The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

Reilly Opelka joined me Saturday morning from New York City, on the back end of a week where he was referenced in a New Yorker Magazine article regarding his stance on eliminating doubles as we know it. We discussed this, as well as his often controversial perspectives and comments on the state of the sport. Suffice to say Reilly pulled no punches. Recorded 3.19 Released 3.20The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora

This past Saturday Brad Gilbert joined me for a practice and Q&A Breakfast at the Malibu Racquet Club where he drilled 15 of my players and then we had a tremendous Q&A that I moderated. We talked a lot about coaching, getting better, and then all the nitty gritty about pro tennis. We recorded the chat and here it is for your listening pleasure. Please excuse the shaky audio quality. Recorded 3.4 Released 3.9The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By Diadora

Roscoe Tanner has had a singular life to say the least.Armed with a carbonated left arm and a quick toss explosive style cannon of a serve serve he won the Australian Open in 1977, and in 1979 he reached the finals of Wimbledon, losing a tough five setter to Bjorn Borg, which marked the beginning of NBC's Wimbledon coverage.He go to 4 in the world. In 1992 he was imprisoned in Germany and extradited to the United States where he would spend the better part of 20 years in and out of trouble, mostly for alimony, paternity, and as a result- various forgeries.We discussed it all.RecordedThe Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora

Dmitry Tursunov joined me from his hotel in Abu Dhabi where he is coaching world #9 Belinda Bencic on their day off before their quarterfinal match vs Shelby Rogers. We had a lengthy chat and discussed all of his players-past and present in length. Karatsev, Vesnina, Sabalenka, Konteveit, Raducanu, and now Bencic. He talked about Sabalenka and their breakup, as well as the work he did with Raducanu. He talked about why he feels that Rybakina and Sabalenka are now an entire level above the rest of the players and what his player needs to do to beat them. He discussed what he is trying to implement with Belinda to help her improve. Dmitry discussed his life in tennis and talked about how his dad was extremely intense. He explained how his pro career has progressed into this coaching career, and how he is extremely conditioned to be on tour. The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora Recorded 2.8 Released 2.10

26 major titles, 67 tournament wins, 5 Davis Cup titles, World #1 in 1967, the great Australian John Newcombe joined me from the roof of Rod Laver Arena and it was a tremendous thrill. In the 60s and 70s John first served and volleyed his way to tennis fame, and with his signature moustache became one of the most famous people in the world. We talked in length about the modern day Australian Open, the current state of Australian tennis including his thoughts on Tomic, Kokkinakis, and Kygrios. We talked about the plight of The Davis Cup, and he regaled me with stories of his time on tour, including his win at Wimbledon in 1970, beating Rosewall in 5 sets. Recorded 1.23 Released 1.26The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered by Diadora @cshaptennispod on Instagram @shaptennispod on Twitter

Former World #15 and Australia Davis Cup Captain Wally Masur and I chatted on the middle Saturday of The Australian Open on the roof of Rod Laver Arena. We discussed the tournament, the draws, Seb Korda, Andy Murray, the late nights and the hard fights, and how important The Davis Cup is and how it has been bastardized. We discussed his career and his perspectives on the modern game. We talked about his Emrik racquet and how he was amongst the fittest to play in his heyday. He told me a great story about what a man Michael Stich is. Recorded 1.21 Released 1.23The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora

Born and raised in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England, John Lloyd has lived a legendary tennis life. We discussed what his junior career was like, how he came up with Borg and Vitas, and how he knew he could be a pro from the time he was 16. He was a fixture on tour through the late 70s thru the mid 80s. He reached the finals of the 1979 Australian Open, becoming the first Englishman since Fred Perry to reach the final of a major. He got to 21 in the world in 1978.He talked in length about what life on tour was in the 70s and 80s and he talked about his marriage to Chris Evert, and how they started dating during Wimbledon. He told an amazing story about what it was like to be around her at the height of her career. We discussed the Raducanu coaching carrousel, his thoughts on Jack Draper, his good feelings about British tennis.The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by DiadoraRecorded 1.3 Released 1.10

The legendary Ivan Lendl joined me for the inaugural Practice and Breakfast Series, where he coached 11 players on 2 separate courts, and then we had a free flowing organic hour Q and A . We discussed his life in the juniors, particularly the Orange Bowl and how it was the most important tournament in junior tennis. He talked about why cheating wasn't prevalent when he was a junior, and how the Spanish, French, Italians, and Aussies are retaining their elite pros to work with their country's respective juniors. He then talked in length about his upcoming Australian campaign with Andy Murray, and how he believes Andy is ready to go. He discussed the misconception of American Men's tennis being on a downtick . He talked Zverev, and how the young players are going to win majors. Recorded Dec 17 at The Royal Palm Tennis Club, Released Dec 25The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered by Sergio TacchiniDiadora is the official Shoe of the show.

38 year old Rajeev Ram became the #1 doubles player in the world in October, the culmination of a tremendous career He collected a national championship in 2003 at The University of Illinois where they went undefeated, and got to 56 in the world in 2016. We discussed his career in length, including how he copied Pete Sampras strokes and how it hurt him. We talked in detail about being left off of this year's Davis Cup Team despite being the highest ranked doubles player in the world. Recorded 12.19 Released 12.21Diadora is the official shoe of the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast