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Podcast: Tennis in the Middle East and the Nadal-Djokovic Exhibition in Saudi Arabia
On the Beyond the Baseline Podcast, Sports Illustrated executive editor, Tennis Channel commentator and host Jon Wertheim takes fans between the lines with tennis commentary and exclusive interviews with the top players and newsmakers on the ATP and WTA tours.
On the latest edition of the Beyond the Baseline Podcast, host Jon Wertheim talks with Egyptian sports journalist Reem Abulleil.
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Abulleil joins the podcast from Singapore, where she is covering the WTA Finals. Wertheim and Abulleil discuss the current year-end championships in women's tennis, her time spent with Naomi Osaka after she won the 2018 U.S. Open, whether or not winning a major has changed Osaka as a person and what she expects for her during the 2019 season and more. Abulleil also offers insight into her own career, discussing her unique story of how she became a tennis journalist and the challenges she faces covering sports in Dubai. Wertheim and Abulleil also talk about the upcoming exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic that is planned for Dec. 22 in Saudi Arabia and whether or not the men should cancel their participation and what the possible implications are.
Listen below and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.
Check back next week for another episode of Beyond the Baseline.
Jon Wertheim is a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and has been part of the full-time SI writing staff since 1997, largely focusing on the tennis beat , sports business and social issues, and enterprise journalism. In addition to his work at SI, he is a correspondent for "60 Minutes" and a commentator for The Tennis Channel. He has authored 11 books and has been honored with two Emmys, numerous writing and investigative journalism awards, and the Eugene Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Wertheim is a longtime member of the New York Bar Association (retired), the International Tennis Writers Association and the Writers Guild of America. He has a bachelor's in history from Yale University and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He resides in New York City with his wife, who is a divorce mediator and adjunct law professor. They have two children.