Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis (tennisnerd)

Fabrice Sbarro is one of the world's leading performance analysts. He works with some of the best players on the ATP and WTA tours.

Besides working with top players, Fabrice runs the website Tennis Profiler, which provides game analysis of all the top 100 ATP/WTA but also ATP legends players. He is also a part of the EDGE player agency and the author of " Tennis quel joueur êtes-vous ? ", a book about game style optimization (only in French).

Fabrice is a very engaging and passionate talker, and I had great fun discussing tennis with him on the podcast. His openness is refreshing, and his points of view are interesting. I hope you will enjoy listening to our conversation.

More tennis on Tennisnerd

Tim Puttock is back on the podcast! This time, we talk about upcoming Prince releases, their product portfolio, strategy and the recently reviewed Phantoms. Tim has a wealth of experience as a racquet engineer and I think there is a lot to learn from this conversation.

Ian Westermann is one of the leading tennis coaches and personalities on YouTube. He has created educational tennis content for 14 years and built a large following. He has recently also written a book about improving as a tennis player called Essential Tennis: https://amzn.to/3PH9Vee

Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast. Henrk is a strong player, racquet reviewer and Davis Cup stringer for the Swedish team. He reviews racquets for Tennisnerd and the Swedish Tennis Magazine.

In this episode we talk about the new Wilson Ultra V4, the Blade 100 and other recent racquets. We also touch the topic of quality control, which is a common issue plaguing the industry. 

Ryan Burbary is the founder and owner of Velociti Tennis. Velociti tennis is a new tennis brand with a one of their products being the first bio-degradable tennis string in the world. It is called Catalyst and after testing the string I had to reach out to Ryan and talk about it. Ryan grew up in tennis stores and strung his first racquet when he was 12. A true tennis nerd!

You can try the Velociti Catalyst here: https://velocititennis.com/ Use the code TENNISNERD to get a discount.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:40 Growing up inside a tennis store 02:17 How did the Velociti journey start? 09:24 Gauges and colors 14:50 Online vs Pro Shop when it comes to gear 21:48 String packaging 27:07 Sustainable tennis balls 36:51 Does being from Colorado influence you more towards nature and the environment? 42:16 Growing up in a tennis shop 53:54 Racquets are getting better 1:13:33 It’s a mental sport 1:18:52 Choosing the right racquet for your game 1:36:30 The future for Velociti and Ryan

Nikola Aracic is a former top 40 NCAA D1 college player and tennis coach with 25 years of experience. He is one of the leading coaches on YouTube and has built a devoted following thanks to his straightforward approach and coaching methods. In this podcast, we talk about everything from how he got started, to racquets and strings, if it's too late to become a pro and much more.

I had the fortune to sit down with star coach Rick Macci to discuss Wimbledon, the addition of AI, Novak's legacy, Raducanu, and much more.

The video version is available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3K9RBvFRff4

Find out more about Rick and his incredible coaching career: https://rickmacci.com/

Top Tennis Training is leading the charge of online tennis training on YouTube. The company is run by Simon Konov and Alex Slabinsky, two former tennis pros. They reach more than 350k subscribers on their YouTube channels and have amassed 200 million video views and 100 000 online students. I talked to founder Simon Konov about their journey on YouTube, the brutality of being a lower-ranked tennis pro and we also get some top tennis training tips for club level players.

This episode of the Tennisnerd podcast is a little different. I sit down with coach Evan Gaudreau (who has been on the podcast before), and we get a little more personal. In this almost two-hour conversation, we talk about topics like How your childhood can influence your tennis, Rafa Nadal's OCD, favorite players, why people choose pickleball over tennis, and much more.

We hope you like it!

Want to work with coach Evan? https://www.mavericktennis.com

Do you need racquet assistance? https://tennisnerd.net/help

My friend and doubles partner, Daniel Rutkowski, who has been on the channel many times, joined me to discuss competitive tennis and the things many players struggle with, such as match tightness, negative self-talk, changing patterns, and dealing with pushers, etc. Daniel was a strong junior player who left tennis for years and now has been back to competitive tennis with success in German league play and several titles on the ITF Masters Tour.

This is a shorter podcast, but we will be back with the longer format next week.

After the success of our Basel and Vienna predictions, Dennis Timar and I sit down and look at the Paris Masters draw. We also look at the WTA Finals and give some common sense racquet advice. You can't miss it!

For more tennis: https://tennisnerd.net

For racquet advice: https://tennisnerd.mykajabi.com

Nikola Aracic from Intuitive Tennis returns to the podcast to talk about the remaining GOATs (Rafa and Novak), why heavy racquets can be bad for you, why underarm serves are disrespectful and much more.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:35 Rafa’s last rumble, Novak’s superpower and the player’s right to  emotions 34:05 Bublik and disrespectful and pointless shots like the underarm serve. Highlights culture on TennisTV. 58:16 The viewability of tennis, bad angles, shadows, lack of options 1:14:00 What is the white racquet? Nikola’s hunt for strings from the 90s and how his racquet preferences affect his game 1:32:19 Heavy racquets are not for everyone, but for some. Strings and more…

Henrik Wallensten returns to the podcast to discuss the new Blades V9, Strikes, Speeds, tennis shoes, and more. When talking, Henrik is at the Davis Cup match in Helsingborg, Sweden, where he strings for the Swedish team. The first part of the podcast was done a bit impromptu on the run, and the sound of the first part on my end is so-so, but it improves in the second half when I am back in the "studio." 

Karue is a former #33 best junior player in the world, #371 ATP professional, and former UCLA college tennis standout. He co-founded My Tennis HQ and regularly shares his tennis knowledge and experience on his YouTube channel. He is also currently on the team of ATP pro Marcos Giron. In this episode, we talk about his career as a player, coach, and YouTuber. We also get into "tennisnerdy" topics like racquets, strings, and how your equipment can mold your game.

Michelle is familiar with most people who follow the world of tennis gear. She is a play-tester, content creator, and podcaster for Tennis Warehouse. Make sure to check out her podcast, Talk Tennis! This conversation goes from racquets to shoes to wine and many other topics. We hope you like it, please subscribe if you do!

Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast to talk about the new Pro Staffs, his experience with the Radicals, the importance of a good bag, why swing weights are too high, and more. I hope you enjoy this episode...

For more tennis, go to Tennisnerd.net

Henrik Wallensten is a racquet reviewer and tennis reporter for the Swedish Magazine. He is also a stringer for the Swedish Davis Cup team and plays with success on the ITF Masters Tour. Once in a while, we catch up on racquets, strings and tennis in general. This podcast also discusses our recent trip with Adidas to Paris.

Felix has become a well-known figure on the professional tennis circuit by documenting his quest for one ATP point on his YouTube channel, Tennis Brothers. We sit down with him after he has just gotten his first point! But the journey doesn't stop there, of course...

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:45 Combining tennis career with YouTube 12:20 Tennis and money 20:04 Tennis is too old-fashioned in terms of media 27:00 Is UTS the way to go? 29:35 Next steps in Felix’ journey 35:13 Felix’ maturity as a creator and entrepreneur 38:29 The work behind The Road to an ATP Point 42:55 How he dealt with the dark moments, like the injury period and the loss streak. 47:32 The bubble life of tennis 53:46 Felix racquet setup 1:02:35 There are TWO tennis brothers 1:04:16 The grind of the ITF vs the UTR circuit 1:07:54 How can we help lower-ranked players to make a living and also grow the sport? 1:14:48 Tennis has a marketing problem. We need more drama! 1:23:22 The varying conditions on the ITF circuit 1:30:35 Will we see other pros try to copy the Road to ATP format? 1:39:03 Do fans come up to you and ask for autographs? 1:44:57 Did you ever break a racquet? 1:49:26 Calling your own lines in ITF qualifiers

In this episode, I talk to ex-pro and now Promotions Manager for Volkl, Nick Mitchell, about the brand, their racquets, strings, and how tennis as a sport and industry can do better.

I hope you enjoy your conversation and find it worthwhile to subscribe to the pod! Reviews of the latest Volkl equipment are coming up on Tennisnerd.

Support the podcast by joining our members' page on Patreon.

For this episode, I'm joined by tennis enthusiast Dennis Timar. He has played tennis on an advanced level, worked in various roles in the industry, and loves talking tennis and tennis gear.

We start with our US Open predictions, but we also discuss rule changes, tennis racquets, shoes, and a lot more.

I hope you enjoy this episode. We will do more of this if you do.

Cheers / Jonas

Rachel Stuhlmann is a leading tennis influencer with well over 300k followers on Instagram. She played for the Missouri Tigers in college and had a top hundred NCAA ranking. She is now working on multiple projects to develop a stronger interest in the sport. Sadly, we had to record this podcast on Zoom, but the quality will be better for the next podcast!

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 01:00 30 days at home in a year of traveling 04:41 Being a triplet 07:48 How is tennis doing vs pickleball in the US? 12:50 Rachel’s tennis career 16:47 Does tennis bring the right mindset into business life? 18:29 Next steps 21:28 The connection to St Louis 23:10 Managing influencer life

Star coach Rick Macci returns to the podcast to discuss his current coaching projects, the hot topics on the ATP and WTA tours, and much more.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 05:19 What are the key ingredients for a tennis player to make it as a pro? 08:02 A varied game on the WTA Tour 12:14 When should you start addressing the mental game of tennis? 16:08 Hitting and playing is a different sport 18:18 Alcaraz's end of the season 23:02 Djokomination 24:30 The shining starts of American tennis 31:22 Which players can dominate in years to come? 35:11 Rune and Becker 37:26 Coco Gauff 40:54 Pros vs Trolls 44:44 What’s Rick Macci up to? Coaching philosophy and more 55:50 Coaching communication

Mark Sansait is a part-time tennis coach and runs a YouTube channel where he shares his competitive play, string reviews, and more. He is a regular feature of the Real Tennis channel and the Essential Tennis circuit and plays at 5.0 NTRP level. He is known for his explosive (he calls it "toxic") personality on the court, often resulting in humorous outbursts.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:06 Competing in your 30s or 40s

13:34 Setting goals for improving

15:04 Dealing with losses and fast food

19:37 Tennis background

23:30 An Ode to the Battle in Tennis

26:45 Dealing with calling your own lines

36:12 The benefits of filming yourself

44:27 Levels and ratings in tennis

51:25 Time to talk tennis gear

58:07 The pros and cons of being a tennis Youtuber

1:05:15 Toxic on-court personality

1:15:11 Favorite players

I am joined by Diadem co-founder, Evan Spect, to discuss their new Elevate V3, their journey as a company, and the industry as a whole. Check out my review of the new Diadem Elevate V3 on Tennisnerd.net

Eliza Wastcoat is a digital strategist and tennis nerd who creates engaging stories on her Instagram account @itselizasworld. Everything from tournament news, player profiles, trends, and more.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:30 Getting into tennis later in life 06:29 How can tennis attract more people? 11:00 Bringing out tennis personalities and tennis etiquette 29:00 Breakpoint, good or bad? 40:15 Eliza as a commentator? 43:25 The Ultimate Tennis Showdown 52:14 Eliza’s tennis goals 54:05 Does doubles deserve more love? 59:32 Growing up in a sports fan household 1:02:54 From UK to LA 1:12:11 Dealing with Besserwissers on social media 1:22:20 Is the angle the issue?

Dennis Fabian is the Global Business Manager at HEAD, where he works on tennis and pickleball. In this episode, he talks about new strings and racquets, gives tips on how to avoid tennis elbow, categorizes the different racquet lines, and much more.

Liya Davidov is a Digital Programming Coordinator for the Tennis Channel and writes for tennis.com. She used to play college tennis for New Jersey, still follows the sport closely on her social media channels, and has a strong passion for writing in and outside tennis.

Time stamps:

00:00 Introduction to Liya, her work and tennis career 11:05 Doubles is underrated 17:07 Liya’s tennis background 21:45 The difficulty and solitude of competitive tennis 27:08 Pickleball or Padel? 31:47 How much tennis do you watch? And who do you like to watch? 40:48 Tennis is in a good place, but what can we do better? 48:52 Liya’s tennis schedule for 2024

Tony Wright is a USTPA Elite professional and a teaching pro at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. He runs the brand Balanced Tennis, where his interesting and often humorous clips using film references caught my and many other followers eyes. It turns out he is also a really nice guy and an interesting chat. In this podcast we get into anything from coaching headaches, to the life of being media on the tours and, as well, lots of gear.

00:00 Intro 03:34 Starting tennis late 07:59 Coaching kids vs seniors 16:17 Typical issues among rec players 17:45 Common injuries and racquet choices 22:27 Control racquet over power racquet to improve 25:56 Dealing with injuries 34:34 From creative writing to tennis 40:33 Being a self-taught tennis nerd 44:20 Are there pickleball wars in Newport? 52:37 The state of US tennis 1:00:18 Breakpoint vs ITF Futures 1:09:14 Going behind the scenes 1:19:18 Tony’s racquet(s) of choice 1:25:14 Playing tournaments 1:30:32 Tennis apparel and shoes 1:51:35 Selling tennis as a sport

It's time for another Racquet Talk with Tennisnerd contributor, racquet tester, and hockey enthusiast Henrik Wallensten. We talk about a wide variety of racquets while Henrik is stringing his HEAD Ti.S6!

We hope you like it!

Dennis Timar and I sit down to talk about the first week at the US Open. We cover surprising results, our future predictions, what they wear and some racquet stuff...

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net  🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd  🙏Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd  💌Instagram: https://instagram.com/tennisnerdinsta

Chris Edwards is the Director of Web Content for Tennis Warehouse and a play-testing legend on the team. This is his second time on the podcast. We get into his recent switch to the Prestige Classic 2.0.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro and recent switch to Prestige Classic

09:46 Summarizing 2023

25:13 The importance of details

34:52 String choices

40:14 Looking towards 2024

45:58 Should you get a difficult or easy racquet to help you improve?

49:02 Good racquets for the one-handed backhand

54:33 Favorite shoes

56:40 Favorite strings

1:08:57 Dampener or no dampener

Dennis and I look at the draw and talk about our predictions for the year's first slam! Who do you think will win?

Join the conversation: https://tennisnerd.net/odds/australian-open-2023-draw-predictions/28553

Dennis and I sit down in the aftermath of Nadal's defeat to Tiafoe and discuss who the new world number one will be (Nadal, Ruud, and Alcaraz are all possible outcomes). We give our predictions of the remaining matches and discuss a rumor that Kyrgios will retire if he wins the US Open.

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net 🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd 🙏Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd 💌Instagram: https://instagram.com/tennisnerdinsta

For this episode, I am joined by Will Hamilton, one of the co-founders of Fuzzy Yellow Balls. He was one of the first tennis content creators on YouTube and has since created and sold loads of instructional tennis content with stars like the Bryan Brothers and Martina Navratilova. This podcast went all over the place, from YouTube CPM levels to why Alcaraz's drop shot strategy should be copied (according to data). 

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.

Dennis and I summarize the Australian Open 2023 and congratulate the two singles champions, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. What does this mean for the rest of the year?

More tennis here Support Tennisnerd

Tennis balls have been in the spotlight lately, with multiple complaints about quality and consistency from pro tennis players. Why is this happening, what has been done to improve the situation, and what can be done in the future? Mauro Pinaffo is HEAD's Senior Global Product Manager for Tennis and Padel balls and gives us all the answers and some interesting stats and details about tennis balls you might not know.

Federer's retirement news rocked the tennis world. Dennis Timar and I talk about that and the ongoing and upcoming team tournaments, Davis Cup and Laver Cup. We hope you like the conversation, please check out other Tennisnerd outlets below.

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net 🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd 🙏Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd 💌Instagram: https://instagram.com/tennisnerdinsta

Karue Sell is back on tour and on the Tennisnerd podcast for the third time. We talk about his return to pro tennis, life on tour, travel, what the ATP can do better, and, of course, his new racquet. You should check out his excellent YouTube channel My Tennis HQ, which gives some excellent coaching advice and other exciting content like match play footage from Karue and more.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 01:40 How important is fitness to your success on the court? 10:05 Scheduling and planning as a tennis pro 18:10 The travelling is… 23:25 Capturing the essence of tour matches on camera 37:30 Hey ATP, we don’t like highlights 47:40 When is it time to bring a coach on tour?  56:52 Tennis is MMA with a ball 1:05:05 Everyone knows the choke! Mental tennis 1:15:53 Accepting your tennis journey 1:20:45 Using content creators to drive engagement for pro tennis 1:28:05 Karue’s new racquet

Philip Fama is a coach, player and content creator with his brand called Tweenerhead. He reached out and wanted to discuss the tennis ball problem, and I thought, why not do it as a full podcast and also talk about other thing about tennis? We had a great conversation, and Phil's passion for the sport we all love truly shines through. This is what the podcast is about, our love for tennis and how we make it stronger as a sport.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 01:02 The tennis ball issue 11:11 Tennis is a gear-driven game, for better or worse 16:04 The best tennis balls 26:08 What changed tennis 32:14 A demanding sport for new players, hence…new racquet sports! 38:13 Is Tennis doing well? 43:58 Working in a tennis shop 46:48 Back to competitive play 57:06 The sometimes sad grind of the tennis tours

If you watch tennis gear reviews, I am sure you are familiar with Chris Edwards and his team. He has worked on content for Tennis Warehouse products for over 20 years. We met in Kennelbach, but didn't have time to sit down for a recorded interview. But we managed to do a longer one over Zoom. I hope you like it!

We cover the review process, racquet history, play-testing and many other topics!

Grigory "Grisha" Kuklin is an aspiring pro player and content creator with his brand name Gladiators Tennis. He has been a hitting partner to top pros like Medvedev and Rublev and documents his journey on the ITF Tour on his YouTube channel. He is refreshingly honest and energetic, and we had a lot of fun in this hour of conversation.

I sit down with my friend, ex-pro, and stringer, Nikki Roenn. We talk about the conditions for stringers and his recent experiences stringing at tour events.

This is a special episode with the Laver Cup 2022 stringing team joining me on the Tennisnerd podcast to talk about their experience and how it was to string for the BIG 4! If you're in any way curious about stringing, this is a podcast for you. Thanks to Dennis Fabian and his team for setting this up and joining the podcast again.

Team members:

Richard Parnell Huw Phillips Martin Mann Edwin Gruijs Mauro Pinaffo

Want to start stringing? Check out the GRSA: https://grsa-international.com

Dennis and I summarize the ATP Finals and discuss the upcoming Davis Cup in this week's episode of the Tennisnerd podcast. We, of course, also get into racquets, strings, and stringing as well...

More tennis: https://tennisnerd.net

Find your perfect racquet: https://tennisnerd.mykajabi.com

Dylan Gee is a London-based tennis coach who has built a strong following with the Instagram account @tenniswithdylan. He used to play professional tennis and is now mixing tennis coaching with sports modeling and influencer engagements. We talk about his passion for coaching, meeting Alcaraz, the rise of Chinese tennis, and much more.

Thomas Alm is a Swedish coach with 25 years of experience coaching professional tennis players. He can be called the David Goggins of tennis, as he is an ultra-marathon runner and is all about going all-in. Professional tennis is all about winning after all.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:27 What’s up in your life? 02:55 The importance of personal chemistry between player and coach 05:51 Tennis coaching culture and finances 11:49 What went wrong with Swedish tennis? 18:42 The money on the pro tour 24:24 Physical vs Mental coaching 32:06 Celebrity coaching and other approaches 43:24 Making technical changes as a pro 47:24 Dealing with losses 53:24 The importance of data in tennis 1:01:10 Are people softer today? 1:06:18 Passion for running

Tennis enthusiast Dennis Timar joins me to discuss how we can save tennis and we also break down the US Open draw. We venture down many rabbit holes in this 90-minute conversation, but that's what happens when you get two tennis nerds to talk about the sport they love...

We hope you like it! If you want to get straight to the US Open predictions, fast forward 30 minutes into the episode :)

Juan is the co-founder of Restring, a company developing tennis strings with a focus on sustainability, durability and snapback. Their first string, Restring Zero, has garnered lots of praise and we sat down to talk about the journey with Restring, developing strings, being a hitting partner to the pros and much more. As always, video episode on YouTube and more tennis on tennisnerd.net

Get 10% off Restring Zero here: https://shoprestring.com/?ref=tennisnerd

Dennis Fabian is back on the podcast. This time we talk about a new exciting string from HEAD.

Review and demo samples of the string to come, so please subscribe!

Lost in the racquet jungle? Get 50% off on my course, The Road to the Right Racquet: https://tennisnerd.mykajabi.com/offers/bKcnKLeh

More tennis gear stuff: https://tennisnerd.net

Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd

The new Babolat Pure Aero is here (read more on Tennisnerd.net or my YouTube channel) and there are plenty of hype and questions about the new racquet. Henrik, a racquet expert, strong player and Davis Cup stringer, and I sit down to discuss our thoughts about this new frame.

Dennis Timar joins me on the podcast for our weekly chat about the ATP, WTA, and everything beyond. We get onto a string tangent that might be interesting to you with a history of tennis elbow. We also discuss the bandwagon of young players rocking the tour: Musetti, Rune, Felix, etc.

If you like to hear two tennis nerds talk tennis, this podcast is for you.

Website: https://tennisnerd.net

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, and what tennis organizations can do better to improve the situation for aspiring professional players.

It's the off-season, so Dennis and I sit down to talk about our racquet history, pro-player racquets, and more.

If you want to know more about tennis racquets go to https://tennisnerd.net

Allen is an Australian tennis enthusiast and the creator of the YouTube channel AC Tennis. His channel focuses on in-depth racquet reviews and comparisons. He’s been playing tennis since he was 5 years old and loves everything related to tennis gear.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:45 The Happy Slam 07:25 Allen’s tennis schedule 11:16 How did you improve? 15:43 The racquet review process 19:51 How good is the new Blade V9? 34:23 Match racquets 56:19 Swing weights and quality control 1:05:50 Blade V9 vs the World of 98s 1:13:09 Racquet brands, updates and cosmetics 1:20:42 Tennis ball problems 1:26:43 The weirdness of pro racquets 1:36:24 The one-hander and the future of tennis

I am joined by Christopher Clarey, a sports journalist who spent over 30 years at the New York Times and did many personal interviews with Roger Federer. This prompted him to write the Federer biography, "The Master", which has become a bestseller. Now he is working on a book about Rafa Nadal and has recently left the Times and started a Substack. We talk about his work, tennis, media, and even get into racquets.

Check out The Master: https://amzn.to/3CRhfMU Christopher's newsletter: https://substack.com/@christopherclarey

Craig Shapiro is a bit of a media icon on the tennis scene. He has been around the tour since the 90s when he traveled as Andre Agassi’s personal racquet tech. He runs an excellent podcast. 

He has just returned to New York from the Sunshine Double, so we are going to talk about his experiences there, his career in tennis and much more.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 01:00 How much tennis do you watch? 03:52 How is tennis doing as a sport? 14:31 The origin story 23:14 The Craig Shapiro Podcast 30:23 Interviewing pro tennis players can be tricky 37:05 Summarizing the Sunshine double and looking forward to the clay 54:38 Rafa’s return and clay rulership 1:01:17 Tennis elbow 1:08:07 The State of Tennis

Dennis Timar and I summarize the Laver Cup and discuss the importance of teams in tennis. Teams both meaning team tennis and your team as a pro player, manager, coach, physio, and so on. As always, we get sidetracked onto other topics, like is it a Big 4 or a Big 3?

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net 🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd 🙏Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd 💌Instagram: https://instagram.com/tennisnerdinsta

If you want to support Tennisnerd, please consider buying something from one of our affiliates:

🎾 Tennis Warehouse: https://www.tennis-warehouse.com/?from=tennerd 🎾 Tennis Warehouse Europe: https://tenniswarehouse-europe.com/?from=tennerd 🎾 Tennis Only: https://www.tennisonly.com.au/?from=tennerd 🎾 Free 14-day trial with TopCourt: https://www.topcourt.com/n/TENNIS-CQ733D3PMO 🎾 Nordic Dots: https://nordicdots.com/?sca_ref=2294421.U8sI1PoRcX 🎾 Gravity Belt 2.0: https://reynoldsresistance.com/?ref=tennisnerd10 🎾 Grapplesnake strings 10% off: https://invi.tt/IOLK 🎾 Learn stringing & customization https://courses.unstrungcustoms.com/?ref=c77347 🎾 Try Swingvision! https://swing.tennis/r/tennisnerd 🎾 TopSpin Pro: https://topspinpro.com/ref/tennisnerd/ 🎾 Flexbar https://amzn.to/2YfKbtr 🎾 Tennis fitness courses https://www.memberstennisfitness.com/tennis-nerd

Eliza returns to the pod! She is a digital strategist who comments on the tennis world on the rapidly growing account @Itselizasworld. 

She now also has a YouTube channel called Liza West.

Today, we will get into the ongoing Australian Open, tennis fashion and branding, and the bigger picture of what is happening in the tennis world.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 02:53 Australian Open moments so far 10:59 Ostapenko serving burgers 16:50 Exciting fresh faces in the draw 19:03 Sabalenka heading to the title? 23:06 What is Nike doing these days? 26:55 Not being able to buy the endorsed outfits 30:45 “Full-kit wankers” and rocking your on-court personality 36:36 Protecting your brand (IGA and LEGO) 43:10 Yonex and other colorful tennis kits 50:24 Balls at the AO 53:00 Sakkari in Grand Slams 55:38 The “glamour” of pro tennis life 58:31 Does Adrian Mannarino have a clothing sponsor? 1:02:35 The best-looking men’s kit 1:05:15 The future of Andy Murray 1:12:36 The bothers of Berrettini 1:16:40 The Men’s tournament 1:27:36 Zverev allegations 1:41:55 What is happening in Eliza’s world? 1:43:45 The Cancun disaster and the WTA

The season has started, and Dennis and I are back discussing the latest on the tennis scene. Brands, racquets, players, results, predictions, looks, nothing is off-limits on the Tennisnerd podcast. We hope you enjoy it!

Immerse yourself in the Tennisnerd universe at https://tennisnerd.net

Racquet tester and Swedish Davis Cup stringer Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast. In this episode, we break down 2023 regarding gear and discuss all the racquets, strings, and balls we tested during the year. We also look forward to 2024 and reflect on the reluctance of several racquet brands to send demos for review.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 04:06 From wooden racquets to… 09:00 Racquet releases in 2024, but no demos? 14:44 The beauty of the Blade 100 18:21 Wilson Shift - a new line 23:13 The Aero Rafa racquets 28:12 HEAD Radical 32:30 Yonex VCORE 35:30 Yonex PERCEPT 39:57 HEAD Prestige Auxetic 2 and Gravity 47:54 Wilson Pro Staff V14 52:33 Babolat Pure Drive 98 56:53 STIGA Supreme 1:02:00 Diadem Elevate V3 1:05:13 Strings 1:10:44 Shoes 1:21:44 Balls 1:28:09 Upcoming racquet experiments

Luca Berg from the YouTube channel Rackets&Runners joined me on the podcast to talk about gear. His detailed and organized racquet reviews for tennis and pickleball are rapidly growing his fanbase. We had a great conversation about gear and the world beyond.

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.

Nikola Aracic is one the most popular online tennis coaches in the world with his brand Intuitive Tennis. He is refreshingly honest and straightforward and has become one of my favorite people in the world to talk about tennis with. This is his third time on the podcast and we get into various topics as highlighted in the timestamps below.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 00:46 What it requires to improve in tennis 19:05 Mental vs Technical skills 31:14 Coming to the court with different racquets 38:30 Racquets, racquets, racquets 1:14:11 Rafa’s return and sports legend’s desire to compete 1:29:16 Australian Open predictions 1:40:04 Technical improvements on the pro tour 1:54:19 Intuitive Tennis in 2024 2:01:00 Weird Swedish forehands 2:04:31 Kyrgios and lack of respect for the past 2:13:45 Is tennis in danger? How can we better market the sport?

Dr. Nivedita Uberoi Jerath and legendary coach Rick Macci are here to talk about mental tennis, mental health, motivation, and their new book, Billion Dollar Mind: A Practical Guide to the Game of Life. In this episode, we cover plenty of topics on and off the court related to how you can strengthen your mind. You will find plenty of powerful wisdom nuggets in this one.

Check it out Billion Dollar Mind on Amazon

Time stamps

00:00 Intro and Billion Dollar Mind 03:46 How Rick and Nivedita met 09:13 Healthy mind, healthy life 21:40 Building positive habits 25:55 The mental diet 31:56 Reversing a negative trend 40:40 Finding YOUR motivation 44:25 Improving your presence 50:34 The importance of role models 58:20 Where to get the Billion Dollar Mind 59:28 What did you learn from the process of writing the book?

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. 

Michael Joyce reached a career-high of ATP #64 and transitioned to a very successful coaching career. He worked with Sharapova for 7 years before her retirement and coached players like Pegula, Azarenka and Keys. Now, he works with American WTA-talent Ashlyn Krueger.

Michael is also one of the featured coaches in Coachlife, a new platform focused for players of all levels to improve their tennis. Get 10% off using TENNISNERD10.

Experienced Davis Cup string and racquet play-tester Henrik Wallensten is back on the podcast to discuss his latest bouts of racquet madness. If you are lost in the racquet jungle, this episode might make you feel less alone...

The Sportbot is a moving tennis ball machine developed by engineer and tennis player Toni Ulcar in Slovenia.

My friend Henrik Wallensten alerted me about this moving ball machine and sent me a video. That got me curious, so I got in touch with Toni and asked him if he wanted to do a podcast about his invention. And today, the podcast is live, and you can hear Toni talk about the Sportbot, the origin story, what makes it different, and more.

Sportbot is today launching limited pre-orders for delivery in Summer 2023. You can only order via their website. The early-bird price of the Sportbot is €3550, but you only pay a 10% deposit now. The pre-order period is between October 1st to October 11th, 2022.

Dr. Zach Thomas has built a significant following on social media as "Foot Doctor Zach," where he tests tennis and basketball shoes. Dr. Zach is a board-certified Podiatrist and Foot and Ankle Surgeon. In this podcast, we talk about his favorite tennis shoes, things to look for in finding the right shoe, and why pros rarely upgrade their shoes.

Dennis and I talk about Next Gen Finals, ATP Finals,  new racquets, and Ben Shelton's shoes. We hope you like it! Please subscribe to the podcast on your favorite pod platform and tell your tennis friends about it :)

More tennis on Tennisnerd.net  Find your perfect racquet here.

Evan Gaudreau is a former D1 college player and coach who has developed a quite unique way of looking at tennis. We have talked about his box system and patterns of play in several podcasts before this one, but now he has put his thoughts down into a book called Shell Game. Check it out on Amazon.

In this episode, I’m joined by Ashley Neaves, also known as “The Tennis Mentor.” Ashley is an award-winning coach who works with everyone from kids to recreational to high-level competition players. He creates content on social media and recently released a course with Liam Broady’s coach, David Sammel, called Bulletproof at the Baseline.

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 01:56 Hanging out with the pros in 2023 04:03 Testing racquets on a smart court 06:17 Tennis is exciting. How do we market it better? 13:07 Working with Felix Mischker, Tennis Brothers 17:49 How to get new players to enjoy tennis 25:51 The Four Pillars of Tennis 31:00 The tennis nerd gets a great tip 39:24 Playing competitions 44:55 Ashley’s talented tennis brothers 50:18 What is Bulletproof at the Baseline? 53:52 Your journey with YouTube 59:10 Plans for 2024

This episode is a little different. Phil interviews me from Tweener Head, a tennis youtuber who you should check out. This is the video version of this interview on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36XxBOITCEQ

I hope you enjoy this podcast episode! And don't forget to play some tennis...

Dennis Timar is back on the podcast after a week's break. We look at what happened with a non-pro defeating Jack Sock, Medvedev returning to winning ways, and Swiatek serving bagels left and right. We also believe some players should focus more on doubles...

Today, it is something for you gearheads. Beckett Chung is a fellow tennis nerd reviewing racquets and talking about gear-related topics on his channel Tenncom. He is very knowledgeable, so check it out!

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 01:27 Tennis in Canada 03:00 Beckett’s gear journey 08:50 The quality control conundrum 13:43 Our spec range and racquets 21:01 Testing products you don’t enjoy 29:21 Grail racquets and Federer’s personal frame 35:30 Talking to the racquet brands 42:50 Older racquets vs new 50:34 What racquet feels the best right now? 55:14 The right racquet for the right style 1:02:06 Understanding your specs 1:09:30 Next-level nerdiness 1:15:25 The curse of being a play-tester 1:18:56 Surprising racquets 1:24:09 A Tennisnerd signature racquet

Gear tester Henrik Wallensten joins me again on the podcast to discuss his latest batch of test racquets, balls, shoes, and strings. Henrik has contributed reviews to Tennisnerd, the Swedish Tennis Magazine, and strings for the Swedish Davis Cup team. He also likes pizza.

In this episode, Dennis and I discuss Alcaraz's victory in the US Open and what it might mean for the future of tennis. We get into marketing, current trends in the tennis industry, brands to watch and lots more.

For more Tennisnerdy stuff:

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net

🎥YouTube: https://youtube.com/tennisnerd

🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd 

🙏Support Tennisnerd: https://tennisnerd.net/support-tennisnerd

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Coach Karl Adrian joins me to go through the US Open draw. "Adri" has been in several Tennisnerd videos, is now on the ATP player Roman Safiullin team, and runs the Tennis Valley Academy in Estepona, Spain. In this episode, we look at the men's and the women's draws and make predictions.

I sit down with Troy Lara, one of the long-timers at Tennis Warehouse and an integral part of their play-testing and content team. We talk about how he started at TW, his racquet history and compare our thoughts on recent releases.

Gill Gross is a broadcaster for Tennis Channel, US Open Radio, Cracked Racquets, and UC San Diego. He runs his own YouTube channel where he deep-dives into tennis matches with his Monday Match Analysis. We had a long and in-depth chat about tennis and media, storytelling in tennis, the importance of your coaching team, and predictions about players like Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime, Tsitsipas, Kyrgios, Djokovic, and Nadal.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 01:16 Gill’s background as a journalist and tennis player 08:35 Keeping up with the tennis world is not easy! 16:10 Putting coaches into the spotlight to sell the sport 26:25 The match is a story, commentating on live tennis 40:44 The importance of focus and coach consistency 58:12 Auger-Aliassime’s 2023 and future 1:07:09 Tsitsipas 2023 and future 1:14:23 The importance of the team and routines 1:22:41 Nick Kyrgios 2023 and future 1:29:41 Players vs social media 1:47:58 Alcaraz in 2024 1:54:39 Novak in 2024 1:58:26 Rafa and US tennis in 2024

Simon Freund is a professional tennis player and content creator. He details his journey on the Futures tour on his channel and has a growing audience. He is now sponsored by STIGA, who has just entered the racquet space. We talk about his career as a player and a content creator but also about improvements to tennis, the lack of prize money, and much more.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 01:39 Does doubles deserve more love? 03:24 Conditions on the Futures tour 05:35 The ball debate and always adjusting 10:12 Planning tour travel 13:30 Switching to a new STIGA racquet  22:00 Being a pro player and YouTuber 26:45 Tennis has a marketing problem 33:51 The prize money is… 44:27 Players need more support 58:55 Dealing with injuries and defeats 1:09:18 Coach or coordinator? 1:15:15 How Simon got into tennis 1:19:35 Ending the season on a positive 1:26:03 Nutrition

Meike Babel is a former WTA top 30 player who now works as a coach and is building a strong online following. She is refreshingly open and honest, and we had a great conversation, which I hope you all will enjoy! If you do, please subscribe to the podcast.

Dennis Timar is back on the pod, and as usual, we go all over the place. From congratulating Fritz on his top 10 debut, to who is playing in the Next Gen finals and why we need to see more players attacking the net.

Are there any topics or guests you want to hear on the Tennisnerd podcast? Please reach out: https://tennisnerd.net/contact-us

If you're struggling to find the right racquet setup for your game, check out my online course: The Road to the Right Racquet: https://tennisnerd.mykajabi.com/offers/zNTFMrbg

Thanks for listening!

Karue Sell is an ex-pro player who still competes at a high level on the UTR circuit. He is on the Marcos Giron coaching team and runs MyTennisHQ, a popular website and YouTube channel.  He has now released a coaching platform with his friend, ex-pro player Klay Thompson called MPROOV. We talked about how YouTubers hurt your tennis, the experience of playing table tennis with Roger Federer, and much more! Video episode on YouTube.

In this episode, Dennis Timar and I talk about money, sponsorships, and brands in tennis. We hope you like it!

More tennis: https://tennisnerd.net

Eric Lee is the co-founder of the hyped-up string brand Toroline. He used to play D1 college tennis and started the company alongside other strong tennis players to challenge the string market with softer, more colorful string options. They have been on a strong path in 2023/2024 with the success of pro player/content creator Karue Sell and their custom poly hybrid venture called Omakase. In this episode, we talk about their journey, racquet nerding, the string market, and the jungle of options for the consumer.

Have you been watching the action down under? It's been great so far! In this episode of the podcast, Dennis and I get into the major stories. How bad is Djoker's injury? How are Dunlop so good at picking sponsorships for 2023? Can Andy Murray win his 4th Grand Slam title? And much more, of course!

Please subscribe to the podcast if you like it. Much appreciated.

And dive into the tennis universe at Tennisnerd.net

In this podcast episode, I sit down with Brett Bothwell, who has created his own brand of suspension racquets called Bolt. You can check out my review on Tennisnerd.net and my YouTube channel. We have an interesting conversation about Bolt, the racquet industry and challenges facing tennis. If you find this podcast engaging, please consider subscribing and sharing it with your friends.

Davor Dekaris is a tennis director of Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington, Louisiana. He is an ex-pro player turned tennis coach who has had significant success with his brand Tennis Haus. We talk about everything from professional tennis life, to coaching club players, the state of tennis, and content creation.

ATP and WTA babies are being born while coaches are being fired. It's the cycle of the tennis tours. Dennis Timar and I also get into why they should abolish the backhand from the sport and why we all need to work on our serves instead.

It's all over the place, but good fun. We hope you like it too! Any feedback is welcome here: https://tennisnerd.net/podcasts-and-interview/introducing-the-tennisnerd-podcast/21064

The Road to the Right Racquet: https://tennisnerd.mykajabi.com

🤓Website: https://tennisnerd.net 🛑Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tennisnerd 💌Instagram: https://instagram.com/tennisnerdinsta

Cameron Price is an aspiring professional tennis player and a coach at the Delgado & Lee Pro Tennis Academy. After having heart problems in October 2022, he is back to playing tennis, coaching, and competing in tournaments. While away from the sport, he promised himself that when he could play again, he would document his tennis journey and share everything he learned. Now, you can learn about Cameron's pro journey on his YouTube channel.

Cameron has built a Notion template for ambitious tennis players, which you can find at tennisplayeros.com

Time stamps

00:00 Intro 00:28 Documenting the pro journey 04:14 Strengths and weaknesses as a player 07:30 Coaching vs Playing 17:30 Health and tennis 20:16 Being a “Youtuber” 27:33 Racquet and strings 33:05 From gear to mental performance 42:21 Tennis personalities and the story of a match 46:41 Serve bots and the contrasting surfaces 51:23 Heart problems leading to self-reflection 58:40 Screen time and social media

Thanks, Mehrban, for having me on your podcast Tennis Files and asking some great questions about racquets and strings! Make sure to check out the Tennis Files on your favorite podcast platform.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro 01:13 Jonas’ First Racquet 02:42 How do you find your ideal racquet? Step 1 05:26 Recording yourself 07:33 Typical mistakes 10:42 How do you find your ideal racquet? Step 2 12:47 How to demo a tennis racquet 18:18 Narrowing down your selection 20:45 Buying and selling racquets 27:47 How many racquets do you have? 29:30 Where to go from the Pure Aero VS 2017 37:51 What about the Shift? 40:05 String sensitivity and honeymooning 42:28 Comfort-oriented racquets 45:36 Dunlop SX 300 47:17 Making a racquet less dampened 49:26 Racquet updates in 2024 54:47 Top 3 control racquets 56:36 The top power racquets 1:00:31 Balance points 1:03:36 Strings 1:10:31 Solinco Hyper-G 1:13:11 The Tennisnerd Podcast 1:15:28 The most under-rated racquet brand

In this episode, I sit down with Dennis Timar to discuss Rune's Paris Masters victory, why there were no crowds at the WTA Finals in Texas, and if pickleball and padel are killing tennis. We hope you like our banter. If you do, please subscribe on your podcast platform.

For more tennis: tennisnerd.net

Check us out on YouTube: youtube.com/tennisnerd

Find your perfect racquet

I have been a fan of the AI-driven software Swingvision since I first tried it in 2021. Apple has featured it in its famous Keynote speeches, named it "App of the Day," and given it an Apple design award. Ex-pros Andy Roddick and James Blake have been early investors, and there are also backers like Jason Liu from Strava and Albert Lee from MyFitnessPal.

I was excited to sit down with Swupnil Sahai, the CEO and co-founder, to discuss Swingvision's journey so far and its future.

Sarah Koudouzian is a bestselling author and fitness entrepreneur. She was once a high-ranked aspiring pro, but a nasty injury crushed her tennis dreams, and she had to find herself outside the tennis court. In this podcast, we talk about her journey outside tennis and how she found the sport again when she needed it most.

You can check out her book here: https://amzn.to/3rCh3P7 And her Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahkoudouzian

You might have seen Alex’s engaging videos on Instagram, where he creates wide-reaching content about tennis. He also worked for 13 years in community engagement for the USTA and has been a certified PTR Coach since 2010, working with beginners and intermediate players. As far as tennis nerding goes, he has 16 years of stringing experience.

We get into his work on the grassroots level of US tennis and how to get more people to enjoy the sport we all love.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro and Alex’s background in tennis 05:26 Making tennis more accessible 11:23 Working with brands as a content creator 24:15 Watching tennis is connected to the player - Alex and Rafa 31:30 Tennis is doing well 35:58 Racquet talk 44:01 Social media addiction 52:37 Day job and grassroots 59:11 Tips to find more partners to play tennis with 1:03:51 How Alex stands out in the social media world

One of your favorite podcast guests, Nikola Aracic, from Intuitive Tennis, is back on the pod! This was a marathon one. Sadly, there were some audio/video sync issues, so the video version covers around 50% of the topics discussed here. But the audio should give you PLENTY of interesting topics to dive into. I hope you like it!

Timestamps:

00:00 We are tennis nerds  10:00 Tennis is a confidence game 15:54 Playing an ATP pro as an amateur 19:00 Different levels of tennis 35:00 The excitement and pain of competition 47:28 The battle against yourself 1:25:00 Over-the-top celebrations 1:56:48 Gear-talk 2:32:30 How to get more out of Nikola’s coaching

We summarize the Davis Cup Finals and discuss the future of tennis. How can we improve the engagement and excitement around our beautiful sport?

More tennis: https://tennisnerd.net

Support Tennisnerd: https://patreon.com/tennisnerd

Racquet help: https://tennisnerd.net/help