The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

Eric Korita grew up in Chicago and found his way to Nick Bolletierri's 1st academy, where he honed his craft and battled with Paul Annacone, Pablo Arraya, and Jimmy Arias, to name a few. He then went to SMU to play for the great Dennis Ralston, and then he made his mark on the pro tour. He is considered to be one of the legendary servers in the history of our sport, having been clocked at 153 in Tokyo, and clocked over 140 many times. He had deals with Prince and Sergio Tacchini, and was considered to be a major blue chip, hyper dangerous threat. We discussed his incredible life in tennis. Class is in session with one of the most interesting people in tennis. Recorded 10.13 Released 10.16The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora

Angelica Gavaldon has lived a difficult and amazing life in tennis. She grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, was a highly touted junior, and blasted onto the scene in 1990 when she qualified and reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Along with Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis she was identified as a blue chip prospect and the pressure of being on tour affected her right from the beginning. After the tremendous success at the 1990 Aussie the 16 year old t was burnt out and took a self imposed extended break. She worked her way back and in 1995 repeated the feat, qualifiying and then quartering The 1995 Australian Open. She got to 34 in the world in 1996, and over the course of her career posted wins over great champions including Novotna, Graf, Mandlikova, Majoli, and Amanda Coetzer. We discussed how she has recently rediscovered her love for tennis, Angelica shared her views on the state of Mexican tennis, and how she is trying to bring a pro tournament to Baja Mexico. It was a terrific chat. Recorded 9.25 Released 9.30The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora and The Golden Ticket

We kick off our 10th season with our annual technology special featuring Roman Prokes of RPNY. We discussed his involvement helping Andre Agassi find a racquet that he likes, the cosmetic change that Frances Tiafoe went thru, including the difference in the dimensions of the Yonex handle, and the pros and cons of the new Federer racquets. Roman talked about the 18/19 trend in string patterns, as well as the trend toward lighter racquets. He explained what happens when he does a racquet consultation. It was a phenomenal chat. Recorded and Released 9.23The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Diadora and sponsored by The Golden Ticket

Mark Ein is one of the owners of The Washington Commanders of the NFL and is the owner of the Mubadala Citi Open. He sat down with me at Wimbledon and we discussed a myriad of subjects in and around the business of tennis and it was a masterclass. He explained his philosophies around doing good business and how he combined the San Jose women's tournament with his men's tournament, he talked about the Saudi involvement in tennis. We talked about the television contracts and the Tennis Channel being shopped. We had a tremendous chat, as he is the first tournament owner to be invited on the show. Recorded 7.2 Released 7.5The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered by DiadoraScopesports.io is the official fan club platform of the show.

We are just a day and a half away from the start of The Championships, and Giri Nathan of The Second Serve and Defector joined me from a lovely spot by Court 18 this afternoon after attending the media day press conferences and we buzzed through some of the more interesting storylines leading into the fortnight- Raducanu resurgent, Sinner with a brutal draw, Tommy and Taylor winning the 2 lead up tournaments, Sabalenka announcing a shoulder injury, Novak in the mix and lots more. Have a listen and whet your Wimbledon appetite. Recorded and released 6.29.24Sign up for the newsletter.The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered by DiadoraScope Sports IO is the official fan club platform of the show.

Just a few days after his player Kei Nishikori retired with a shoulder injury the second round of Roland Garros, coach Thomas Johannson joined me from his home in Monaco, where he has lived for the past 25 years. He actually shared with me some cool information about living there. We discussed the conditions at the French, the issue that popped up this week of unruly fans, and talked in length about the players remaining in the men's draw. We talked about Rafa and his prospects moving forward. We talked about coaching at this moment in time and what that's like, and we talked about the dramatic downturn in Swedish tennis. The former world #7 who had blitzed through the 2002 Australian Open draw and defeated Marat Safin in the final explained how a win vs the Moroccan Younes El-Aynoui put him on a path toward that major victory. Recorded 5.3 Released 5.4The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By Diadora Scopesports.io is the official fan club platformSign up for our newsletter

I sat down with Grigor Dimitrov in his hotel in Rome just a couple days ago and Grigor discussed his feelings about the future machinations of The ATP Tour and the players' disdain of the long tournaments, his Lacoste deal, the sore subject of his Vapor 9s, his racquet secrets, and his beginnings in Bulgaria. Recorded 5.8 Released 5.10 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by DiadoraScopesports.io is the official fan club Platform of the show.

With pro tennis at an ominous crossroads, the great Stan Smith and I had an important chat that was a mix of a walk down memory lane as well as a pointed conversation about tennis' potential next steps. Stan opined on the USTA's budget cuts as well as the impending Saudi incursion into our sport, and what it means for the smaller tournaments like Bastaad, Gstaadt, and Vienna. And to that point we talked about The Ojai and how important that small tournament was to his career. We discussed college tennis and how the new rules regarding NIL are hurting the competitiveness of many schools. We talked about his documentary, Who Is Stan Smith, and it's theatrical release next week. Recorded and Released on 5.26The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by DiadoraScopesports.io is the official fan club platform of the podcast