Tennisnerd - Where we bond over tennis

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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." 

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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?