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Matt Futterman from The New York Times and I sat down and chopped it up right outside of the media centre on the grounds at The Australian Open, and we discussed all of the hot button topics dominating pro tennis- The PTPA antitrust lawsuit and the Tennis Australia settlement, Craig Tiley's imminent move to run the USTA, the college players shining in Australia, the Saudi tournament coming down the pipe, and a whole lot more. Matt has a book coming out in August titled " The Cruelest Game: Chasing Greatness in Professional Tennis" and we discussed the brass tacks of this project. It was an awesome chat. Recorded 1.26 Released 1.27 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Torben Beltz and I have been floating around each other for a lot of years. He made his bones on the Angie Kerber bag, taking her to #1 in the world in 2016. He has coached Raducanu, Vekic, and Anette Konteveit. He is now the head of the women for the German federation and he and I met on the rood at Rod Laver Arena and Torben gave a masterclass in professional coaching. It was an awesome chat and a perfect begining to the 2026 season. Recorded 1.24 Released 1.25 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Golden Ticket Tennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Claudio Pistolesi was one of the names that always caught my eye when I would read the rankings on the back page of Tennis Week Magazine- something about that name- PISTOLESI- and we spoke for the first time just a few days ago and the conversation did not disappoint. Claudio has lived an incredible life in tennis. The best junior in the world in 1985 armed with a big Fila contract brokered by the legendary Italian dealmaker Cino Marchese, Claudio had a robust career on tour, and after a decade in the top 100 he became Monica Seles' hitting partner, then segued into having an elite coaching career. He is now in charge of the JTCC Satellite in Jacksonville, Florida, and has a new book out. We discussed all of the hot button topics of the day including the Ferrero-Alcaraz breakup, the problem with the schedule, and the diminishing of the smaller tournaments. Recorded 12.19 Released 12.22 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By Golden Ticket Tennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Charlie Eccleshare has distinguished himself as one of the omnipresent and respected full time tennis writers on the globe, thriving as the sheer numbers of the like have dwindled. He files stories for The New York Times sports arm- The Athletic, on a weekly basis, and is a regular voice on the always great The Tennis Podcast as well. Charlie joined me from London and we spent an hour recapping the season, moving smoothly from the Murray-Djokovic partnership to the rise of Fonseca to the beautiful on court speech given by Anisimova at Wimbledon. We discussed all of the hot button topics of the day including scheduling, Saudi Arabia, and the trials and tribulations of Aryna Sabalenka. It was a tremendous chat. Recorded 11.28 Released 11.29 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Golden Ticket Tennis, the premier tennis events company for the connoiseur. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After an elite junior career Caty McNally blasted onto the pro tennis scene in 2019, where she played Serena Williams tough in the 2nd round night session at the US Open. With an extremely versatile game she rose steadily in the rankings, got to 54 in the spring of 2023 before elbow pain became a major problem, culminating with surgery in 2024. Now 24 years old today she has grinded back into the main draws of all the tournaments winning Newport, RI after playing Iga Swiatek tough on centre court at Wimbledon. She is now the world #81 and poised to make some noise in 2026. Caty was remarkably forthcoming in our conversation, we discussed all of the hot button topics of the day, and she painted a very interesting picture of what life for a young American on tour is like. It was an awesome chat. Recorded 11.19 and Released 11.20 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almost 2 years ago to the day Dan Evans and I chatted via Zoom- I was in New York, he in Stockholm. He was ranked around 35 in the world, getting ready to play the Swedish Open. That summer he won Washington, got to a career high 21, and had dazzled the tennis community with his play against Carlitos Alcaraz at the US Open and then again in China. Since that moment he has faced multiple injuries, incredibly difficult draws, and the mere reality of the pro tennis tour, where week in and week out every player, on any given day, is a threat. But he's also had incredible moments mixed into this challenging stretch including a remarkably fun ride in the Paris Olympics with Andy Murray, an epic win in the longest match in US Open history, and just this past grass court season, wins over Tiafoe and Tommy Paul in consecutive weeks. Dan and I had an earnest chat, and he pulled no punches. By going back in time we hit many of the tour's water cooler topics; the quality of this generation, ball quality, surface speeds and the absolute lack of stylistic variety amongst his peers. Recorded 10.14 Released 10.16 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By Golden Ticket Tennis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We kick off the 12th Season at our nation's major with the prolific coach and broadcaster, the singular Brad Gilbert. We talked about the tournament in full effect, and there is nothing like it. Recorded and released 9.4 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nenad Zimonjic was summoned to the Djokovic camp before Monte Carlo in 2024, and was on his bag when he won his Olympic gold in Paris, but that's just a portion of Nenad's incredible story. Born and raised in Belgrade, Nenad was saddled with a worthless passport because of war, that hindered his pro tennis career considerably. He persevered, and became the best doubles player in the world winning 8 majors and 54 tournaments, a Serbian Davis Cupper, a mentor to the younger Serbs Djokovic and Tipsarevic, and all in all lived an incredible life in tennis. Nenad and I chatted shortly after Novak defeated Alex de Minaur at Wimbledon, and it was a tremendous chat. Recorded 7.7 Released 7. 21 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tatiana Golovin's pro tennis trajectory was similar to The Flight of Icarus, she flew to just outside of the top 10, in 2006 reached the quarters of The US Open, and then retired abruptly due to a debilitating back condition, but that was just the end of the story. Tatiana has lived an incredible life in tennis. Born in Russia, raised in France- she was a Bolletierri kid and came up there with Sharapova, and we talked about her time there with Nick. She turned pro super young, and she told incredible stories of being coached by Brad Gilbert back in his coaching heyday. We discussed player burnout and social media, we talked about Sabalenka and Anisimova and Andreeva and Iga. We discussed how and why many Russians find their way to France. We loved every second of our chat with Tatiana in the Media Lounge at the AELTC and we hope you enjoy it. Recorded 7.7 Released 7.13 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By The Golden Ticket Join our US Open kickoff events, ACADEMY DAY NYC and MONEY DINGLES and THE PLAYER PARTY Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 6.25 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is powered By The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 6.21 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered By The Golden Ticket Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christopher Clarey and I sat down in the restaurant on the 2nd floor of Chatrier and discussed his book, The Warrior- a tour de force biography of Rafa Nadal. It was a fascinating chat about Rafa, Roland Garros, and the creative process. Class is in session! Recorded 6.2 Released 6.4 The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast is Powered by Golden Ticket Tennis If you are a player have a look at our Money Dingles Tournament Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 5.18 This Episode of The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast was Powered by Ellesse Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.