is coming to a close! Although bonus December content is coming soon, we finish regular coverage by wrapping the ATP season: it was basically the proof that Jannik Sinner’s late-2023 rise was for real, and that he and Carlos have taken the reins of the (mostly) post-Big 4 ATP. Just like the women’s wrap, we’ll take you through the events of the 2024 season, evaluate our picks for 2024 breakout players, and choose our ATP Award winners. We finish up with your memorable/funny/enraging moments (“do you want to change the lady?,” Indian Wells bee attack) and the many players saying goodbye to the sport.

GoFundMe

3:10 Where were we at the beginning of 2024?

10:30 Starting in Australia: Sinner risen

16:30 Clay: Rafa’s brief return, Watergate, and Carlos’ apology-fist pump-championship pipeline

22:20 Channel Slam and Novak’s white whale

29:20 Rafa’s retirement at Davis Cup

37:55 Off-court “drama”

41:55 Our 2024 breakout players + thoughts on the ATP Awards

50:00 What will you remember? Bees.

53:25 Moments that pissed you off / made you laugh (sometimes both)

57:55 A ton of retirements this year, even beyond the big names