The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

Natalie Dechy was born in Guadalupe, grew up in France, got to 11 in then world in 2006 and was a top 20 player for the better part of the 2000s, and along with Amelie Mauresmo was a prominent cog in the French tennis machine. She won the US Open doubles twice and is now an executive with the French Tennis Federation, and she was fascinating to talk with, as Natalie joined me in the media lounge at Wimbledon just a couple days ago. Recorded July 6 Released July 8

Good Day My Friends and welcome to the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, todays show is brought to you by Golden Ticket Tennis, the experiential tennis events company. This past December The Golden Ticket hosted a fantasy camp featuring the opportunity to play on The Madison Square Garden Floor with Carlos Alcaraz, a holiday party at the singular Sheats Goldstein Residence in Beverly Hills, and just hosted 16 people in Rome for a series of dinners, exclusive practices, and courtside seats to The Italian Open. See them at goldentickettennis.com and our Instagram page @Goldentickettennis  Today’s guest grew up in Pilsen Czecoslovakia, and over the course of his 15 year career he won 10 tournaments and got to 11 in the world posting wins over Mats Wilander, Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker to name a few.In doubles he won a staggering 54 tournaments and in 1980 with Ivan Lendl won the Davis Cup defeating Argentine in the semis and Italy in the finals. The great c player Tomas Smid is todays guest  Huge thank you to Tomas Smid and thank you to The Golden Ticket. Be on the lookout for their full slate of super cool tennis programming for the connoisseur.

Patrick McEnroe took a break from packing for Wimbledon and joined me for 40 minutes and we discussed all of the hot button topics in tennis and how they pertain to Wimbledon. We talked Alcaraz Sinner top to bottom, Coco Gauff top to bottom and the brutal conditions during the women's final. We discussed this evolution of tennis and what it means for the field. Patrick discussed modern technique and how that pertains to the child development. We talked plainly about legalized coaching and it was an interesting chat. Patrick declared "The Saudis are Coming" and shared his perspectives on that controversial subject matter. We dug deep and Patrick shared some interesting anecdotes, conversations and observations that we haven't heard before. Recorded and Released 6.25The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered By The Golden Ticket

When Sam Querrey chatted at The Hotel Molitor the day before Roland Garros was about to begin he was getting ready to begin a 2 week excursion into uncharted waters-TNT's inaugural broadcast of The French Open. Two weeks later Rafa had been properly honored, Coco Gauff had won 7 matches, and Carlitos and Jannik had played arguably the greatest match in tennis history.Sam and I discussed the French in length, previewed Wimbledon a little, and busted thru the 5 set format discussing all of the hot button topics of the day- and it was a great chat. Recorded 6.19 Released 6.21The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By The Golden Ticket

Ubaldo Scanagatta joined me in a room in the auxiliary press building at The Foro Italico just an hour before the women's final to discuss a wide array of topics all pertaining to this unbelievable moment in Italian tennis. It was an enlightening and fascinating chat, as we discussed Paolini and Sinner in length , as well as the entire roster of elite Tenistas. Recorded 5.17 Released 5.18This Episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast was Powered by Ellesse

Camila Osorio blasted onto the tennis scene in 2019 when she became just the 3rd South American woman to win the junior US Open. She has been ranked as high as 33 in the world. We sat down in the media mixed zone at the Italian Open just a couple days ago and discussed a wide array of topics from her schedule to her tennis to her equipment- and it was quite interesting to hear her perspectives on tennis from a 23 year old in the early stages of a pro career and hopefully you get a feel for what it's like to be a young woman on tour.Recorded 5.10 Released 5.12 This Episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is brought to you by Ellesse

Welcome to the 11th season and 129th episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, todays show is brought to you byEllesse, the Italian brand from Peruggia made legendary by Chris Evert, Guillermo Vilas and Boris Becker.  We are on the ground at The Italian Open and we have a special show for you. Francesco Passaro was born and raised in Peruggia, Italy, and in 2022 he went from 600 in the world to qualifying for the Nextgen finals, and this year cracked the top 100 for the first time. He is a wildcard here in Rome and we talked about his career and Italian tennis in length from the players lounge.Recorded and Released on 5.5.25

The Romanian Virginia Ruzici was one of the stars of tennis' Golden Age, becoming a global superstar in 1978 when she won the French Open. She rode a heavy forehand to 8 in the world in 1979, won 12 tournaments over the course of her career, and together with the bombastic Ilie Nastase and the svengali Ion Triac was ominpresent in tennis. She parlayed her playing career into a role at IMG, where she discovered Anna Kournikova. She managed Simona Halep for the majority of her career, and we talked in length about that. She was synonymous with the legendary Italian brand Ellesse, when the players were seemed to have more fun galavanting around the globe, playing and partying and playing some more. We talked about her life in and around tennis, and what a tale it was. Recorded 5.1 and Released 5.3 This episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is brought to you by Ellesse