Best Of Three
Alvin and friends discuss a wide variety of tennis topics, both on and off the court.
Episodes
135 episodes
Iga Świątek’s Next Version, Coco Gauff’s Forehand, and the WTA’s Crowded Top Tier
Iga Świątek’s Toronto title was not simply a form check. Alvin and Torrey argue that her week showed a more tactically complete version of her game: more height, more shape, more patience, and a clearer sense of when to press rather than force....
Alex Eala’s Sustainable Rise, Rafael Jodar’s Unfinished Upside
Alex Eala’s DC title run raises a more interesting question than whether she is simply on a good run. Her game already has a recognizable identity: lefty disruption, forehand pressure, return-plus-one patterns, and the competitive steadiness to...
The Cruelest Game: Djokovic’s Survival Code in Modern Tennis with Matt Futterman
Matt Futterman joins Best of Three to discuss The Cruelest Game, his book on the hidden cost of chasing greatness in professional tennis. The conversation centers on why tennis exposes players so completely: the solitude of co...
American Tennis Has Talent. Does It Have Enough Tennis Culture?
American tennis is often judged by outcomes at the professional level, but the more important question begins much earlier: how are young players actually learning the sport? In this episode, Alvin and Torrey examine whether the U.S. developmen...
Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon, and the Limits of Tennis’ Most Revered Test
Wimbledon remains the sport’s most sacred stage, but this episode asks whether it is still the cleanest measure of tennis greatness. Grass demands a specialized version of the game: short points, first-strike precision, elite returning, low-con...
Sinner, Zverev, and the Serve-Return Gap at Wimbledon
Jannik Sinner’s Wimbledon final win over Alexander Zverev was not a simple case of one player overwhelming the other. Zverev produced one of his most assertive performances of the season, playing higher in the court, committing more fully to hi...
Linda Noskova’s Wimbledon Title and the WTA’s Accelerating Power Shift
Linda Noskova’s Wimbledon final win over Karolina Muchova was not simply a breakthrough result. It was a clear signal that the younger WTA generation is arriving faster than expected, and that Noskova’s power-based game already carries the stru...
Coco Gauff’s Grass-Court Evolution, Muchova’s Tactical Clarity, and Noskova’s Arrival
Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon semifinal loss to Karolina Muchova revealed more progress than regression. Her serve was stable, her net game translated well to grass, and her willingness to move forward gave her a real path through the match. But the d...
Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon Run Meets the Zverev Test
Arthur Fery’s Wimbledon run has become more than a home story. His win over Flavio Cobolli showed enough baseline quality, backhand stability, serving discipline, and crowd management to make the run feel earned rather than accidental.Bu...
Djokovic Still Sets the Grand Slam Standard, and Felix Had to Answer
Novak Djokovic’s five-set Wimbledon quarterfinal win over Felix Auger-Aliassime was not simply another example of Djokovic surviving late in a Slam. It was a measuring match. Felix showed real top-tier growth: the backhand held up, the serve re...
Coco Gauff’s Forehand Test, Osaka’s Serve, and the Grass-Court Question at Wimbledon
Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon run has shifted the conversation around her forehand. The stroke is not fully solved, but it is becoming more specific in its vulnerabilities and more useful in point construction. Alvin and Torrey break down why her win ...
Grigor Dimitrov, Iga Swiatek, and Wimbledon’s Test of Complete Tennis
Wimbledon is beginning to separate players who can solve matches with a full toolkit from players still trying to impose baseline patterns on grass. Alvin and Torrey frame the third round around that tension, using Grigor Dimitrov as the cleare...
Serena Williams, Match Rust, and the Real Cost of a Wimbledon Comeback
Serena Williams’ Wimbledon return raised a more interesting question than whether she could still resemble her peak. She was not championship-relevant, but she was match-relevant — and that gap became the center of this episode.Alvin and...
Serena’s Opening—and the Players Built for Wimbledon
Serena Williams has received a Wimbledon draw that gives her a credible competitive opportunity. Maya Joint is a manageable opening matchup, Alexandra Eala would present a playable second round, and instability around Iga Świątek could remove t...
Why Serena Williams Can Still Be Dangerous on Grass
Serena Williams returns to Wimbledon at 44 with obvious physical questions—but also with advantages few comeback players possess. Alvin Owusu and Anastasia examine why her serve, return positioning, first-strike instincts and accumulated grass-...
Aryna Sabalenka, WTA Depth, and the New Shape of Women’s Tennis
Aryna Sabalenka remains the standard in women’s tennis, but the tour around her has changed. In this midseason WTA review, Alvin and Torrey examine whether Sabalenka’s consistency is still enough to separate her from the field—or whether the de...
Alexander Zverev and the Value of Being There: Roland Garros Review
Alexander Zverev’s first Grand Slam title may look like a breakthrough, but the stronger explanation is consistency. He has spent years placing himself in major semifinals and finals, remaining physically prepared deep into tournaments and wait...
Alexander Zverev Finally Closes: What His First Grand Slam Really Means
Alexander Zverev is finally a Grand Slam champion. His five-set win over Flavio Cobolli at Roland Garros removes the largest remaining question from one of the most accomplished résumés in men’s tennis. The episode argues that Zverev’s title is...
Mirra Andreeva’s French Open Title Was Confirmation, Not Revelation
Mirra Andreeva is a Grand Slam champion, but the more interesting question is what the title actually proves. Alvin and Torrey argue that Andreeva did not suddenly become a different player at Roland Garros. She confirmed the level that had alr...
Sinner’s Exit, Shelton’s Clay Problem, and the New Depth of Men’s Tennis
Jannik Sinner’s five-set Roland Garros loss to Juan Manuel Cerundolo leads the episode, but the conversation quickly moves beyond the upset itself. Alvin and Torrey examine whether the result was simply a physical failure from Sinner, or whethe...
Why Clay Exposed Fritz, Pegula, and First-Strike Tennis at Roland Garros
Taylor Fritz and Jessica Pegula both exited Roland Garros in the first round, but this episode looks beyond the scorelines. Alvin and Torrey use those losses to examine a larger clay-court truth: players who rely on first-strike certainty are m...
Coco Gauff’s Evolved Defense, Zverev’s Opening, and the Roland Garros Attrition Test
Roland Garros is rarely just a question of who has the highest level. On clay, every return game, long rally, and physical exchange changes the tournament before the second week even begins. In this draw show, Alvin and Torrey frame Paris as an...
Bobby Reynolds on Why College Tennis Has Become the ATP’s Best Development Pathway
Auburn men’s tennis head coach Bobby Reynolds joins Best of Three for a deep conversation on the evolution of college tennis, player development, and the future of the NCAA system. Reynolds explains why college tennis is no longer a fa...
Jannik Sinner Is Taking Away Time: The Roland Garros Problem
Jannik Sinner’s Rome title was not just another dominant week. It became a case study in what makes him so difficult to beat on clay: not only ball speed, but his ability to read early, move cleanly, and compress the opponent’s decision-making ...
Coco Gauff’s Next Step: Why Svitolina Exposed a Question of Clarity
Coco Gauff’s loss to Elina Svitolina in Rome is not a simple setback. It is a useful snapshot of where Coco’s game currently sits: more dangerous than before, more complete than many results suggest, but still in the uncomfortable middle stage ...
