TENNIS.com Podcast

A former ATP player with a career-high ranking of No. 864, Daily Show correspondent and comedian Michael Kosta joins Beyond the Baseline's Jon Wertheim to talk about his tennis and comedy careers. Kosta discusses his transition from playing ATP Challenger events on the tennis tour to pursuing a career in comedy. Kosta talks about why he made the decision to switch career paths; the comparisons bet...

On this week's Beyond the Baseline episode, poet and writer Rowan Ricardo Phillips joins the podcast to talk about his Nov. 2018 book, The Circuit: A Tennis Odyssey, which chronicles 2017 as seen through the unique prism of its historic tennis season. Wertheim and Phillips discuss his inspiration behind the book, what he learned about tennis and himself through examining this particular season, ho...

"You’ve got their back, that goes both ways for a male or female tennis player. You have to earn their trust in the beginning."    This week, the TENNIS.com Podcast’s Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi chat with Othmane Garma, better known on tour as “Coach OG.” With Kamau Murray, Garma was a part of Sloane Stephen’s team for 16 months as an assistant coach and hitting partner. After a stint coaching j...

A few weeks after the Australian Open, Pam Shriver joins Beyond the Baseline to discuss the latest tennis news and an outside-the-box proposal for the USTA to augment its place in the sports world and bolster American tennis. After Gordon Smith announced his plans to step down as CEO and executive director of the USTA at the end of the year, Wertheim and Shriver believe that there is an opportunit...

"I just try to do as well as I can every week and make the most of what I can and can’t control. I’ve learned a lot over the past year with how things have kind of gone and where my faults were."    Bjorn Fratangelo joins the TENNIS.com podcast with Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi not long after his girlfriend, Madison Keys was a guest (she also semi-crashes his episode). The world No. 130 has won e...

The Australian Open was memorable to a lot of players and for a lot of reasons. TENNIS.com Podcast co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi dissect the fortnight by pointing out the storylines that grabbed their attention.    Of course, we must first give accolades to the two champions left standing: Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic (01:13). But some credit should go to the finalists, Petra Kvitova an...

From the grounds of the Australian Open during the second week of the tournament, Beyond the Baseline's Jon Wertheim sits down with USTA general manager of player development Martin Blackman to discuss the breakout performances and disappointing results from the American contingent in Melbourne, including the remarkable run of Danielle Collins and the impressive showing from Frances Tiafoe. Blackm...

"I have gotten to a point where if I don’t make make a quarter of a Slam or a tournament, it wasn’t good, and even then it’s still not great, it’s barely acceptable. So I’m pretty tough on myself."    This week, Madison Keys joins the TENNIS.com Podcast Inside the Tour with Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi. The world No. 17 talks about life in Lake Nona, Fla. (00:49) and how she went about furnishing...

At the start of the 2019 season ahead of the Australian Open, Chris Evert joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast and gives an update on her own life, including what it was like to attend the funeral of George H.W. Bush in December; her thoughts on mental health issues and her own personal experience with … Continue reading Beyond the Baseline with Jon Wertheim — Chris Evert on 2019 Australian Open,...

"Being Serena—she doesn’t just wake up and she’s Serena. Every single day there's a purpose for the training, there’s an objective for the fitness—and she’s so much more than the tennis."    Serena Williams’ hitting partner Jarmere Jenkins joins the TENNIS.com Podcast’s Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi to dish on all things Serena. Jenkins, a former world No. 190 and multiple national champion for th...

Geoff Grant joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast to discuss the details of the new ITF 2019 transition tour, which is a part of a major restructuring of professional tennis. Grant and Wertheim discuss how the creation of the transition tour—which includes a new worldwide tournament structure between the ITF, ATP and WTA and is expected to reduce the number of professional players with ATP and WTA...

“In order to do what I’ve done, you have to be a little crazy. You can’t listen to people that say you can’t do it.”    The world’s most famous coach, Nick Bollettieri, guest stars on the TENNIS.com Podcast with Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi. He previews his upcoming book, A Coach’s Journey, which he wrote entirely himself—by hand with a pen on paper (01:23), and reflects on the Showtime documenta...

"What kind of computer system am I running here—is it Apple or is it Microsoft? We need to speak the same language and the language of the player is more important than my language."    Longtime ATP and WTA coach Sven Groeneveld joins the podcast in the midst of the busiest time of the year for players announcing coaching changes. His lengthy coaching resume includes the likes of Monica Seles, Mic...

Mike Bryan joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast to talk about his successful six-month partnership with Jack Sock, which saw him win doubles titles at Indian Wells, Wimbledon, the US Open and the ATP Finals, what he had to do to adjust to a new doubles partner, how he would feel if he were sidelined and watched his twin brother Bob succeed with a new partner and more. After a hip injury and subse...

"Tennis has been unbelievable to me—I've had the opportunities to experience it at a lot of different levels and places."    Recently appointed head of men’s tennis at the USTA, Kent Kinnear joins the TENNIS.com Podcast to talk about his new role (02:21) and the future of American men's tennis (04:16).    Kinnear is one of the many involved in U.S. tennis that has had to make the move to the USTA...

Mary Carillo joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast with Jon Wertheim to answer reader questions and discuss various topics, including her opinion on the fall season and why her interest tends to fall off during the final months of the year; what she expects from women's tennis in 2019, including the chances of Serena Williams winning a major, Caroline Wozniacki's future, Naomi Osaka's response aft...

"I think you’re essentially starting a business when you turn pro.” Stephen Amritraj, a former player and coach with a rich tennis resume, joins Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi this week to talk about the business side of the game. He gives his take on attending the recent Fed Cup final (01:16), what being professionally really means (10:16), what Universal Tennis Rating (UTR) adds to the sport (18:...

Just a few weeks after being named as the new director of player development at the IMG Academy, longtime pro Jimmy Arias joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast to discuss his new role and his experiences with the top young, 10 to 18-year-old players at the IMG Academy. Arias was one of the original tennis students at the academy when it was the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy and he discusses how...

"I told myself, Danielle, if you can make a Grand Slam qualifying [draw] you are totally overachieving in life."    American pro Danielle Lao turns her writing skills into podcasting magic to share her story with Inside the Tour co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi. The University of Southern California alumna (Class of ’13) just hit a career-high of No. 169 after five years on tour thanks to he...

As the women's season comes to a close and the ATP prepares to start its final tournament of the season at the ATP Tour Finals, Beyond the Baseline host Jon Wertheim and Jamie Lisanti look back on 2018 and hand out awards, including the top moments of the year, the men's and women's MVPs, newcomers and breakout stars, matches of the year and more. The pair also gives a lookahead to the 2019 season...

“In my experience, not even one week, it’s one match—if I’m able to get through that one match to give me the confidence back—honest to God, that’s usually all it takes to turn something around.”    Podcast co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi met up in Lake Nona, Fla. to chat with American pro Alison Riske. She was preparing for this weekend's Fed Cup final against the Czech Republic in Prague...

Ahead of his appearance at the ATP Finals Next Gen in Milan, Taylor Fritz joins the Beyond the Baseline podcast to talk about the year-end event; his thoughts on innovations such as on-court coaching, towel racks on the court, the shot clock and more; his expectations and goals for the 2019 season; his approach when it comes to coaches; his experience with Paul Annacone and what he's learned from...

On this week's episode, Reem Abulleil joins the podcast to discuss the current year-end championships in women's tennis, her time spent with Naomi Osaka after she won the 2018 US Open, whether or not winning a major has changed Osaka as a person and what she expects for her during the 2019 season and more. Abulleil also offers insight into her own career, discussing her unique story of how she bec...

Tennis giveth, and tennis taketh away. The end of the season is finally in sight, and with so many players defending—or losing—huge chunks of points in Singapore, Zhuhai and London, podcast co-hosts Nina Pantic and Irina Falconi discuss the art of defending points (02:14).    It's no secret that Jack Sock has struggled on the singles court this year (his record is 7-19). He could lose 1,400 points...

Current Eurosport commentator and seven-time Grand Slam champion Wilander joins the podcast to discuss various tennis storylines, including Novak Djokovic’s resurgence this season and the obstacles he faced over the last year; Roger Federer’s 2018 season and where he could fit into tennis after he is done playing; what tennis will be like without stars … Continue reading Beyond the Baseline, with...