In the second round of the 2005 Australian Open, Roger Federer defeated Japan’s Takao Suzuki in three enthralling sets. Round-the-net shots, no-look passes and Suzuki’s relentless serve-and-volleying – the match had it all. 

In the first episode of a new podcast, Jack Kessler and Lisa Gershon discuss what made the match so special, why Suzuki never cracked the top 100, and why Federer in early 2005 was like the United States in the immediate years following the end of the Cold War.