Lots to catch up on for the boys this week. We start by answering Noah's question on whether the Alcaraz upset Monday shows that we haven't been respecting "The Big 3" enough. Are Carlos and Iga "Generational Talents?" Expectation, success, and hyperbole all on display lately. We also hit the blatant sexism in Madrid, and Mike pleas with the new owners of the Western and Southern Open to keep it in Cincy. Next week, we'll announce a giveaway of a Daniil Medvedev used ball from the day he became ...
May 16, 2023•50 min•Ep. 184
Patrick Kypson reached his second Challenger semifinal in 4 weeks in Savannah, and in doing so, he earned the USTA's reciprocal wild card to the French Open. But he had to sweat on Sunday, as Tristan Boyer could have surpassed him had he won the Savannah title. We chat with him about what it means to win the Wild Card at this stage in his career, and his favorite pastime, smoking meats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
May 02, 2023•35 min•Ep. 183
Zizou Bergs is a 23 year old from Belgium who won the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger on Sunday in straight sets over Tung-Lin Wu. During the event, he didn't lose a single set, while clinching his fifth Challenger title. It was an emotional moment for Zizou, who recently lost his grandfather. We talk about the week ,his style, and what this one means to him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 24, 2023•10 min•Ep. 182
The 26-year-old from Atlanta sits down with the boys post Miami to talk about the process of getting to the top 100 for the first time in his career after his quarterfinal run. A huge achievement, so we discuss how it happened philosophically, and technically. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 181
Jamie Loeb rejoins the show to gives us the full details of what financial inequalities look like at the lower levels of tennis, after Denis Shapovalov helped bring it to light in his recent article. We got in to the intricacies of what that looks like at tournaments that have both men's and women's events at the Challenger level, and how some of the finances break down, and why. We also explored some other reasons WHY the financial inequities might be happening, and most importantly, Mike's dau...
Mar 20, 2023•46 min•Ep. 180
Grant Chen is now the Head Coach for the men's tennis team at SMU. He came to Dallas after a legendary run from the team manager for UCLA, all the way to Associate Head Coach. He also helps run the Dallas Open, and multiple USTA Pro Circuit events at the Styslinger Altec Tennis Complex in Dallas as well. Further, he's about as connected as anyone can be. You'll see him in the box from time to time for Grigor Dimitrov, he's tight with John Isner, and many others. So Mike sat down with him to find...
Mar 14, 2023•39 min•Ep. 179
Mackenzie "Mackie" McDonald is 27 years old from Northern California, ranked 53 in the world as of March 6th. He was the NCAA singles and doubles champion at UCLA in 2016, winning the doubles with Martin Redlicki (a former BTR Pod guest, now coaching at Oklahoma State). Mackie joined us from Indian Wells, with the draw coming out later today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 06, 2023•33 min•Ep. 178
Mike here- This pod got DRASTICALLY delayed (totally on me), but this pod was recorded in Melbourne immediately following qualifying, as Alexis was headed towards the airport. The guy is an incredibly hard worker, super positive, and it was fun learning a little bit more about what took him to NC State (not a traditional tennis powerhouse), and has him inside the top 200 in the world. More next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Feb 27, 2023•26 min•Ep. 177
Hey all- In between interviews with Ernesto Escobedo, and Alexis Galarneau, the boys reconvened to chop up the American men at the AO, why the TV coverage was down, and the horrific record tennis is starting to set on domestic violence. More next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 07, 2023•49 min•Ep. 176
Have to preface all of this by noting that this was recorded the day after Neto qualified in Australia. As a result, it's important to note that it does not have any details regarding this week's Davis Cup news with regard to the Mexican Tennis Federation. He was honest and forthright about his decision and why, and clearly is at peace with the decision he's made. More coming up next week, including an interview with Canada's Alexis Galarneau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm...
Feb 01, 2023•31 min•Ep. 175
Top 100 star Ben Shelton gave his thoughts on his whirlwind year, his three straight titles to end the year, his offseason, his girlfriend Anna, and Mike gets emotional because that's what you do at the end of the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 17, 2022•23 min•Ep. 174
Quite an end to the year, although did the year ever really "end" A slew of exhibitions, Davis Cup distractions for the US, and really questionable (at best) words from a few top male stars. More next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Dec 09, 2022•52 min•Ep. 173
Mike here. I sat down with Ben immediately following his victory in straights over Christopher Eubanks to talk about playing against his close friend, his expectations for this stretch of tennis, and where he thinks he's most improved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nov 08, 2022•16 min•Ep. 172
The always mature Sam Riffice joins Mike during his run to the semifinals in Fairfield, California. They talked about his childhood in Sacramento, his strong family structure, and what he's learned from his fiance, Cici Bellis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 19, 2022•37 min•Ep. 171
Well, it was quite a revelation last week when Noah Rubin announced he'd start playing pickleball. He finally sits down with Mike to discuss the whys, the people who are rooting against him, and what tennis can learn from pickle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 18, 2022•35 min•Ep. 170
It's a seventh Challenger title for Michael Mmoh in Fairfield, California. Immediately after taking home the title, he sat down with Mike to talk about what's changed to bring home his second trophy in two months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 17, 2022•13 min•Ep. 169
Zachary Svajda won the Tiburon Challenger with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Ben Shelton on Sunday. The 19-year-old grabbed his first Challenger title in the process, and has moved to roughly 255 in the world. It was a crazy match, and Zach sits down with Mike to discuss the match, as well as the expectations he faced as a 16 year old after winning Kalamazoo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 10, 2022•14 min•Ep. 168
We talk over Fed's retirement at the Laver Cup, the absolutely inexcusable abuse thrown toward Frances Tiafoe after he beat Fed in his final match. And we walk through some of the changes to the Challengers coming in 2023. TLDR: Mike is optimistic, Noah, shockingly, is not. Jason Kubler next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 27, 2022•34 min•Ep. 167
Well now that the announcement is out there, Noah talks us through why he's stepping away from tennis, and what he'll miss most. We also talk about Fed's retirement decision, and what he's meant to both of us in our respective careers, including Noah's meeting with him at the Australian Open 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 20, 2022•36 min•Ep. 166
Recorded immediately preceding Carlos Alcaraz's victory in the men's singles final, Noah visits Mike in Queens to wrap up the Open. We talk rivalries The Happy Slam in New York And Carlos' impact. We get some takes on the PTPA, US Open Broadcast times, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 12, 2022•48 min•Ep. 165
We start with Noah's engagement, as our lil boy is all done growed up. But the real story is Serena Williams' retirement announcement. We discuss that, how she has impacted tennis, and our lives; and why this year has become a year full of retirements across both tours. More from Cincy, and wherever Noah heads next, coming next week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Aug 15, 2022•42 min•Ep. 164
Guest Host Christopher Eubanks guides us through the career of French tennis star Enzo Couacaud, and take you Behind the Racquet to tell you his story. Things get interesting when they start talking about the French generation of Monfils, Tsonga, Gasquet and others, and what "greatness" is. And then we get in to how the NBA influence could benefit tennis. More coming next week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
Jul 28, 2022•52 min•Ep. 163
One of the more remarkable runs I've witnessed on the USTA Pro Circuit over the last 9 years. Yibing Wu lost 2 sets in 15 straight wins. He's moved from 1741 to 174 in the ATP rankings since returning to the tour earlier this year after surgery and covid restrictions. I talked to him immediately after he came off the court in Indianapolis. He was winded, emotional, and thoughtful, considering he was ultimately rushing to get to a flight. Appreciated the time immensely. TOMORROW!!!! And all new p...
Jul 24, 2022•12 min•Ep. 162
The body has not been kind to Andrew Harris over the years. Back issues have limited his ability to play a full schedule since an incredible junior and college career, in Australia, and then Oklahoma. He's still hesitant to use the word specialist, but he's cognizant that this may give him the opportunities to reach the sport's peaks. Here how he got started in the sport, what took him to Oklahoma, and how he's approaching this stage of his career. He's got some fun tales about 2022 Wimbledon, a...
Jul 19, 2022•40 min•Ep. 161
Tsitsipas and Kyrgios' Saturday clash once again highlighted how players all have different interpretations of what's OK on court. Mike and Noah go through it to sort out what's needed to fix that issue. And Noah gives us his take on what it's like to face Kyrgios. More next week from Rome, Georgia! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jul 04, 2022•34 min•Ep. 160
Noah rejoins us after his three month sojourn to introspection. We go through the Wimbledon controversies, how the surfaces now all feel alike, and talk about the upcoming summer here in the states. And as a quick bonus, Mike's daughter Marnie pops on to say hello and give her take on Noah, Chris Eubanks, and her favorite joke. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 27, 2022•50 min•Ep. 159
We go Behind the Racquet this week with presenter, commentator, personality, and fantastic human being Blair Henley to talk about the challenges of being a parent in the tennis media business, and finding the happy medium of social media presence versus wanting to have good time when we're away from the sport. It's not flipping easy! On top of it, those of us in the Gen X/Y age want to know, how the heck does Blair stay on top of every trend! And Blair and Mike also make their Wimby picks with t...
Jun 21, 2022•35 min•Ep. 158
Really enjoyable chat with the rising junior at the University of Florida, Ben Shelton. We talk about how he's planning his summer, what he's learned from his father and coach, Bryan Shelton, and Christopher Eubanks gives his advice on how to approach Ben's first summer as a "pro." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 13, 2022•39 min•Ep. 157
A Noah-less episode this week, as Mike talks with former Ohio State star JJ Wolf from Little Rock, Arkansas, site of this week's Baptist Health Little Rock Open. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jun 03, 2022•24 min•Ep. 156
Somdev Devvarman was an All-American and NCAA Champion at Virginia, and reached as high as 62 in the world during his professional career. He's now returned to tennis as both a broadcaster in his native India, and as a coach of Sumit Nagal. Hear his viewpoints on how we could improve the transition for players post their playing days, and his thoughts on the Challenger tour as a whole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...
May 03, 2022•44 min•Ep. 155
