The Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast

As part of our tastemaker series Adrian Bartos, known to most as DJ Stretch Armstrong joined me this week from his home in the storied Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised in New York City, Stretch explained what it was like to grow up in Manhattan, and how he got into both tennis and Hip Hop. We had an unbelievable chat about the state of affairs in New York City...

Manuela Maleeva is the first athlete, in any sport, from Bulgaria to have ever earned prize money and she told an incredible and unlikely story of what it was like to come from behind the Iron Curtain in the 80's and make it on the professional tennis tour. She got to 3 in the world and won 19 tournaments, in a career that spanned over a decade in which she was in the top 10 throughout. We talked...

For the past 25 years Christopher Clarey has covered professional tennis for The New York Times. He has attended 90 Majors, and in 2018 received the Eugene L. Scott Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his significant contribution to the tennis world. We covered all of the hot button topics that 2020 brought, beginning at the Australian Open, we moved deftly into the news of the In...

Tracy Austin was born and raised in Rolling Hills Estates California and in 1977 at the age of 14 she reached the Quarterfinals of the US Open. In 1979 she beat Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert to win the US Open, in 1980 she got to # 1 in the world, and at the 1981 US Open she defeated Martina in the final. She was inducted into the Hall of fame in 1992. We discussed the uncertain tennis...

Dr Zach Thomas is a former college player, a teaching pro and is now a podiatrist and board certified foot and ankle surgeon. He play-tests and slices tennis shoes in half, and posts his assessments on his youtube channel, The Tennis Pro Doc. We had a tremendous chat, discussing in depth NIKE ADIDAS, ASICS, FILA, NEW BALANCE, DIADORA, and virtually every tennis shoe there is. We discussed, socks,...

Happy Thanksgiving and have a tremendous listen to this swashbuckling story of pre Islamic Revolution Tehran, gambling hijinks on the Cote D'Azur, wild international flare, and tremendous athletic achievement courtesy of tennis' greatest showman, the singular Mansour Bahrami. This episode is a tennis version of a James Bond film. Recorded 10/26 Released 11/25 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...

In 1996 when he was 20 years old, Mark Philippoussis blasted onto the tennis scene at The Australian Open, when he destroyed Pete Sampras in the 3rd round.  He got to 8 in the world, reached 2 major finals, and helped lead Australia to 2 Davis Cup wins.  Mark and I talked in length about his frustrations re the pandemic restrictions in Melbourne, we talked about Stefanos Tsitsipas a...

Jelena Dokic has lived an incredible life in tennis. After fleeing her native Croatia due to the Balkan conflict and blessed with prodigious talent, she immigrated to Australia, and in 1999 as a 16 year old, logged one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history, beating Martina Hingis in the first round. She rocketed onto the tennis scene as a result but her entire career was marred by her omnipr...

The Hall of Famer Ivan Lendl joined me for a tremendous chat, where we discussed men's tennis in length including breaking down the Rafa Nadal performance at Roland Garros. We talked about the players that he thinks could win majors moving forward, and how Iga Swiatek's doubles helped her win Roland Garros. We talked in length about Ivan's career, from his time as a junior in Czechoslovakia to the...

Emilio Sanchez reached 7 in the world and won 15 tournaments. He won 15 tournaments and after he retired captained the winning 2008 Spanish Davis Cup Team. His tennis academy has produced world champions including Andy Murray, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Grigor Dimitrov. We discussed the Rafa Nadal domination of Novak Djokovic in the French Open final, talked about the incredible success of player de...

Rennae Stubbs joined me for a phenomenal chat where we talked about her trip to Washington DC to pay tribute to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we chopped up the French Open in length and discussed her firsthand experience of the Jelena Dokic situation. We talked about the new players association created by Novak Djokovic, and why Best of Five sets is obsolete. Recorded 9/27, Released 9/29 Hosted on Acast. S...

4 time Major Champion and former world #1 Jim Courier joined me from his home just one day after the 2020 US Open concluded. We discussed the tournament in length, covering Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Sascha Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, and Novak Djokovic. We talked about JJ Wolf, Katrina Scott and the mysterious David Kass operation, as well as the new players association initiative....

16 year old Katrina Scott received a wildcard into The 2020 US Open and made the most of it, winning her first round match and then playing the 22 seed Amanda Anisimova very tough. We discussed her US Open experience in length and learned about her unique path to becoming a pro on the WTA Tour. Recorded and released 9/4/20. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joel Drucker has written about tennis for the New York Times, Racquet Magazine, and the late great Tennis Week Magazine. Joel joined me to discuss the Osaka boycott, the Novak Djokovic led formation of a new players union, and we discussed the 2020 US Open. We talked about how Joel got his start in tennis in part due to a chance interview with Jimmy Connors , and we talked in length about 2 of his...

Wayne Ferreira blasted onto the tennis scene in 1989, and was front and center as one of his country's best athletes as Apartheid was dismantled and South African athletes were once again permitted to compete on the world stage. Over the course of his 16 year career he beat Borg, Lendl, McEnroe, Sampras, and Federer. He won 15 titles and got to 6 in the world. We had a phenomenal chat. Now Francis...

Roman Prokes of RPNY joins me to discuss everything from racquets to strings to grips, as this is a special edition, it's the Summer Tennis Technology special. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A phenomenal chat with New Englander Tim Mayotte, as he joined me from his academy in Concord, Massachusetts and we talked about his perspectives on the state of affairs in the United States, re tennis and politically, and he shared some super cool stories about turning pro, and what the vibe was like in the early 80's when Lendl, McEnroe, and Connors were all tying to kill each other. Hosted on A...

The chain smoking German tennis executive/coach/manager Dirk Hordorff joined me to discuss many different subjects. He explained what the political climate and pandemic response has been like in Germany, he shared his perspectives on a potential WTA/ATP merger and all the exhibition tennis, and he told me a great story of how he bankrolled Novak Djokovic at the beginning of his career. Hosted on A...

Murphy Jensen discusses growing up in tennis in Michigan, what it was like to see his brother's success as a junior, and he talked about how his life changed when he and Luke won the French Open. Murphy talked extensively about his struggle with addiction, and his new venture that helps people fight the very same demons he faced. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janko Tipsarevic joined me from Belgrade, Serbia, and we discussed in length the fallout from Adria Tour, Novak Djokovic, and the fallout. We talked about how he thinks Novak is treated by the media. We talked about his opinions of the US Open going forward, and why he thinks tennis is being run completely wrong. We discussed his career and the importance of Dirk Hordorf to his career. Recorded on...

With the tennis news cycle on overdrive, Caitlin Thompson, the publisher of tennis' most important magazine, Racquet Magazine, joined me to discuss current events. We talked Novak, Stans, Covid, Osaka, Coco Gauff, UTS, and a slew of other high octane topics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brad Gilbert joined me to discuss the pandemic, the stock market, the protests against police violence, tennis players Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, and Francis Tiafoe whom have taken a meaningful stance. We discussed new beginnings in tennis, talked about Agassi, Roddick, and Murray, and what a merger in tennis could look like. (recorded June 11) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

Gil Reyes is amongst the most well know people in tennis that cannot hit a ball, as he was next to Andre Agassi for his entire career. Now as high performance trainer, we discussed his current player Genie Bouchard, we talked about how he came up in East LA, learned his craft at UNLV, and what it was like to be with Andre throughout his career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

Bruno Soares shared with me one of the coolest stories I've heard, about his unusual childhood and his even more unusual path to doubles success. We discussed what it's like in Brazil during the pandemic, the importance of Guga to Brazilian tennis, what a merger in tennis could look like, and we talked about how great doubles should be played. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

The flashy Frenchman Fabrice Santoro joined Craig to discuss the current status of French tennis, his perspectives on the Corona Virus lockdown, and we had a cool chat about his career. Fabrice joined me from his flat just a few minutes away from Roland Garros. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.