In this episode, WTA pro Tamara Zidanšek gets real about life on tour. From the mental battles and injury setbacks to the constant surface changes and pressure of rankings—she doesn’t hold back. We talk about confidence, coaching, journaling, and what it really takes to stay in the game. She also reflects on her deep run at the 2021 French Open and how it changed things. If you're curious about the behind-the-scenes reality of pro tennis, this one’s a must-listen.
Jun 19, 2025•56 min•Ep. 153
Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis returns to the pod to recap the French Open 2025. We discuss the amazing Alcaraz vs. Sinner match, Sabalenka's salty speech, why women should play five sets, why even pros struggle with their racquets, and delve in-depth into Nikola's frustrating racquet testing journey.
Jun 11, 2025•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 152
Christopher Clarey is a tennis writer with decades of experience of interviewing and reporting on the best players in the world. He is a New York Times bestselling author with the book The Master, about Roger Federer's astonishing career. Now he has written The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and his Kingdom of Clay, a book that is a biography of Rafa, but also of the tournament and place where he won 14 of his Grand Slam titles, Roland Garros. Read more about The Warrior . Purchase The Warrior ....
May 13, 2025•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 151
Henrik Wallensten, Davis Cup stringer, racquet tester, and tennis journalist, joins the pod again to talk about the latest experiments and the never-ending racquet tinkering madness. Are you looking for a new racquet or string? Check out our page about recommended racquets or strings on Tennisnerd.net. And don't forget our exclusive deals and discounts ....
May 04, 2025•55 min•Ep. 150
Pro player and YouTuber Karue Sell is back on the podcast to talk about his latest adventures on the Challenger Tour and coming back from his recent injury. We also get into his racquet change and the YouTuber life. Karue is, as always, entertaining and refreshingly straightforward. If you are not already subscribed, you can check out his YouTube channel here .
Apr 26, 2025•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 149
I summarize an interesting week on the tennis tours and we get into some gear and tennis tech as well.
Apr 21, 2025•21 min•Ep. 148
Conor Niland is a former tennis player from Ireland who reached 129 in the world during a career with some strong highlights and lowlights, all captured beautifully in his book, "The Racket. We talk about the book and his life on tour, starting as a College player and ending up playing Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open (and with pretty much everything in between). The Racket is a fascinating read, giving you a deep look into life on the professional tennis tour and I very much enjoyed my con...
Apr 17, 2025•52 min•Ep. 146
I summarize the week of the Monte Carlo Masters, talk about pro player strings and tensions from the tournament, and look ahead at the coming week. In a few days, there will be a normal guest episode, don't worry :) Ps. There is a video version of this solo pod on the YouTube channel . Ds. If you are curious about the strings and tensions, here is the link to that post ....
Apr 14, 2025•22 min•Ep. 147
Since we got good feedback on the first solo pod, I recorded a quick one from my hotel room with a preview of the Monte Carlo Masters and some gear talk. I hope you enjoy it. Don't miss our recent ATP string tension video , where we analyze some pro-player string tension trends. And as always, there is plenty of new content on tennisnerd.net Don't forget to play some tennis!
Apr 07, 2025•21 min•Ep. 145
Lavie Sak is the founder of ADV, which makes excellent tennis bags and accessories. But Lavie's passion is not only creating tennis products; he is also keen on giving back to the sport he loves. He is involved in Tennis Cambodia and talks about his experience on the lower rungs of professional tennis and how help is needed to get the sport to grow in developing countries.
Apr 03, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 144
Desperation? Inability to find guests? The height of narcissism? No, we have some excellent episodes coming your way. But I wanted to give myself a Monday morning challenge and do a solo podcast talking about some recent tennis news, but also getting into pro player gear and upcoming reviews. If you don't mind a solo pod from time to time, let me know on socials. Also, if you hate it.
Mar 24, 2025•32 min•Ep. 143
My buddy and fellow tennis nerd, Henrik Wallensten, joins the pod again to discuss the latest gear, his current racquet experiments and give a review of the Asics Gel Res X among other things.
Mar 06, 2025•58 min•Ep. 142
In this conversation, I talk about the new Pure Drive 2025 with Olivier Carlier, Group Marketing Manager for Tennis Racquets, and Maxime Olejniezak, Product Line Manager for Tennis Racquets for Babolat. We discuss the history, innovations, and future of this iconic racket. The conversation covers the evolution of the Pure Drive, its significance in the tennis world, and the latest advancements in technology and design. The team shares insights on player feedback, target audiences for different m...
Feb 24, 2025•44 min•Ep. 141
Neya is a beloved influencer/content creator based in Melbourne who has developed a strong passion for tennis and is sharing her journey to improve in the sport. Earlier this year, she went to the Australian Open and shared some interesting opinions about the event. I got to know Neya during the Tennis Warehouse partner summit, and I find her to be a refreshing and engaging voice. You can check her out on Instagram as @supertoneyan
Feb 12, 2025•54 min•Ep. 140
Giri Nathan is a tennis journalist working on his first book, "Change-over, A Young Rivalry and a New Era of Men's Tennis," detailing the growing rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. In this episode, recorded at the end of December 2024, we talk about that in-depth but also cover other players on the men's tour getting into their gear and more. You can find out more about the book here: https://bit.ly/TNchangeover
Jan 27, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 139
Patrice Chabrel is a senior product manager at Tecnifibre with many years of experience in the racquet industry. In this episode, we talk about the new Tfights and more! Lots of insight to be gained for tennis nerds here :)
Jan 24, 2025•40 min•Ep. 138
Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis is back on the podcast and this time, we focus on his recent series about finding his next racquet. Choosing a new racquet can be a very frustrating process and Nikola is feeling it! We get into ways to make the process smoother, some tips and tricks, discuss racquets overall, get into doping on the pro tour, and look ahead at the 2025 tennis season. You can check out his content on YouTube or get exclusive access to his membership content . Use the code TENNI...
Dec 26, 2024•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 137
Ben Johnson is a videographer and creative director who found his way back to tennis some years back. Last year, he started The Tennis 101, which has risen to viral success on TikTok and Instagram. We talk about his journey in tennis, his love for filmmaking and editing, what racquet he should switch to, and much more.
Dec 17, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 136
Will Boucek is the founder of The Tennis Tribe and a doubles specialist and analyst. Boucek scouts and coaches elite doubles players to perform better and worked with team US and the USTA at the Olympic Games. How do we grow the game of doubles, and what can club players do to play better doubles? We talk about all that and more in this episode.
Dec 05, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 135
Oscar Torres used to play professional tennis but now works as a performance coach, training pros and amateurs. He also creates instructive and entertaining content on Instagram @oscartorreslab In this conversation, we get into his pro career but also bigger topics like the state of tennis, what needs to be done for it to survive long-term, what we can learn from other sports, the struggling format of professional tennis and much more. I am keen to hear your opinions on these topics in the comme...
Nov 28, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 134
This is Sarah's second time on the podcast. The last time we talked, she was working on founding a tennis company, and now it is here! Richsport sells colorful and fun tennis accessories and merch. If you're curious about their products, this podcast works better on YouTube , but if audio is your thing, you can check out their website . I wish Sarah and Nicole all the best with their new venture. Ps. I really like the overgrips myself, and I am pretty picky! Ds....
Nov 22, 2024•41 min•Ep. 133
Beckett Chung is one of the founders of Tenncom Media, where he reviews gear and creates video content with his business partner Simon Cuell. Check out Tenncom on YouTube for a taste of their refreshing and engaging style. Beckett knows a lot about racquets and strings, so we delve into that. Before this recording, we spent a week with Tennis Warehouse, testing some exciting gear for 2025, so we also look ahead at next year.
Nov 14, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 132
Henrik is back on the podcast to discuss the Gear of the Year 2024. We focus on racquets but also mention strings and shoes towards the end. It's a nerdy pod, but hopefully, you can get something out of it. Full video with footage on the Tennisnerd YouTube channel.
Oct 29, 2024•31 min•Ep. 131
Coach Conor Casey used to play professional tennis and write for sitcoms. Now, he entertains and informs a growing audience with funny and relatable tennis content on his Instagram account @tenniscoachconorcasey
Oct 26, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 130
Fabio Molle is the founder of Functional Tennis, the largest tennis-related account on Instagram with 1 million followers. Functional Tennis is also famous for the Saber, a training racquet with a 37 sq inch head size which has been seen in the hands of top pros. He also runs a podcast with many interesting guests, like top pros and coaches. We talked about his background in tennis, pros and cons with running an ecommerce business, creating tennis products and much more. Check out the Saber...
Sep 21, 2024•58 min•Ep. 129
Dan Wolken is an award-winning columnist for USA Today who has covered sports for over two decades. He is also a dedicated tennis player. He has written a book about Coco Gauff called "Cocomania," and we talk about the book, Coco, the state of tennis and even get into racquets and strings towards the end. Check out Dan's book on Amazon
Sep 02, 2024•57 min•Ep. 128
Legendary coach Rick Macci is back on the podcast, and this time, we discuss the US Open 2024, how a player develops a style, the importance of going for your shots, junior tennis development, and lots more.
Aug 25, 2024•54 min•Ep. 127
Global business manager Dennis Fabian and Global product manager, Maximilian Bauer from HEAD join me to discuss the new HEAD Extreme racquets, their upcoming releases, and much more. I hope you enjoy the podcast. There was a lag when recording this remote podcast, I hope it doesn't affect your listening experience too much. Thanks, as always, for listening.
Aug 19, 2024•49 min•Ep. 126
Peter Clarke is a former professional tennis player who retired in 2007 and was ranked in the top 250 players in the world. He has recently launched the impressive Coachlife platform, where coaches for the top players in the world deliver in-depth lessons about technique, mindset, nutrition, match play, and more. I have tried the Coachlife platform, and it is an excellent tool for inspiration and improvement. Use the code TENNISNERD10 to get 10% off....
Jul 16, 2024•49 min•Ep. 125
Jose Hernandez Fernandez (also known as Bebo) is an ex-pro player from the Dominican Republic who retired from the ATP Tour in 2020 and has since coached. He achieved success with WTA top 40 player Yue Yuan earlier in 2024 when she won her first WTA title and reached the quarter-finals of Indian Wells. I know Bebo personally, and for this podcast, we got to sit down in person and talk about his life on tour, the successes and struggles of being a tennis pro, growing up in the Dominican Republic,...
Jul 04, 2024•34 min•Ep. 124
