Payers & Players Podcast

ASU Head Coach Matt Hill. Matt shares his story of surviving cancer while in college, how that changed his career path, and why reviving the Arizona State tennis program has been so special. We also discuss college tennis recruiting, how he prepares for matches, and what we can expect from the Sun Devils in 2024. Part 1

Andrew Goodwin is the head coach at Georgia Southern. As a junior, he was a top 100 player from Alpharetta, GA and played collegiately at Southern Miss and Alabama. After working at the USTA, he returned to college with assistant coach positions at Michigan, Mississippi State, Charlotte, and Tulsa.

Michigan State head coach Harry Jadun joins us on the podcast. Harry walked on at Michigan State, and ended his playing career as an All-American! After serving as the MSU assistant coach for 8 years, Harry took over as head coach before the 2022-23 season. https://msuspartans.com/sports/mens-tennis We talk about Harry's experiences as a player and coach, and break down why MSU is no longer a dark...

Marc Lucero has coached Genie Bouchard, Nicole Gibbs, Allie Riske-Armitraj, Shelby Rogers and Steve Johnson, as well as coaching out of the USTA's West Coast facility in Carson, CA. Mark shares his background and talks about the role of a professional coach. He addresses overcoming vulnerabilities, ball recognition, how he grades success or failure, and how to play defense. Mark also shares his op...

We take a deep look at the Tennis Recruiting Class of 2023 (now entering Freshmen in college). We examine where the players went to college, their TRN and UTR histories, and what trends were identified.

David Roditi is one of the most successful coaches in college tennis - TCU is the only school to finish in the ITA Top 10 for nine straight years. We talk with Coach Roditi about his tennis background, coaching philosophy, what he looks for in recruits, coaching ATP top 10 player Cam Norrie, and of course his hats.

David Roditi is one of the most successful coaches in college tennis. We talk with Coach Roditi about his tennis background, coaching philosophy, what he looks for in recruits, coaching ATP top 10 player Cam Norrie, and of course his hats. A 3x All-American at TCU, David Roditi has led his alma mater to the pinnacle of College Tennis since becoming the Head Coach in 2012: - ITA top 10 for 9 straig...

Trent joins us for another great conversation. We discuss how Trent has changed as a coach over the past 20 years, how to work with Parents, and the importance of creating leaders among young tennis players.

We talked with USTA Lead Men's Coach, David Nainkin, while at the Lexington Challenger. David has coached numerous top 10 players, including Wayne Ferreira, Mardy Fish, Sam Querrey, Taylor Fritz and Sloane Stevens. David was also the interim Davis Cup Captain as well as the USA Olympics coach in Tokyo. We talk about his transition from player to coach, the state of the game, and trends in player d...

In this personal episode, we examine Robert's decision to relocate to Tulsa, OK and commit to Tucker Tennis Academy 100%. We also discuss some recent experiences with USTA referees and preview our Pathway study on the Class of 2023.

Trent Tucker founded the legendary eponymous tennis academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. TTA is recognized as one the most successful tennis academies in the world, producing numerous USTA ball winners and college scholarship recipients. Trent shares his tennis journey - from a late start to a stellar college career at the University of Kansas to founding TTA.

Wofford Mens Tennis Coach Rod Ray joins us to talk about his role as both a coach and tennis parent. His son, Ashe, was a top junior player and a member of the Wofford team. We discuss his tennis journey, his role as a tennis parent, when is the right time to step away, college recruiting, and the future of the Wofford tennis team. Rod is also working on a project about autism and sports - his oth...

Matias is from Rosario, Argentina and has been coaching for 10 years. He graduated with a business administration degree from Baylor University. As a player, Matias reached a top 50 ITF junior world ranking, participated in the French Open Junior and earned ATP singles and doubles ranking. At Baylor, he helped the bears win six Big 12 championships and as a senior team captain made school history...

Tiffany was a top 10 junior and played collegiately at Texas A&M, where she won the prestigious Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. Tiffany is the junior tennis manager for USTA Intermountain as well as a coordinator for Tucker Tennis Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tiffany's junior tennis journey is truly impressive and inspiring. She shares her story and how it impacts her parenting as w...

We bring back TJ Pura for his 4th time on the podcast. TJ tells us about his decision to leave the corporate world for tennis coaching - with Tommy Paul and his alma mater Duke. We explore how TJ sees the game differently as a coach, what his experience brings to the Duke mens team, and we recap Duke's season as well as discuss their upcoming match vs Virginia in the NCAA Sweet 16. As always, enjo...

We talk the founder of the Cracked Racquets empire - Dalton Thieneman. Dalton grew up in southern Indiana and won a Kentucky HS team title while at St. Xavier. After college, Dalton saw a need for tennis media coverage below the ATP/WTA levels so started a blog and podcast to highlight those players. Today Cracked Racquests is changing the tennis media landscape, led by Dalton's vision and hustle.

We get to know the guy behind the Tennis-Point social media. Nate Walroth grew up in Cincinnati and played college tennis at Bellarmine University (Louisville, KY). He turned his love of tennis into a career promoting the game and the Tennis Point brand.

We announce our plans for for Subscribers on Twitter

We catch up with Petros Chyrsochos. Petros has founded a college tennis recruiting agency to help junior players find the right college to pursue their college tennis career. CONTACT INFO: Website - elitescholarsagency.com Twitter - @petroschry IG - @petros_chr (preferred) or @elitescholarsports FAST FEED 1 - Will you try Pro Pickleball I would love to try Pro Pickle-ball and even compete at tourn...

Scott and Robert talk about what they have been up to since the last podcast in 2021, and the plans for the future of the podcast. It's good to be back!

We talk with tennis parent, Steve Miller, whose son (Chad) is a high school senior 5-star who has committed to Northwestern University. Steve shares his thoughts on the parent’s tennis journey and offers advice that can help all tennis parents. Photo: @OhioTennisZone

Nico Heng is a blue-chip recruit heading to play college tennis at Auburn in the Fall of '22. Originally from Madison, Alabama, Nico has trained for the last 5 years at the Tucker Tennis Academy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nico tells us how he got into tennis, and how he ended up at Tucker, after spending a year training in Mallorca, Spain. Nico has won multiple gold balls and had an incredibly successful...

We catch up with TJ Pura - TJ tells us what he's been up to during the COVID-era, we reveiw Tommy Paul's title run at the ATP 250 Stockholm, and of course we hit on some junior tennis developments.

Cooper Williams and Richard Woodruff Cooper is 16 years old, and currently ranked #131 ITF and #10 TRN. Richard is the Director at Raw Tennis Performance in Boca Raton, FL. Richard is one of the top tennis fitness coaches in the world, having worked with Coco Gauff, Shelby Rogers, Kevin Anderson and many other top juniors and professionals. www.rawtennisperformance.com

In Part 2, we take a deeper look at Brian's tennis coaching philosophy, what makes a successful tennis academy, and some observations from what other successful tennis federations are doing. BIO Brian was the #1 junior in Southern California before playing college tennis at the University of Illinois. At Illinois, he won the NCAA team championship and doubles title (partnering with current US Open...