Tennis Podcast Terminology

New to the podcast and wonder what on earth we’re talking about when we discuss whether or not a player is On The Boat? Don’t understand The Mix? Or just need a refresher? We’ve come up with some definitions for words and phrases which have become part of Tennis Podcast parlance.

On The Boat

David Whitaker (Catherine’s Dad)

Coined during Wimbledon 2019, it was decided that you qualify for being ‘On the boat’ if you are the sort of character that David Whitaker (Catherine’s Dad) would happily have alongside him as crew on a voyage. To qualify to be On The Boat, the player must leave his/her ego and baggage (literal and metaphorical) on the shore, be good company, adaptable and practical.

Mr Whitaker adds, however, that the most important quality is indefinable. Tennis players that have thus far passed the On The Boat test include Ash Barty, John Millman and Maria Sakkari.

In 2020, we launched the On The Boat t-shirt range.

In The Mix

A tennis player is said to be In The Mix if we would not be surprised if she or he won the tournament we are talking about. The Mix is a collection of those players for a given tournament. The term debuted in our Wimbledon preview show on June 30, 2019. In The Mix t-shirts are available in our shop.

Backhand List

Matt loves backhands and during the 2022 French Open he quietly revealed that he keeps a list of his favourites. It’s important to note that it’s not a list of the best backhands. What would be the fun in that? Instead, it’s more about how the backhand makes him feel. He says: “There isn’t one singular quality which determines entry onto the list. You just know it when you see it.”

The original backhand list, published in May 2022, was:

  • Amanda Anisimova

  • Belinda Bencic

  • Emma Raducanu

  • Anna Bogdan

  • Viktorija Golubic

As of April 2024, it is:

  • Amanda Anisimova

  • Belinda Bencic

  • Coco Gauff

  • Elena Rybakina

  • Danielle Collins

Coco Gauff replaced Bogdan during the 2022 US Open when Matt saw Gauff face Zhang Shuai. Elena Rybakina replaced Raducanu in a big announcement at our Live Shrewsbury show in 2023. Danielle Collins replaced Golubic when Collins started out-backhanding Rybakina during the 2024 Miami final.

Matt started working on a men’s backhand list but his heart just wasn’t in it, so the project has been abandoned.

The Backhand

When Matt says this, he’s talking about Amanda Anisimova. She’s the OG member of the Backhand List and the entire reason for the list’s existence. He believes it’s the purest shot in tennis and he’s actually a little bit weird about it. Pod fans have been known to assemble at Anisimova’s matches to say hi to Matt. 

#PollVault

In 2015, Twitter introduced Polls to its platform. Shortly afterwards, much to Catherine’s disgust, David invented #PollVault, the Tennis Podcast’s home for multiple-choice questions he wants to ask listeners.

The Movement

A term used by an ATP PR Manager to David in June 2002 when Albert Costa (then 26), beat Juan Carlos Ferrero (then 22) in the Roland Garros final. ‘This is not good for The Movement’, the PR man said, meaning it was a blow to the transition of past generation staleness to new blood infusion (known in the ATP’s marketing campaign as New Balls, aka New Balls Please).

David first raised the term on the pod during February 2020 when Carlos Alcaraz, coached by Ferrero, made his breakthrough. We now say a development is ‘not good for The Movement’ whenever someone who’s been around the block (for example Andreas Seppi) beats a promising youngster (for example Denis Shapovalov).

The Best Player In The World

This is how we refer to Czech player Tomas Machac. It stems from the 2023 Australian Open when we all stood mesmerised as we watched him play the most incredible rally during practice from just a few feet away. Ever since then we’ve been keeping track of his progress and hyping him up to anybody who will listen. 

Sensation

A sensation is an over-hyped Australian playing at the Australian Open.

We originally overheard the term being used in the radio room to describe John Millman ahead of his match with Roger Federer in 2020. Now we hear it all the time when we’re Down Under. Think Christopher O’Connell, Jason Kubler and Alexei Popyrin - these are your classic sensations.

Canister

A reference by Roger Federer in 2016, when trying to come back from injury, to the reserves he planned to call upon. "I do believe that whatever rest it is,” said Federer, “maybe from injury, maybe from just a training block or a vacation, it all ends up somewhere in a canister where you can pull from it.” Since then, we have often referred to how much a player has left in his/her canister.

Foregone Conclusion

In June 2013, Catherine said it was a ‘foregone conclusion’ that Serena Williams would win Wimbledon, such was her dominance and the lack of obvious opposition. Williams was beaten by Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round. Catherine has never been allowed to forget it, and the words ‘foregone conclusion’ have often been referenced since (albeit not by Catherine, and not by anyone else with a straight face).

Yes Please!

Catherine’s way of reacting to a particularly mouth-watering match on an order of play or possible future round clash in a tournament.

Mary Carillo’s 3 Rules

  1. Hold your serve.

  2. Have a weapon.

  3. Hide your weakness.

Mary told us about her rules during the 2019 French Open and we often refer back to them when trying to assess a player’s game and potential. If you can’t do these three things, what hope have you got?

Pack Hunters

This is Matt’s term for The Big 3 based on the observation that they have worked as a unit to monopolise the biggest titles. The idea is that a player might be able to beat one of them on any given day, but beating two or three of them to win a title is almost impossible. Indeed, David Nalbandian is the only man in history to beat Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, doing so in Madrid in 2007.

Perhaps the classic example of the Big 3’s Pack Hunter trait came at Wimbledon in 2010 when poor Tomas Berdych beat Federer in the QFs and Djokovic in the SFs but STILL didn’t win the title. Nadal was waiting for him in the final and beat him in straight sets.

Aggro

A catch-all word used to cover any on or off-court dispute between a player and another player, an official, the crowd or anyone in the vicinity. Invariably uttered with excitement, but only if the consequences are amusing rather than ugly, particularly mean or serious.

Fangs

A Mary Carillo term used to confirm if a player has the necessary killer instinct and nastiness required to win matches when skill, movement, power and fitness alone isn’t enough. ‘Does he/she have fangs?’

Agricultural

David’s description of the playing style of Stan Wawrinka during the 2019 French Open. It led to David and Catherine laughing uncontrollably to the point that they were forced to end a podcast prematurely.